Part of the Metekel Zone, it is bordered by Mandura on the north, by the Dura River on the east which separates it from the Amhara Region, by the Abay River on the south which separates it from the Kamashi Zone, and by Bulen on the west.
High points include the Danjiga mountains in the southern part of the woreda, which run along the Abay river as it turns to the south.
Originally Dibate and Mandura were subunits of Guangua woreda, which was part of the Metekel awraja; in the 1960s these two subunits were split off to form separate woredas in order to strengthen government control over the local Gumuz people.
The five largest ethnic groups reported in Dibate were the Gumuz (30.6%), the Amhara (26.3%), the Oromo (24%), the Shinasha (16.5%) and the Awi (2%) a subgroup of the Agaw.
Most of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 46% of the population reporting that they held that belief, while 25% observed traditional religions, 17.6% were Muslim, and 8.9% were Protestant.