Meta is one of the 180 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 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...

, Meta is bordered on the southwest by Deder

Deder (woreda)

Deder is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the administrative center, Deder. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Deder is bordered on the south by Malka Balo, on the west by the Mirab Hararghe Zone, on the north by Goro Gutu, on the east by Meta, and on the...

, on the northwest by Goro Gutu

Goro Gutu

Goro Gutu is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named after Goro Gutu, its tallest mountain. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Goro Gutu is bordered on the south by Deder, on the west by the Mirab Hararghe Zone, on the north by the Somali Region, and on the...

, on the north by 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...

, on the northeast by Kersa

Kersa (Hararge)

Kersa is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after a river that flows through it, the Kersa. Part of the Misraq Hararghe Zone, Kersa is bordered on the south by Bedeno, on the west by Meta, on the north by Dire Dawa, on the northeast by Haro Maya, and on the...

, and on the southeast 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...

. Towns in Meta include Chelenqo and Kulubi

Kulubi

Kulubi is a town in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Hararghe Zone of the Oromia Region, lying south of Dire Dawa, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2130 meters above sea level....

.

Overview

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 an important cash crop of this woreda. Over 50 square kilometers is planted with this crop. Around 2000 a team of workers sponsored by Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n aid widened and resurfaced significant parts of the all-weather road between Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia . This chartered city is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura....

 and Kulubi.

The Battle of Chelenqo

Battle of Chelenqo

The Battle of Chelenqo was an engagement fought on 6 January 1887 between the army of Shewa under Negus Menelik II and Emir 'Abd Allah II of Harar...

 was fought in what became this woreda on 6 January 1887. The army of Negus

Negus

Negus is a title in Ge'ez, Tigrinya, Tigre and Amharic, used for a king and at times also a vassal ruler in pre-1974 Ethiopia and pre-1890 Eritrea. It is subsequently used to translate the word "king" in Biblical and other literature...

 Menelik of Shewa

Shewa

Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...

 routed the army of Emir 'Abd Allah II

'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur

Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, also known as Amir Hajji 'Abdu'llahi II ibn 'Ali 'Abdu's Shakur, was the last Emir of Harar from 1884 to January 26, 1887, when the state was terminated, following the defeat of the Harari troops at the Battle of Chelenqo .According to R.A...

 of Harar

Harar

Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...

, and afterwards the Negus occupied and annexed that city state.

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 240,285, of whom 117,864 are men and 122,421 are women; 12,459 or 5.19% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 657.03 square kilometers, Meta has an estimated population density of 365.7 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 172,803, of whom 88,440 were men and 84,363 women; 6,958 or 4.03% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Meta 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...

 (92.03%), 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...

 (7.6%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.37% 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 92.32%, and 7.44% 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 0.24% 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 91.97% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 7.81% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.