Baro River

Infobox_River
river_name = Baro River


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mouth = coord|8.4346|33.2202|display=inline,title|region:ET-GA_type:river into Sobat River
basin_countries = Ethiopia Sudan
length =
elevation =
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watershed = The Baro River (also known as the Upeno River) is a river in southwestern Ethiopia and along Ethiopia's border with Sudan. From its source in the Ethiopian Highlands it flows west for convert|306|km|mi to join the Pibor River. The Baro-Pibor confluence marks the beginning of the Sobat River, a tributary of the White Nile. [cite book |title= Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary |year= 1997 |publisher= Merriam-Webster |isbn= 0877795460 |pages= p. 115; online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=GN9UQMuNQNkC Google Books] ]

The Baro and its tributaries drain a watershed convert|41400|km2|sqmi|abbr=on in size. The river's mean annual discharge at its mouth is 241 m³/s (8,510 ft³/s). [cite book |last= Shahin |first= Mamdouh |title= Hydrology and Water Resources of Africa |year= 2002 |publisher= Springer |isbn= 140200866X |pages= pp. 276, 287; online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZmdYFTlcSgEC Google Books] ]

Course

The Baro 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 include the Alwero and Jikawo Rivers.

Natural history

Of the Sobat River's tributaries, the Baro 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. [cite book |last= Collins |first= Robert O. |title= The Nile |year= 2002 |publisher= Yale University Press |isbn= 0300097646 |pages= p. 81; online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=cql8L7mF11MC Google Books] ]

History

The boundary between Sudan and Ethiopia was defined for the region near the Baro 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 Salient. This area is more closely connected to Sudan than Ethiopia, both in terms of natural features and people. The Baro Salient has been used as a sanctuary by Sudanese insurgents during the country's long civil wars. It is difficult for Sudan to exert authority over a region that is part of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia is reluctant to police this remote region and become involved in the politics of Sudan's internal conflicts. [cite book |last= Collins |first= Robert O. |title= The Nile |year= 2002 |publisher= Yale University Press |isbn= 0300097646 |pages= pp. 76, 210; online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=cql8L7mF11MC Google Books] ]

Vittorio Bottego, who explored the area in the later 1890s, proposed naming the river after Admiral Simone Arturo Saint-Bon. [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/B/ORTBAL.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 21 December 2007)]

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. [ [http://www.waltainfo.com/EnNews/2006/Oct/26Oct06/19713.htm " Longest bridge opens to traffic"] (WIC)]

ee also

*List of Ethiopian rivers
*List of rivers of Sudan

References