Bench is one of the 77 woreda

Woreda

Woreda 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 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region 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...

. It is named for the Bench people, whose homeland lies in the northern part of the woreda. Part of the Bench Maji Zone

Bench Maji Zone

Bench Maji is one of the 13 Zones of the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . Bench Maji is bordered on the south by the Ilemi Triangle, on the west by Sudan, on the northwest by the Gambela Region, on the north by Keficho Shekicho and on the east by Debub Omo...

, Bench is bordered on the south and east by Meinit

Meinit

Meinit is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Meinit is bordered on the south by Dizi, on the west by Sheko, on the north by Bench, on the east by the Keficho Shekicho Zone, and on the southeast by the Omo River...

, on the west by Sheko

Sheko (woreda)

Sheko is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Sheko people, whose homeland lies in the eastern part of the woreda; a different ethnic group, the Me'en, dominate the southeastern part...

, and on the north by the Keficho Shekicho Zone

Keficho Shekicho Zone

Keficho Shekicho is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . While in their latest population estimates the Central Statistical Agency includes it as a single Zone, the list of second administrative level bodies maintained by the United Nations Geographic...

. Towns in Bench include Aman and Mizan Teferi

Mizan Teferi

Mizan Tefere is a town in southern Ethiopia. The largest town, and the administrative center, of the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region , and located about 160 kilometers southwest of Jimma, Mizan Tefere has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of...

.

Rivers in Bench include the Akobo

Akobo River

The Akobo River is a river on the border between South Sudan and Ethiopia. From its source in the Ethiopian Highlands near Mizan Teferi is flows west for to join the Pibor River...

, which has its source in this woreda.

Demographics

Based on figures published by 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...

 in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 299,151, of whom 150,827 are men and 148,324 women; 25,483 or 8.52% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 9.1%. With an estimated area of 2,128.91 square kilometers, Bench has an estimated population density of 140.5 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 20.

In the 1994 national census Bench had a population of 208,339, of whom 103,257 were men and 105,082 women; 14,067 or 6.75% of its population were urban dwellers. The five largest ethnic groups reported in this woreda were the Bench (62.21%), the Kafficho (9.42%), the Me'en (8.09%), 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...

 (6.27%), and the She (5.79%); all other ethnic groups made up 8.22% of the population. Bench

Bench language

Bench is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira...

 was spoken as a first language by 62.49% of the inhabitants, 11.06% spoke 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...

, 8.1% spoke Me'en, 6.93% spoke Kafa

Kafa language

Kaffa is an Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia around Bonga in the Keficho Shekicho Zone. The language is also called Kafi nono.- Further reading :...

, and 5.82% spoke She; the remaining 5.6% spoke all other primary languages reported. 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...

, 19.95% of the population were considered literate; 13.18% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 6.08% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school, and 3.25% of the inhabitants aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions

Water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia

Access to water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia is amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and the entire world. While access has increased substantially with funding from external aid, much still remains to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the share of people...

, about 81% of the urban and 22% of the total had toilet facilities.