Sidama Zone
Encyclopedia
Sidama is a Zone in the Ethiopia
n Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). It is named for the Sidama people
, whose homeland is located in this zone. Sidama is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region
except for a short stretch in the middle where it shares a border with Gedeo
, on the west by the Bilate River
which separates it from Wolayita
, and on the north and east by the Oromia Region. The administrative center for Sidama is Awasa
; other towns include Irgalem and Wendo.
Sidama has 879 kilometers of all-weather roads and 213 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 161 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers.
The Central Statistical Agency
(CSA) reported that 63,562 tons of coffee were produced in Sidama and Gideo combined in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 63% of the SNNPR's output and 28% of Ethiopia's total output.
In the 1994 Census Sidama had a population of 2,044,836 in 439,057 households, of whom 1,039,587 were men and 1,005,249 women; 143,534 or 7.02% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone were the Sidama
(88.6%), the Amhara
(4.15%), the Oromo
(2.97%), and the Welayta
(1.84%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.44% of the population. Sidamo
is spoken as a first language by 88.6% of the inhabitants, 4.15% speak Amharic
, 2.97% Oromiffa
, and 1.84% Welayta
; the remaining 2.44% spoke all other primary languages reported. 62.54% of the population said they were Protestants
, 13.64% observed traditional religions, 8.24% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 8% were Muslim
, and 4.24% embraced Catholicism
.
According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank
memorandum, 8% of the inhabitants of Sidama have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 137.4 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers), the average rural household has 0.3 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.89 for the SNNPR) and the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 15.4% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 32%. 68% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 18% in secondary schools. 72% of the zone is exposed to malaria
, and none to Tsetse fly
. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 329.
Woreda
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). It is named for the Sidama people
Sidama people
The Sidama people of southern Ethiopia are an ethnic group whose homeland is in the Sidama Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. They number 2,966,474 of whom 149,480 are urban inhabitants, the fifth most populous nation in Ethiopia...
, whose homeland is located in this zone. Sidama is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region
Oromia Region
Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
except for a short stretch in the middle where it shares a border with Gedeo
Gedeo Zone
Gedeo is a Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. This Zone is named for the Gedeo people, whose homelands lie in this zone...
, on the west by the Bilate River
Bilate River
The Bilate is a river of south-central Ethiopia. It rises on the southwestern slopes of Mount Gurage near , flowing south along the western side of the Great Rift Valley, to empty into Lake Abaya at...
which separates it from Wolayita
Wolayita Zone
Wolayita is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . it is named for the Welayta people, whose homeland lies in this Zone...
, and on the north and east by the Oromia Region. The administrative center for Sidama is Awasa
Awasa
Awasa is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Awasa in the Great Rift Valley. Located in the Sidama Zone 270 km south of Addis Ababa via Debre Zeit, 130 km east of Sodo, 75 km north of Dilla and 1125 km north of Nairobi, Awasa is the capital of the Southern Nations,...
; other towns include Irgalem and Wendo.
Sidama has 879 kilometers of all-weather roads and 213 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 161 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers.
The Central Statistical Agency
Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...
(CSA) reported that 63,562 tons of coffee were produced in Sidama and Gideo combined in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 63% of the SNNPR's output and 28% of Ethiopia's total output.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 2,954,136, of whom 1,491,248 are men and 1,462,888 women; with an area of 6,538.17 square kilometers, Sidama has a population density of 451.83. While 162,632 or 5.51% are urban inhabitants, a further 5,438 or 0.18% are pastoralists. A total of 592,539 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.99 persons to a household, and 566,926 housing units.In the 1994 Census Sidama had a population of 2,044,836 in 439,057 households, of whom 1,039,587 were men and 1,005,249 women; 143,534 or 7.02% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone were the Sidama
Sidama people
The Sidama people of southern Ethiopia are an ethnic group whose homeland is in the Sidama Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. They number 2,966,474 of whom 149,480 are urban inhabitants, the fifth most populous nation in Ethiopia...
(88.6%), the Amhara
Amhara people
Amhara are a highland people inhabiting the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26% of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
(4.15%), the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
(2.97%), and the Welayta
Welayta people
Wolayta is the name of an ethnic group and its former kingdom, located in southern Ethiopia. According to the most recent census , they number 1.7 million people or 2.31 percent of the country's population, of whom 289,707 are urban inhabitants...
(1.84%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.44% of the population. Sidamo
Sidamo language
Sidamo is an Afro-Asiatic language, belonging to the Cushitic branch, part of the Highland East Cushitic group. It is spoken in parts of southern Ethiopia....
is spoken as a first language by 88.6% of the inhabitants, 4.15% speak Amharic
Amharic language
Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
, 2.97% Oromiffa
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
, and 1.84% Welayta
Welayta language
Wolaytta is an Omotic language spoken in the Wolaita Zone and some parts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia. The number of speakers of this language is estimated at 2,000,000 ; it is the native language of the Welayta people...
; the remaining 2.44% spoke all other primary languages reported. 62.54% of the population said they were Protestants
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
, 13.64% observed traditional religions, 8.24% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 8% were Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
, and 4.24% embraced Catholicism
Roman Catholicism in Ethiopia
The Catholic Church in Ethiopia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.The Ethiopian Catholic Church, the primary organization of Catholicism in the country, is especially close to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose doctrine and...
.
According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
memorandum, 8% of the inhabitants of Sidama have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 137.4 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers), the average rural household has 0.3 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.89 for the SNNPR) and the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 15.4% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 32%. 68% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 18% in secondary schools. 72% of the zone is exposed to malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, and none to Tsetse fly
Tsetse fly
Tsetse , sometimes spelled tzetze and also known as tik-tik flies, are large biting flies that inhabit much of mid-continental Africa between the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. They live by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals and are the primary biological vectors of trypanosomes, which...
. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 329.
WoredaWoredaWoreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
s
- Aleta WendoAleta Wendo (woreda)Aleta Wendo is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone, Aleta Wendo is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the west and north by Dale, on the east by Hula, and on the southeast by Dara...
- ArbegonaArbegona (woreda)Arbegona is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone, Arbegona is bordered on the southwest by Hula, on the west by Dale, on the northwest by Shebedino, on the north by the Oromia Region, and on the east by Bensa...
- AroresaAroresaAroresa is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Located at the tip of the Sidama Zone that extends into the Oromia Region like a peninsula, Aroresa is bordered on every side by that Region, except on the west where it is bordered by Bensa...
- AwasaAwasa (woreda)Awasa is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Awasa is bordered on the south by Shebedino, and on the west, north and east by the Oromia Region...
- BensaBensaBensa is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone that extends into the Oromia Region like a peninsula, Bensa is bordered on the southeast and north by the Oromia Region, with Hula on the west and Arbegona on the...
- DaleDale (woreda)Dale is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Dale is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the southwest by Lake Abaya, on the west by the Wolayita Zone, on the north by...
- DaraDara (woreda)Dara is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone, Dara is bordered on the south by the Gedeo Zone and on either side of it by the Oromia Region, on the northwest by Aleta Wendo, and on the northeast by Hula...
- HulaHula (woreda)Hula is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone, Hula is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the southwest by Dara, on the west by Aleta Wendo, on the northwest by Dale, on the north by Shebedino, on the...
- ShebedinoShebedinoShebedino is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Shebedino is bordered on the south by Dale, on the west by the Bilate River which separates it from the Semien Omo Zone, on the...