Werder is one of nine Zones of 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...

 in 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...

. This zone is named after its largest city, Werder

Werder, Ethiopia

Werder is a town in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Werder Zone of the Somali Region, Werder has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 541 meters above sea level...

. Werder is bordered on the south by Gode

Gode Zone

Gode is one of nine Zones of the Somali Region, Ogaden, of Ethiopia. This zone is named for its largest city, Gode. Gode is bordered on the south by Afder, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the north by Fiq and Degehabur, on the northeast by Korahe and Werder, and on the east by the Provisional...

, on the west by Korahe

Korahe Zone

Korahe is one of nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Korahe is bordered on the south and west by Gode, on the north by Degehabur, and on the east by Werder...

, on the northwest by Degehabur

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...

, and on the northeast and southeast by Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

. The Provisional Administrative Line

Provisional Administrative Line

A Provisional Administrative Line is a de facto border between two countries. For example, part of the border between Ethiopia and Somalia is a Provisional Administrative Line....

 defines the southeast border with Somalia, while on the northeast is the unrecognized state of Somaliland

Somaliland

Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...

.

Demographics

Based on figures from 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...

 (CSA) in 2005, Werder has an estimated total population of 401,993, of whom 221,191 were males and 180,802 were females; 36,824 or 9.2% of its population are urban dwellers. Density figures for this zone are not available.

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 324,308 in 42,564 households, of whom 181,566 were males and 142,742 were females; 24,681 or 7.61% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in the Werder Zone 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...

 323,928 (99.9%), and Somali

Somali language

The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....

 was spoken by 323,881 (99.9%). The literacy rate in this Zone is 4.2%. The CSA categorized 160,057 (49.3%) of the people in the Zone as being part of the labor pool of whom 10,722 (6.7%) were unemployed).

According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 memorandum, 1% of the inhabitants of Werder have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 0.0 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. 28.2% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and an average of 28% for pastoral Regions. 13% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 1% in secondary schools. 100% of the zone is exposed to malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, and none to Tsetse fly

Tsetse fly

Tsetse , sometimes spelled tzetze and also known as tik-tik flies, are large biting flies that inhabit much of mid-continental Africa between the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. They live by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals and are the primary biological vectors of trypanosomes, which...

. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 788.

Agriculture

On 5-23 November 2003, the CSA conducted the first ever national agricultural census, of which the livestock census was an important component. For the Somali Region, the CSA generated estimated figures for the livestock population (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and equids) and their distribution by commissioning an aerial survey. For the Werder Zone, their results included:

Animal	Estimated total	number per sqk.
cattle	36,146	0.7
sheep	2,253,550	69.9 (including goats)
goats	1,413,143	69.9 (including sheep)
camels	376,183	7.2
asses	460	0.01 (all equids)
mules	7	0.01 (all equids)
horses	1	0.01 (all equids)