Gerbo is one of the 47 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...

, named after its major town, Gerbo. Part of 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...

, Gerbo is bounded on the southwest by Segeg

Segeg (woreda)

Segeg is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, named after its major town, Segeg. Part of the Fiq Zone, Segeg is bordered on the south by Dihun, on the northwest by Hamero, and on the northeast by Gerbo.- Demographics :...

, and on the north and east by 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...

.

In January 2007, the Ogaden National Liberation Front

Ogaden National Liberation Front

The Ogaden National Liberation Front , is a separatist rebel group fighting to make the region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia an independent state...

 struck in the woreda, killing five local officials who refused to hand over heavy weapons to the rebels.

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 36,073, of whom 16,195 were males and 19,878 were females; 11,826 or 32.78% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 11.6%. Information is not available on the area of Gerbo, so its population density cannot be calculated.

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 27,822, of whom 15,494 were men and 12,328 were women; 7,925 or 28.48% of its population were urban dwellers. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of 3 rural 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, which were not counted; they were estimated to have 1,294 inhabitants, of whom 688 were men and 606 women.) The largest ethnic group reported in Gerbo was 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...

(95.31%).