The Akobo River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

on the border between

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. From its source in the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...

near

Mizan Teferi Mizan Teferi (also called Mizan-Aman or simply Mizan) is the largest town in South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region and one of four Capital cities of the region. Mizan is also the administrative centre, of the Bench Maji Zone, Bench Sheko Zone in t ...

it flows west for to join the

Pibor River 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 , joining the Baro River to form the Sobat River, w ...

. The Pibor flows into the

Sobat River The Sobat River is a river of the Greater Upper Nile region in northeastern South Sudan, Africa. It is the most southerly of the great eastern tributaries of the White Nile, before the confluence with the Blue Nile. Geography The Sobat River is ...

, which in turn empties into the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

. The tributaries of the Akobo river include the Cechi, the Chiarini, and the Owag, on the right or Ethiopian side; and the Neubari, Ajuba and Kaia on the left or South Sudanese side.

History

The boundary between

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and Ethiopia was defined for the region near the Akobo River in 1899, by Major H.H. Austin and Major Charles W. Gwynn of the British

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. 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, Majors Austin and Gwynn simply proposed drawing the line down the middle of the Akobo River and parts of the Pibor River and

Baro River 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 to join the Pi ...

. This boundary was consummated in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902, resulting in an area in the Ethiopian

Gambela Region The Gambela Region, also spelled Gambella, and officially the Gambela Peoples' Region (), is a regional state in western Ethiopia. Previously known as Region 12, its capital and largest city is Gambela. It is bordered by the Oromia Region to t ...

called the Baro Salient. ; online a
Internet Archive
/ref> The Baro Salient 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. The Akobo has been the subject of several mining surveys. In 1939, engineers of Companies Mineralia Ethiopia ( COMINA) carried out exploration of the Akobo and its tributaries. North-flowing tributaries appeared to be more promising than the south-flowing ones. Values up to 10 grams of gold per cubic meter were found in Chama creek, and the possible average value could be 0.7 g per cubic meter. In the period 1952–1954 the Ministry of Mines employed as many as 120 miners at a time. They produced an average of 1.66 grams of gold per day."Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The

Nordic Africa Institute Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) () serves as a research, documentation and information centre on modern Africa for the Nordic countries. The Institute conducts independent, policyrelevant research, provides analysis and informs decisionmaking, with ...

website (accessed 1 May 2008)

References

{{Rivers of South Sudan International rivers of Africa Rivers of Ethiopia Rivers of South Sudan Sobat River Ethiopia–South Sudan border Ethiopian Highlands Gambela Region Jonglei State Greater Upper Nile Border rivers

History

See also

References