Canbala appears in Muhammad al-Idrisi's map of 1192 on the coast of the Horn of Africa, southeast of the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and with Cambaleh, a town where the Venetian traveler Bragadino, a thirteenth-century European visitor to Ethiopia, resided for eight years.

It is a geographical region defined morphologically by the sea, in terms of topography and soil, and also in its climate, flora and fauna.

The region has a rich in plant species partly because of its diversity of habitats, including beaches, mangroves and semi-arid lands.

The most prevalent plant communities are the African foxtail grass, Urochondra, Panicum turgidum and Acacia tortilis.

It is lowest during the rainy period, when there is some coastal fog and greater cloud coverage as warm air passes over the cool sea surface.