East Hararghe Zone

Misraq Hararghe (or "East Hararghe") is one of the Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. East Hararge takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. East Hararge is bordered on the southwest by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the west by West Hararghe, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somali Region. The Harari Region is an enclave inside this zone.

Towns and cities in East Harerge include Haramaya, Awaday, Babille and Fugnan Bira. Its highest point is Gara Muleta. Local landmarks include the Harar Wildlife Sanctuary and Haramaya University.

The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 3,654.00 tons of coffee were produced in East Hararghe in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 3.17% of the Region's output and 1.6% of Ethiopia's total output.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 2,723,850, an increase of 48.79% over the 1994 census, of whom 1,383,198 are men and 1,340,652 women; with an area of 17,935.40 square kilometers, East Hararghe has a population density of 151.87. While 216,943 or 8.27% are urban inhabitants, a further 30,215 or 1.11% are pastoralists. A total of 580,735 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.69 persons to a household, and 560,223 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (96.43%) and the Amhara (2.26%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.31% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 94.6%, Somali was spoken by 2.92% and Amharic by 2.06%; the remaining 0.42% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 96.51% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 3.12% of the population professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

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