Located south of Metu in the Illubabor Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 8°9′N 35°31′E / 8.150°N 35.517°E / 8.150; 35.517 and an elevation of 2085 meters.

Richard Pankhurst describes the pre-World War I community as having five foreign trading concerns -- "two Greek, one Syrian, one British and one German"—engaged in the export of coffee, wax, and to a lesser extent animal hides, and the import of cotton cloth, salt, and other manufactured goods.

[5] On 9 July 1927, the Greek nationals T. Zewos and A. Donalis were awarded a contract to link the town and Gore by road with Gambela, a distance of 180 kilometers.

[7] On arrival “Erskine set about building an impressive residency on a hill overlooking Gore, with outbuildings, barracks, and stables for ten special constables, and a pack of hounds” now a ruin.

[2] During World War II the British War office sent out Military Mission 107 to Cairo in October 1940 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Courtney Brocklehurst,[12] with Erskine as political Officer, to raise the Galla (or Oromo) people of the Gore area against the Italians with a promise of liberation from both the Italians and the Amhara.

The Emperor appealed to Churchill, who instructed that it should not proceed, but should be moved to Kenya to assist with the invasion of Ethiopia from the south and priority was given to Mission 101 (Gideon Force).