Pibor River

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title: "Pibor River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gambela-region", "rivers-of-south-sudan", "rivers-of-ethiopia", "sobat-river", "international-rivers-of-africa", "jonglei-state", "upper-nile-(state)", "ethiopia–south-sudan-border", "greater-upper-nile", "border-rivers"] description: "River in South Sudan and Ethiopia" topic_path: "general/gambela-region" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pibor_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in South Sudan and Ethiopia ::

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

Field	Value
name	Pibor River
image	Pibor Post, South Sudan - panoramio (3).jpg
image_caption	Pibor at Pibor Post
pushpin_map	South Sudan
pushpin_map_caption	Location of mouth in South Sudan
source1	Pibor River
source1_location	Pibor Post, Greater Pibor
source1_coordinates
source1_elevation	418 m
mouth	Sobat River
mouth_location	Jikmir, South Sudan
mouth_coordinates
mouth_elevation	404 m
subdivision_type1	Countries
subdivision_name1
length	320 km
discharge1_avg	186.3 m3/s
basin_size	137130 km2
progression	Sobat River → White Nile → Nile → Mediterranean Sea
discharge1_location	Mouth
discharge1_min	102.1 m3/s
discharge1_max	348.1 m3/s
river_system	Nile
basin_population	3,100,000
tributaries_left	Lotilla
tributaries_right	Kangen, Agwei, Akobo, Gilo
map	Sobat OSM.png
map_caption	Map of the Sobat River basin, showing the Pibor
::

| name = Pibor River | image = Pibor Post, South Sudan - panoramio (3).jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Pibor at Pibor Post | pushpin_map = South Sudan | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = Location of mouth in South Sudan | source1 = Pibor River | source1_location = Pibor Post, Greater Pibor | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = 418 m | mouth = Sobat River | mouth_location = Jikmir, South Sudan | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 404 m | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = | length = 320 km | discharge1_avg = 186.3 m3/s | basin_size = 137130 km2 | progression = Sobat River → White Nile → Nile → Mediterranean Sea | discharge1_location = Mouth | discharge1_min = 102.1 m3/s | discharge1_max = 348.1 m3/s | river_system = Nile | basin_population = 3,100,000 | tributaries_left = Lotilla | tributaries_right = Kangen, Agwei, Akobo, Gilo | map = Sobat OSM.png | map_caption = Map of the Sobat River basin, showing the Pibor The Pibor River (also called the River Pibor) is a river in eastern South Sudan, which defines part of South Sudan's border with Ethiopia. From its source near Pibor Post it flows north for about 320 km, joining the Baro River to form the Sobat River, which is a tributary of the White Nile.

The Pibor and its tributaries drain a watershed 137130 km2 in size. The river's mean annual discharge at its mouth is 186.3 m3/s.

Course

The Pibor River is formed by various streams that come together at Pibor Post, a colonial era outpost built in 1912 and originally called Fort Bruce. The Pibor flows north, receiving the Akobo River near Akobo. Continuing north the Pibor receives the Gilo River and Bela Rivers on the right, then joins the Baro River, forming the Sobat River.

Natural history

The Pibor, Baro, Gilo, and Akobo rivers all drain the Ethiopian Highlands. The Baro River is by far the largest, contributing 83% of the total water flowing into the Sobat River. 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 Pibor 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 Ethiopian Highlands and the plains of the Sudanian Savanna, they simply proposed a line drawn 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 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.

References

References

1. Liu, L., Cao, X., Li, S., & Jie, N. (2023). GlobPOP: A 31-year (1990-2020) global gridded population dataset generated by cluster analysis and statistical learning (1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10088105
2. [http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/ River Pibor], [[GEOnet Names Server]]
3. (1997). "Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary". [[Merriam-Webster]].
4. Lehner, Bernhard. (2008-03-04). "New Global Hydrography Derived From Spaceborne Elevation Data". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union.
5. Collins, Robert O.. (2002). "The Nile". Yale University Press.
6. Collins, Robert O.. (2002). "The Nile". Yale University Press.

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