Baro River

---

title: "Baro River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-ethiopia", "rivers-of-south-sudan", "sobat-river", "international-rivers-of-africa", "ethiopian-highlands", "ethiopia–south-sudan-border", "geography-of-oromia", "gambela-region", "greater-upper-nile", "upper-nile-(state)", "border-rivers", "important-bird-areas-of-ethiopia"] description: "River in southwestern Ethiopia" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baro_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in southwestern Ethiopia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Baro River
image	Baro river Gambela.jpg
image_size	280
image_caption	Akobo Bridge in Gambela
source1	Birbir River
source1_location	Dibdib, Ethiopia
source1_coordinates
source1_elevation	2367 m
source2	Gebba River
source2_location	Acchiscio, Ethiopia
source2_coordinates
source2_elevation	2267 m
source_confluence_location	Seriti, Ethiopia
source_confluence_coordinates
source_confluence_elevation	557 m
mouth	Sobat River
mouth_location	Jikmir, South Sudan
mouth_coordinates
mouth_elevation	404 m
subdivision_type1	Countries
subdivision_name1
discharge1_avg	241 m3/s
progression	Sobat River → White Nile → Nile → Mediterranean Sea
river_system	Nile Basin
name_other	Openo
name_native	am
length	306 km, 560 km (including tributaries)
discharge1_location	Mouth
discharge1_min	77.98 m3/s
discharge1_max	634.41 m3/s
basin_size	41400 km2
basin_population	3,260,000
tributaries_left	Birbir, Alwero
tributaries_right	Gebba, Jikawo
map	Sobat OSM.png
map_caption	Sobat River basin showing the Baro River
map_size	280
::

| name = Baro River | image = Baro river Gambela.jpg | image_size = 280 | image_caption = Akobo Bridge in Gambela | source1 = Birbir River | source1_location = Dibdib, Ethiopia | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = 2367 m | source2 = Gebba River | source2_location = Acchiscio, Ethiopia | source2_coordinates = | source2_elevation = 2267 m | source_confluence = | source_confluence_location = Seriti, Ethiopia | source_confluence_coordinates = | source_confluence_elevation = 557 m | mouth = Sobat River | mouth_location = Jikmir, South Sudan | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 404 m | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = | discharge1_avg = 241 m3/s | progression = Sobat River → White Nile → Nile → Mediterranean Sea | river_system = Nile Basin | name_other = Openo | name_native = am | length = 306 km, 560 km (including tributaries) | discharge1_location = Mouth | discharge1_min = 77.98 m3/s | discharge1_max = 634.41 m3/s | basin_size = 41400 km2 | basin_population = 3,260,000 | tributaries_left = Birbir, Alwero | tributaries_right = Gebba, Jikawo | map = Sobat OSM.png | map_caption = Sobat River basin showing the Baro River | map_size = 280

The Baro River () or Baro/Openo Wenz, known to the Anuak as Openo River, is a river in southwestern Ethiopia, which defines part of Ethiopian border with South Sudan. From its source in the Ethiopian Highlands it flows west for 306 km to join the Pibor River. The Baro-Pibor confluence marks the beginning of the Sobat River, a tributary of the White Nile.

The Baro and its tributaries drain a watershed 41400 km2 in size. The river's mean annual discharge at its mouth is 241 m³/s (8,510 ft³/s).

Course

The Baro/Openo river is created by the confluence of the Birbir and Gebba Rivers, east of Metu in the Illubabor Zone of the Oromia Region. It then flows west through the Gambela Region to join with the Pibor River, both of them creating the Sobat. Other notable tributaries of the Baro/Openo include the Alwero and Jikawo Rivers. The Baro meets the Pibor river to the west of Jikawo. During the rainy season the river floods to form a huge inundated area to the east and south of Jikawo, previously penetrating as far as Abobo and Gog to the east and south-east. Baro is the wettest lowland river and the most navigable. The Khor Machar is a distributary of the Baro which feeds the Machar Marshes.

Natural history

Of the Sobat River's tributaries, the Baro/Openo River is by far the largest, contributing 83% of the total water flowing into the Sobat. During the rainy season, between June and October, the Baro River alone contributes about 10% of the Nile's water at Aswan, Egypt. In contrast, these rivers have very low flow during the dry season.

History

The boundary between Sudan and Ethiopia was defined for the region near the Baro/Openo River in 1899 by Major H.H. Austin and Major Charles W. Gwynn of the British Royal Engineers. They had no knowledge of the land, its inhabitants, or their languages, and were short on supplies. Rather than defining a line based on ethnic groups and traditional territories, essentially along the escarpment that separates the highlands and the plains, they simply proposed drawing the line down the middle of the Akobo River and parts of the Pibor and Baro rivers. This boundary was consummated in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902, resulting in an area in Ethiopian Gambela Region called the Baro/Openo Salient. This area is more closely connected to South Sudan than Ethiopia, both in terms of natural features and people. The Baro Salient was used as a sanctuary by Sudanese insurgents during the country's long civil wars. It was difficult for Sudan to exert authority over a region that is part of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia was reluctant to police this remote region and become involved in the politics of Sudan's internal conflicts.

Vittorio Bottego, who explored the area in the later 1890s, proposed naming the river after Admiral Simone Antonio Saint-Bon.

The only navigable river in Ethiopia, the Baro's most important city is Gambela, which served as a port from 1907 until the 1990s when civil war in Ethiopia and Sudan forced shipping on the river to be halted.

The Italian L. Usoni unsuccessfully prospected for gold in the Baro river valley, and published his findings in 1952.

The second-longest bridge in Ethiopia crosses the Baro, connecting two parts of the Gambela Region. This bridge is 305 meters long.

References

References

1. (1997). "Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary". [[Merriam-Webster]].
2. Shahin, Mamdouh. (2002). "Hydrology and Water Resources of Africa". Springer.
3. Collins, Robert O.. (2002). "The Nile". Yale University Press.
4. Described by Austin in his article, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1775832 "Survey of the Sobat Region"], ''Geographical Journal'', 17 (May, 1901), pp. 495–512.
5. Collins, Robert O.. (2002). "The Nile". Yale University Press.
6. [http://www.nai.uu.se/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/B/ORTBAL.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] {{webarchive. link. (June 16, 2007 (pdf) The [[Nordic Africa Institute]] website (accessed 21 December 2007))
7. [http://www.waltainfo.com/EnNews/2006/Oct/26Oct06/19713.htm " Longest bridge opens to traffic"] {{webarchive. link. (March 10, 2007 ([[Walta Information Center). WIC]])

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::