Bale is one of the 17 zones in the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...

 of Ethiopia

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...

. Bale is named for the former kingdom of Bale

Bale Province, Ethiopia

Bale is the name of two former polities located in the southeastern part of modern Ethiopia.- The medieval dependency of Bale :...

, which was in approximately the same area. Bale is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River

Ganale Dorya River

The Ganale Dorya River is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Dawa flows south and east to join with the Dawa at the border with Somalia to become the Jubba. Tributaries include the Welmel, Weyib , Dumale, Doya, Hawas and the Hambala...

 which separates it from Guji

Guji Zone

Guji is one of the 17 zones of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Guji is named after a tribe of the Oromo people. Guji is bordered on the south by Borena, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, on the north by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Bale and on...

, on the southwest by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, on the northwest by Arsi

Arsi Zone

Arsi is one of the 12 zones of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia. Arsi is also the name of a former province. Both the Zone and the former province are named after a subgroup of the Oromo, who inhabit both...

, on the northeast by the Shebelle River

Shebelle River

The Shebelle River begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu, the river becomes seasonal...

 which separates it from Mirab Hararghe

Mirab Hararghe Zone

Mirab Hararghe is one of the 17 Zones in the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Mirab Hararghe takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. Mirab Harerge is bordered on the south by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the southwest by Arsi, on the northwest by the Afar Region, on...

 and Misraq Hararghe

Misraq Hararghe Zone

Misraq Hararghe is one of the 17 Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Misraq Hararge takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. Misraq Hararge is bordered on the southwest by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the west by Mirab Hararghe, on the north by Dire Dawa and...

, and on the east by the Somali Region

Somali Region

Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

.

Overview

The highest point in the Bale Zone, and also the highest point in Oromia, is Mount Batu

Mount Batu

Mount Batu is one of the highest of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, as well as of the Oromia Region. Part of the Bale National Park, and located at , it reaches an elevation of 4,307 meters. It consists of two peaks, Tinnish Batu , which is actually higher than Tilliq Batu to the south...

 (4,307 m), one of the Urgoma Mountains. Other notable peaks of the Urgoma include Mount Tullu Demtu

Mount Tullu Demtu

Tullu Demtu is the second-highest mountain in Ethiopia after Ras Dashen.Tullu Demtu is part of range of mountains Bale in Oromia Region in southeast Ethiopia, located in the Bale National Park. It forms part of the divide between the drainage basins of the Weyib and Shebelle Rivers.-External links:*...

, Mount Darkeena and Mount Gaysay. Rivers include the Wabe and the Weyib

Weyib River

Weyib River is a river of eastern Ethiopia. It rises in the Bale Mountains east of Goba in the Oromia Region, flowing east to pass through the Sof Omar Caves, then to the southeast until it joins the Ganale Dorya River in the Somali Region....

; notable lakes include Garba Gurastsch and Hora Orgona. Points of interest in the Zone include Sheikh Hussein

Sheikh Hussein

Sheikh Hussein is a village in south-eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of 1386 meters above sea level...

—named for the tomb of a Moslem saint—the Bale Mountains National Park

Bale Mountains National Park

The Bale Mountains National Park is a national park in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia. Created in 1970, this park covers about 2,200 square kilometers of the Bale Mountains to the west and southwest of Goba in the Bale Zone...

, and the Sof Omar Caves

Sof Omar Caves

At long, Sof Omar Cave is the longest cave in Ethiopia; sources claim it is the longest system of caves in Africa and ranks as the 306th longest in the World. It is situated in the Bale province in southeastern Ethiopia through which the Weyib River flows. It sinks at the Ayiew Maco entrance...

. Towns and cities in Bale include Dodola

Dodola, Ethiopia

Dodola is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation ranging from 2362 to 2493 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Dodola woreda....

, Ginir

Ginir

Ginir is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region , this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation between 1750 and 1986 meters above sea level....

, Goba

Goba

Goba is a town in south-central Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region approximately 446 km southeast of Addis Ababa, this city has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,743 meters above sea level...

 and Robe

Robe, Bale (Ethiopia)

Robe is a town in south-central Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2492 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Sinanana Dinsho woreda....

.

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 5,130 metric tons of coffee

Coffee production in Ethiopia

The coffee production in Ethiopia is critical to the Ethiopian economy with about 25% of the population depending directly or indirectly on coffee for its livelihood...

 were produced in this zone in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 4.46% of the Region's output and 2.2% of Ethiopia's total output.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,402,492, an increase of 15.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 713,517 are men and 688,975 women; with an area of 43,690.56 square kilometers, Bale has a population density of 32.10. While 166,758 or 26.20% are urban inhabitants, a further 44,610 or 3.18% are pastoralists. A total of 297,081 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.72 persons to a household, and 287,188 housing units.

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this zone of 1,217,864 in 250,586 households, of whom 603,895 were men and 613,969 women; 130,307 or 10.7% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Bale were 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...

 (88.93%), 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...

 (7.65%), the Somali

Somali people

Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

 (1.39%), and 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...

 (0.88%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.15% of the population. 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...

 was spoken as a first language by 87.5%, 9.5% 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...

, 1.51% spoke Somali

Somali language

The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....

, and 0.88% spoke 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....

; the remaining 0.61% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants 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...

, with 76.7% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 19.02% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 2.77% held traditional beliefs, and 1.15% were Protestant

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...

.

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, 11% of the inhabitants of Bale have access to electricity; this zone has a road density of 11.4 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers); the average rural household has 1 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region); and the equivalent of 1.0 head of livestock. 19.5% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a regional average of 24%. Concerning education

Education in Ethiopia

Education in Ethiopia has been dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. Prior to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated illiteracy rate well above 90% and compared poorly with the rest of Africa in the provision of schools and...

, 66% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school and 21% in secondary schools. Concerning health

Health in Ethiopia

Metrics of health in Ethiopia are among the world's worst. According to the U.S. government, Ethiopia's health care system is wholly inadequate, even after recent improvements. The Ethiopian government has launched a campaign to improve the health care system....

, 53% 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 555.