[1] The river has served as a frontier and zone of conflict between the Baggara and Dinka peoples since their oral traditions began.

The Bahr al-Arab arises from several tributaries that drain the Bongo Massif and Marrah Mountains in Darfur, close to Sudan's border with Chad and the Central African Republic.

The Bahr el Ghazal flows a short distance east to join the White Nile in the Sudd wetlands.

[4] During the Second Sudanese Civil War Bahr al-Arab's location on the border of Northern and Southern Sudan made it a military front and an area of conflict.

The Baggara were supported by the Sudanese military in an attempt to make headway against the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).