Bako Gazer is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State. It is also called Southern Aari as it is part of the homeland of Aari people. Part of the Debub Omo Zone, Bako Gazer is bordered on the south by Bena Tsemay, on the west by the Mago River which separates it from Selamago, on the north by the Basketo special woreda and Gelila, on the northeast by the Gamo Gofa Zone, and on the east by Male. The administrative center of this woreda is Jinka; other towns in Bako Gazer include Tolta and Wub Hamer. Gelila and Male woredas were separated from Bako Gazer.
Bako Gazar wereda, around the zonal capital of Jinka, is located in the intensively cultivated middle altitudes, and could be said to mark the south-western limits of the traditional Ethiopian highland ox-plough agriculture.[1] The highest point in the woreda is Mount Mago (2528 meters). Rivers include the Maki. The Mago National Park covers part of the southwestern corner between the Mago and Neri Rivers. According to a 2004 report, Bako Gazer had 59 kilometers of all-weather roads and 84 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 33 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.[2]