[1] South Gondar is bordered on the south by East Gojjam, on the southwest by West Gojjam and Bahir Dar, on the west by Lake Tana, on the north by North Gondar, on the northeast by Wag Hemra, on the east by North Wollo, and on the southeast by South Wollo; the Abbay River separates South Gondar from the two Gojjam Zones.

The highest point in South Gondar is Mount Guna (4,231 meters).

Towns and cities in this zone include Addis Zemen, Debre Tabor and Wereta.

With an area of 14,095.19 square kilometers, South Gondar has a population density of 145.56; 195,619 or 9.53% are urban inhabitants.

[3] According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 4% of the inhabitants of South Gondar have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 66.1 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers),[4] the average rural household has 1 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.75 for the Amhara Region)[5] and the equivalent of 0.6 heads of livestock.