The Guji Oromo are an ethnic 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...

 group living in southern 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...

. They are part nomadic and part agrarian. According to a population projection from 2007, the total population of the Guji Oromo is above 5 million.

The Guji live in fertile and natural resource-rich land in the Ethiopia; the Guji Zone

Guji Zone

Guji is one of the 17 zones of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Guji is named after a tribe of the Oromo people. Guji is bordered on the south by Borena, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, on the north by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Bale and on...

 in the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

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

 is named for them. The known gold mining area of Adola (or Kebri Mangest

Kebri Mangest

Kebri Mangest is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an altitude of 1758 meters above sea level....

), the dense natural forest of Bada Magada, the Nechisar National Park

Nechisar National Park

Nechisar National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region immediately to the east of Arba Minch, its 514 square kilometers of territory include the "Bridge of God" , and the Nechisar plains east of the lakes...

 and Shakiso-Adola evergreen forests are the natural areas which have been conserved by the Guji Oromo.

The Guji people are known for using a large number and wide variety of proverb

Proverb

A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...

s in many social and conversational contexts .

Sources

• Dejene N. Debsu. 2009. Gender and culture in southern Ethiopia: an ethnographic analysis of Guji-Oromo women’s customary rights. African Study Monographs 30.1: 15-36.
• Loo, Joseph van and Bilow Kola. 1991. Guji Oromo culture in southern Ethiopia: Religious capabilities in rituals and songs. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
• Taddesse Berisso. 2000. The Riddles of Number Nine in Guji-Oromo Culture. Journal of Ethiopian Studies Volume 33.1: 49-66.