The river begins in the central Eritrean highland plateau, in the suburbs northwest of the capital Asmara.

It then descends northwards into the northwestern lowlands, traversing the mountains of Rora Habab and Sahel before joining the Barka River near the border with Sudan.

Notably this was historic habitat for the endangered painted hunting dog (Lycaon pictus), a canid which is now thought to be extirpated from the region.

The General Fertility Rate (GFR), defined as the births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 45 remained at 184.0.

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), defined as the number of deaths of children for every 1,000 born was 37.0 while the Child Mortality Rate (CMR), defined as the number of child deaths for every 1,000 children 5 years of age was 37.0.

The number of children with the prevalence of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) was 877, fever was 877, and Diarrhea was 877.

[7] As of 2002, the number of males completing or attending highest level of schooling in the region was 2,028 while it was 2,368 females.

[9] The region is divided in ten subregions: Eritrea has a one-party national assembly governed by People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) (originally Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front), an authoritarian government.

[10] The regional and local elections are conducted on a periodic basis on a restricted framework.

No parties or groups other than PFDJ are allowed to contest and the elections are presided by representatives from PDFJ.