Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Debarq is bordered on the south by Dabat,on the west by Tegeda, on the northwest by the Tigray Region, on the north by Addi Arkay, and on the east by Jan Amora.

This woreda is crossed by the Lamalmo Mountains, which form the western end of the Semien.

Due to its inaccessibility and the lack of the most basic infrastructure, in 1999 the Regional government classified Debarq as one of its 47 drought-prone and food-insecure woredas.

The work on the 99 kilometres (62 mi) of road would be done by Sino-Hydro International, a Chinese construction company, with engineering consultancy by a South African company and an Ethiopian firm, Omega Engineers Consulting.

The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 94.8% reporting that as their religion, while 5.2% of the population said they were Muslim.