Girawa (woreda)
Encyclopedia
Girawa is one of the 180 woreda
s in the Oromia Region
of Ethiopia
. Part of the Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone
, Girawa is bordered on the south by Gola Odana Meyumuluke
, on the west by Bedeno
, on the north by Kurfa Chele
, and on the east by Fedis
. The administrative center of the woreda is Girawa; other towns include Megala.
, 21.8% built-up, and the remaining 18.3% is considered degraded or otherwise unusable. Khat
, fruits and vegetables are important cash crops. Coffee
is also an important cash crop; over 5,000 hectares are planted with it.
Industry in the woreda includes 14 grain mills employing 45 people, as well as 95 registered businesses including wholesalers, retailers and service providers. Deposits of feldspar
, mica
and amazonite
are known, but they have not been developed. There were 46 Farmers Associations with 43,373 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 4965 members. Girawa has 75 kilometers of dry-weather and 12 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 60.3 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 21.8% of the urban and 3.2% of the rural population have access to drinking water
.
Girawa gained publicity in early April 1999, when the media learned of a bloody war between lion
s and spotted hyena
s in the lowlands in the Gobele wilderness, southeast of the administrative center for the woreda. What initially was thought to be a delayed April’s Fool Joke drew attention from the international press, while Ethiopian Television thrilled its viewers with footage showing the carnivores fighting. In its April 20 issue, the Ethiopian Herald said that after the situation "returned to normal", the death toll stood at 6 lions and 35 hyenas – the felines apparently having gained the victory. A local inhabitant was quoted as saying the lion-versus-hyena war was an "old blood feud" going back 45 years, when a lion escaped from emperor Haile Selassie’s palace menagerie in Harar
and wreaked havoc on a hyena family; since then the hyenas have sought to extract vengeance on the lions.
in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 247,992, of whom 121,416 were men and 126,576 were women; 7,767 or 3.13% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 1,442.19 square kilometers, Girawa has an estimated population density of 172 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 179,213, of whom 91,958 were men and 87,255 women; 4,340 or 2.42% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of one rural kebele
, which were not counted; they were estimated to have 26,745 inhabitants, of whom 13,467 were men and 13,278 women.) The two largest ethnic groups reported in Girawa were the Oromo
(97.56%), and the Amhara
(2.31%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.13% of the population. Oromiffa
was spoken as a first language by 97.46%, and 2.48% spoke Amharic
; the remaining 0.06% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim
, with 97.34% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 2.56% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
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 Oromia Region
Oromia Region
Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
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 Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone
Misraq Hararghe Zone
Misraq Hararghe is one of the 17 Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Misraq Hararge takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. Misraq Hararge is bordered on the southwest by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the west by Mirab Hararghe, on the north by Dire Dawa and...
, Girawa is bordered on the south by Gola Odana Meyumuluke
Gola Odana Meyumuluke
Gola Odana Meyumuluke is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Gola Odana Meyumuluke is bordered on the south by the Shebelle River which separates it from the Bale Zone, on the southwest by the Galetti River which separates it from the Mirab ...
, on the west by Bedeno
Bedeno (woreda)
Bedeno is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the administrative center of the woreda, Bedeno. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Bedeno is bordered on the south by Gola Odana Meyumuluke, on the southwest by Malka Balo, on the west by Deder, on the northwest...
, on the north by Kurfa Chele
Kurfa Chele (woreda)
Kurfa Chele is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after its administrative center, Kurfa Chele. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Kurfa Chele is bordered on the south by Girawa, on the west by Bedeno, on the northwest by Kersa, and on the northeast by Haro Maya...
, and on the east by Fedis
Fedis
Fedis is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Fedis is bordered on the southwest by Gola Odana Meyumuluke, on the west by Girawa, on the northwest by Haro Maya, on the north by the Harari Region, on the east by Babille, and on the southeast by...
. The administrative center of the woreda is Girawa; other towns include Megala.
Overview
The altitude of this woreda ranges from 500 to 3230 meters above sea level; Geyle is the highest point; other significant peaks include Mount Gara Muleta. A survey of the land in Girawa (released in 1996) shows that 54.3% is arable or cultivable, 4.4% pasture, 1.2% forestForestry in Ethiopia
In the late nineteenth century, about 30% of Ethiopia was covered with forest. The clearing of land for agricultural use and the cutting of trees for fuel gradually changed the scene, and today forest areas have dwindled to less than 4% of Ethiopia's total land. The northern parts of the highlands...
, 21.8% built-up, and the remaining 18.3% is considered degraded or otherwise unusable. Khat
Khat
Khat, qat, gat or Waquish Spoken from true Yemeni, is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....
, fruits and vegetables are important cash crops. Coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
is also an important cash crop; over 5,000 hectares are planted with it.
Industry in the woreda includes 14 grain mills employing 45 people, as well as 95 registered businesses including wholesalers, retailers and service providers. Deposits of feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
, mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
and amazonite
Amazonite
Amazonite is a green variety of microcline feldspar.The name is taken from that of the Amazon River, from which certain green stones were formerly obtained, but it is doubtful whether green feldspar occurs in the Amazon area.Amazonite is a mineral of limited occurrence...
are known, but they have not been developed. There were 46 Farmers Associations with 43,373 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 4965 members. Girawa has 75 kilometers of dry-weather and 12 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 60.3 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 21.8% of the urban and 3.2% of the rural population have access to drinking water
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...
.
Girawa gained publicity in early April 1999, when the media learned of a bloody war between lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s and spotted hyena
Spotted Hyena
The spotted hyena also known as laughing hyena, is a carnivorous mammal of the family Hyaenidae, of which it is the largest extant member. Though the species' prehistoric range included Eurasia extending from Atlantic Europe to China, it now only occurs in all of Africa south of the Sahara save...
s in the lowlands in the Gobele wilderness, southeast of the administrative center for the woreda. What initially was thought to be a delayed April’s Fool Joke drew attention from the international press, while Ethiopian Television thrilled its viewers with footage showing the carnivores fighting. In its April 20 issue, the Ethiopian Herald said that after the situation "returned to normal", the death toll stood at 6 lions and 35 hyenas – the felines apparently having gained the victory. A local inhabitant was quoted as saying the lion-versus-hyena war was an "old blood feud" going back 45 years, when a lion escaped from emperor Haile Selassie’s palace menagerie in Harar
Harar
Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...
and wreaked havoc on a hyena family; since then the hyenas have sought to extract vengeance on the lions.
Demographics
Based on figures published by the Central Statistical AgencyCentral 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 247,992, of whom 121,416 were men and 126,576 were women; 7,767 or 3.13% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 1,442.19 square kilometers, Girawa has an estimated population density of 172 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 179,213, of whom 91,958 were men and 87,255 women; 4,340 or 2.42% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of one 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...
, which were not counted; they were estimated to have 26,745 inhabitants, of whom 13,467 were men and 13,278 women.) The two largest ethnic groups reported in Girawa were the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
(97.56%), and 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...
(2.31%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.13% of the population. Oromiffa
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
was spoken as a first language by 97.46%, and 2.48% 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...
; the remaining 0.06% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
, with 97.34% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 2.56% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.