Degehabur is one of the 52 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 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...

 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 Degehabur Zone

Degehabur Zone

Degehabur Zone is one of the nine Zones in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named after its largest city, Degehabur. Degehabur Zone is bordered on the south by Korahe, on the west by Fiq, on the northwest by the Oromia Region, on the north by Jijiga and Somalia, and on the east by...

, Degehabur is bordered on the south by the Gunagado, on the southwest by the Fiq Zone

Fiq Zone

Fiq is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named after its largest city, Fiq. Fiq Zone is bordered on the south by Gode, on the west and north by the Oromia Region, and on the east by Degehabur...

, on the northwest by Degehamedo

Degehamedo (woreda)

Degehamedo is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Degehabur Zone, Degehamedo is bordered on the south and southwest by the Fiq Zone, on the northwest by the Oromia Region, on the northeast by the Jijiga Zone, and on the east by Degehabur...

, on the north by the Jijiga Zone

Jijiga Zone

Jijiga is one of nine zones of the Ethiopian Somali Region. This zone is named after its largest city, Jijiga. Other towns and cities in this zone include Qarbibayax, Dhurwaale Awbere, Derwonaji, tuli gulled and Hart Sheik...

, on the east by Aware

Aware (woreda)

Aware is one of the 67 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Degehabur Zone, Aware is bordered on the south by the Korahe Zone, on the west by Degehabur, on the north by the Jijiga Zone, and on the east by Misraq Gashamo...

, and on the southeast by the Korahe Zone

Korahe Zone

Korahe is one of nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Korahe is bordered on the south and west by Gode, on the north by Degehabur, and on the east by Werder...

; it is frequently considered part of the Haud

Haud

Haud is a region of thorn-bush and grasslands in the Horn of Africa, which includes the northeastern part of the Ogaden territory of Ethiopia, as well the adjacent parts of Somalia. The Haud is of indeterminate extent; some authorities consider it denotes the part of Ethiopia east of the city of...

. The administrative center of this woreda is Degehabur

Degehabur

Degehabur is a town in the eastern part of Ethiopia known as the Ogaden. Located in the Degehabur Zone of the Somali Region on the Jerer River, it sits at 1044 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center of Degehabur woreda....

.

The two perennial rivers in Degehabur are the Fafen

Fafen River

Fafen River is a river of eastern Ethiopia. Rising to the east of Harar, this river cuts through a series of wide, flat shelves of sedimentary rocks made of sandstone, limestone, and gypsum as it descends in a south-eastern direction towards the Shebelle River. The Fafen only joins the Shebelle...

 and the Jerer

Jerer River

The Jerer is an intermittent river of eastern Ethiopia. A tributary of the Fafen River, it rises near Jijiga to flow in a south-easternly direction....

. , Degehabur has 68 kilometers of asphalt, 62 of all-weather gravel road, and 387 of community roads; about 24.4% of the total population has access to drinking water.

This woreda was reported in October 1974 to have been the area worst hit by the Hararghe

Hararghe

Hararghe was a province in the eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital in Harar. Including Ethiopia's part of the Ogaden, Haraghe was bounded on the south by Sidamo, southwest by Arsi, west by Shewa, northwest by Wollo, northeast by French Somaliland, and on the east by Somalia.Hararghe came...

 famine.

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 121,160, of whom 54,569 were men and 66,591 were women; 42,815 or 35.34% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 22.3%. Information is not available on the area of Degehabur, so its population density cannot be calculated. This woreda is primarily inhabited by the Darod

Darod

The Darod is a Somali clan. The father of this clan is named Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, but is more commonly known as Darod. In the Somali language, the word Daarood means "an enclosed compound," a conflation of the two words daar and ood .The Darod population in Somalia lives principally...

 clan of the Somali people

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...

.

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 93,019, of whom 51,729 were men and 41,290 were women; 28,708 or 30.86% were urban inhabitants. The largest ethnic group reported in Degehabur was the Somali people

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...

(98.71%).