Gamu-Gofa was a province in the southern part 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...

, named after two of the ethnic group

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

s living within its boundaries, the Gamo

Gamo people

Gamo is the name of the Ethiopian ethnic group who speak the Gamo language. The name "Gamo" means a lion, which refers to their legacy; along with the Goffa, they gave their names to the former Gamo-Gofa province of Ethiopia. The 2007 Ethiopian national census reported that 1,107,163 people ...

 and the Goffa. First incorporated into Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II in the 1880s , its capital was first at Chencha

Chencha

Chencha is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, 37 kilometers north of Arba Minch, Chencha has a longitude and latitude of and an elevation of 2732 meters above sea level.Based on figures from the Central...

, then around 1965 the capital was moved to Arba Minch

Arba Minch

Arba Minch is a city in southern Ethiopia; less common names for this city include Ganta Garo and Minghi. Located in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region about 500 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, at an elevation of 1285 meters above sea level...

. This province was bordered on the west and north by Kaffa

Kaffa Province, Ethiopia

Kaffa was a province on the southwestern side of Ethiopia; its capital city was Jimma. It was named after the former Kingdom of Kaffa.Kaffa was bordered on the west by Sudan, on the northwest by Illubabor, on the north by Walega, on the northeast by Shewa, on the east by Sidamo, and on the...

, on the north and east by Sidamo

Sidamo Province

Sidamo was a province in the southern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Irgalem, and after 1978 at Awasa. It was named after an ethnic group native to Ethiopia, called the Sidamo, or more particularly, Sidama, who are located in the south-central part of that country...

, on the southeast by Lake Chew Bahir

Lake Chew Bahir

Lake Chew Bahir or Lake Istifanos, also called Stefanie, Basso Naebor and Chuwaha, is a lake in Southern Ethiopia on the boundary between the Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regions. When the lake is filled, it stretches into northern Kenya...

, and on the south by Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 and Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana , formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake...

.

Gamu-Gofa province came into existence as a result of Proclamation 1943/1, which created 12 taklai ghizats from the existing 42 provinces of varying sizes. With the adoption of the new constitution in 1995

1995 Constitution of Ethiopia

The current Constitution of Ethiopia, which is the supreme law of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, was adopted by the Transitional Government of Ethiopia in December 1994 and came into force in August 1995. The constitution was drawn up by the Constituent Assembly elected in June of that year.The...

, Gamu-Gofa was reorganized into the Semien Omo

Semien Omo Zone

Semien Omo was a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . It was named after the Omo River, which flows in the western area of the former zone...

 and Debub Omo Zone

Debub Omo Zone

Debub Omo is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . Debub Omo is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the southwest by the Ilemi Triangle, on the west by Bench Maji, on the northwest by Keficho Shekicho, on the north by Semien Omo, on the northeast by the...

s of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia.