Shebedino is one of the 77 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 Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region 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 Sidama Zone

Sidama Zone

Sidama is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . It is named for the Sidama people, whose homeland is located in this zone...

 located in the Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...

, Shebedino is bordered on the south by Dale

Dale (woreda)

Dale is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Dale is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the southwest by Lake Abaya, on the west by the Wolayita Zone, on the north by...

, on the west by the Bilate River

Bilate River

The Bilate is a river of south-central Ethiopia. It rises on the southwestern slopes of Mount Gurage near , flowing south along the western side of the Great Rift Valley, to empty into Lake Abaya at...

 which separates it from the Semien Omo Zone

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...

, on the northwest by the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

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

, on the north by Awasa

Awasa (woreda)

Awasa is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Awasa is bordered on the south by Shebedino, and on the west, north and east by the Oromia Region...

, and on the southeast by Arbegona

Arbegona (woreda)

Arbegona is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone, Arbegona is bordered on the southwest by Hula, on the west by Dale, on the northwest by Shebedino, on the north by the Oromia Region, and on the east by Bensa...

. Towns in Shebedino include Derba and Leku.

According to a 2004 report, Shebedino had 17 kilometers of asphalt roads, 50 kilometers of all-weather roads and 58 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 121 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.

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 597,313, of whom 293,774 were men and 303,539 were women; 19,329 or 3.24% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 8.9%. With an estimated area of 1,035.47 square kilometers, Shebedino has an estimated population density of 576.9 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 430.03.

In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 420,976, of whom 214,000 were men and 206,976 women; 10,669 or 2.53% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Shebedino were the Sidama

Sidama people

The Sidama people of southern Ethiopia are an ethnic group whose homeland is in the Sidama Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. They number 2,966,474 of whom 149,480 are urban inhabitants, the fifth most populous nation in Ethiopia...

 (91.43%), 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...

 (2.67%), 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...

 (2.3%), and the Welayta

Welayta people

Wolayta is the name of an ethnic group and its former kingdom, located in southern Ethiopia. According to the most recent census , they number 1.7 million people or 2.31 percent of the country's population, of whom 289,707 are urban inhabitants...

 (2.16%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.44% of the population. Sidamo

Sidamo language

Sidamo is an Afro-Asiatic language, belonging to the Cushitic branch, part of the Highland East Cushitic group. It is spoken in parts of southern Ethiopia....

 is spoken as a first language by 93.36% of the inhabitants, 2.25% speak 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...

, 2.13% 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...

, and 1.74% Welayta

Welayta language

Wolaytta is an Omotic language spoken in the Wolaita Zone and some parts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia. The number of speakers of this language is estimated at 2,000,000 ; it is the native language of the Welayta people...

; the remaining 0.28% spoke all other primary languages reported. 61.74% of the population said they were Protestants

P'ent'ay

P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...

, 15.46% 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...

, 8.6% observed traditional religions, 6.24% embraced Catholicism

Roman Catholicism in Ethiopia

The Catholic Church in Ethiopia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.The Ethiopian Catholic Church, the primary organization of Catholicism in the country, is especially close to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose doctrine and...

, and 4.45% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.