Chifra is one of the 29 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 Afar Region

Afar Region

Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, and is the homeland of the Afar people. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Asseb highway is under construction....

 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...

. Part of the Administrative Zone 1

Administrative Zone 1 (Afar)

Administrative Zone 1 is one of five Zones of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. This zone is bordered on the south by Administrative Zone 3, on the southwest by Administrative Zone 5, on the west by the Amhara Region, on the northwest by Administrative Zones 4 and 2, on the north by Eritrea, and on the...

, Chifra is located near the base of the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands

Ethiopian Highlands

The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...

 and bordered on the south by Mille

Mille (woreda)

Mille is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Mille River, a tributary of the Awash River, which flows through this woreda...

, on the west by the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

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

, on the north by the Administrative Zone 4

Administrative Zone 4 (Afar)

Administrative Zone 4 is one of five Zones of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. This zone is bordered on the south and east by Administrative Zone 1, on the west by the Amhara Region, and on the north by Administrative Zone 2...

, and on the east by Dubti

Dubti (woreda)

Dubti is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Administrative Zone 1, Dubti is bordered on the south by the Somali Region, on the southwest by Mille, on the west by Chifra, on the northwest by Administrative Zone 4, on the north by the Administrative Zone 2, on the...

; the Logiya River

Logiya River

The Logiya is a river of east-central Ethiopia. Having its source in the Ethiopian highlands, this stream flows eastwards to become a tributary of the Awash River near ....

 defines part of the boundary with Zone 4. The administrative center of Chifra is Chifra.

Overview

The average elevation in this woreda is 825 meters above sea level;
the highest peak is Mount Groppo (900 meters). Rivers include the Mille

Mille River

The Mille River is a river of Ethiopia and a tributary of the Awash. It drains parts of the Semien Wollo and Debub Wollo Zones of the Amhara Region, as well as Administrative Zone 4 of the Afar Region.The explorer L.M...

. There are two roads in Chifra, connecting its administrative center to other towns. One runs from Chifra to Mille, which is 105 kilometers in length; it was constructed in two segments between February 1999 and February 2001 by SUR Construction. The other goes south to Garsa Gita where it joins the all-weather road to Bati

Bati

Bati may refer to:*Bati , traditional Fijian warriors** The Fiji national rugby league team* The town of Bati, Ethiopia.*Bati * Bathi District, a district of Takeo Province, Cambodia...

. , about 22.33% of the total population of Chifra has access to drinking water.

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...

 in this woreda is in three forms: formal, non-formal, and Koranic. Formal education goes to Grade 8 and non-formal education is implemented in 4 kebele

Kebele

A kebele is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia similar to ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people...

s by the Afar Pastoralist Development Association. The non-formal education is in the Afar language

Afar language

Afar is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. It is believed to have 1.5 million speakers, the Afar. The basic word order in Afar, like in other East Cushitic languages, is subject–object–verb. Its speakers have a literacy rate of between one and three per cent...

 and includes mathematics; a total of 843 students have achieved literacy. , there were 223 people (30 women, 31 men, and the rest children) in non-formal education taught by 6 teachers. Details about the local Koranic education is not available, but at one village children had been learning Koranic verses there for 117 years.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted 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...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 91,080, of whom 50,861 are men and 40,219 women; with an area of 1,519.32 square kilometers, Chifra has a population density of 59.95. While 9,132 or 10.03% are urban inhabitants, a further 38,234 or 41.98% are pastoralists. A total of 14,518 households were counted in this woreda, which results in an average of 6.3 persons to a household, and 14,937 housing units.