During the rainy season, between June and October, the Baro River alone contributes about 10% of the Nile's water at Aswan, Egypt.

This boundary was consummated in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902, resulting in an area in Ethiopian Gambela Region called the Baro/Openo Salient.

This area is more closely connected to South Sudan than Ethiopia, both in terms of natural features and people.

[5] Vittorio Bottego, who explored the area in the later 1890s, proposed naming the river after Admiral Simone Antonio Saint-Bon.

The Italian L. Usoni unsuccessfully prospected for gold in the Baro river valley, and published his findings in 1952.