East Shewa Zone

Misraq Shewa (or "East Shewa") is one of the Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. This zone takes its name from the kingdom or former province of Shewa. East Shewa is located in the middle of Oromia, connecting the western regions to the eastern ones. This zone is bordered on the south by the West Arsi Zone, on the southwest by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, on the west by South west Shewa and Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, on the northwest by North Shewa, on the north by the Amhara Region, on the northeast by the Afar Region, and on the southeast by Arsi; its westernmost reach is defined by the course of the Bilate River. Towns and cities in East Shewa include Bishoftu (Debre Zeit), Metehara, and Ziway. The town of Adama was separated from East Shewa and is a special zone now.

With the intent to rehabilitate degraded forests, the Zonal Agriculture and Rural Development Office announced 2 October 2006 that it had planted over 36.3 million seedlings in 10 of the Zone's 12 woredas, covering 4,000 hectares of land.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 1,356,342, of whom 696,350 are men and 659,992 women; with an area of 8,370.90 square kilometers, East Shewa has a population density of 162.03. While 340,225 or 25.08% are urban inhabitants, a further 664 or 0.05% are pastoralists. A total of 309,726 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.38 persons to a household, and 296,342 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (74.06%), the Amhara (15.39%) and Gurage (3.82%); all other ethnic groups made up 6.73% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 69.15%, Amharic was spoken by 24.29% and Guragigna by 2.64% of the population; the remaining 3.92% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 69.33% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 16.18% of the population were Muslim, 8.4% of the population professed Protestantism and 5.08% practiced traditional beliefs.

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