Borena Zone

Borena (or Borana) is one of the zones of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Borena is named after a tribe of the Oromo people. Borena is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, on the north by West Guji and Guji and on the east by the Somali Region. The highest point in this zone is Mount Dara Tiniro. Cities and major towns in this Zone include Negele Borana, Moyale, Yabelo, Dubuluk, Mega, Millami, Surupa and Bakke.

The Borena Zone was created shortly after the adoption of the new constitution in 1995 and the creation of the Oromia Region. In September 2003, the upland woredas were separated from Borena to create the Guji Zone. Since then many of the remaining woredas have been reorganized to create new ones.

This Zone was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2004 as one of several areas for voluntary resettlement for farmers from overpopulated areas; no specific woredas were identified in this program. Borena became the new home for a total of 9145 heads of households and 45,725 total family members.

Drought conditions in Borena in 2006 have increased tensions between the Borena and Guji clans from 22 May, and spiraled into violence a week later. Clan elders were able to restore peace, but only after 10 days of fighting in which between 100 and 150 people were killed and left thousands displaced.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 962,489, of whom 487,024 are men and 475,465 women; with an area of 45,434.97 square kilometers, Borena has a population density of 21.18. While 84,328 or 53.88% are urban inhabitants, a further 23,158 or 2.41% are pastoralists. A total of 182,258 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 5.28 persons to a household, and 174,474 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (88.78%), the Gedeo (4.42%) and the Burji (3.17%); all other ethnic groups made up 3.63% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 90.94%, Gedeogna was spoken by 4.06% and Konsogna by 2.72%; the remaining 2.28% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Protestant, with 47.25% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 35.01% of the population practiced traditional beliefs, 9.62% were Muslim and 5.45% professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

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