Gedeo Zone

Gedeo is a Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. This Zone is named for the Gedeo people, whose homelands lie in this zone. Gedeo extends south as a narrow strip of land along the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands into the Oromia Region, which borders the Zone on the east, south and west; Gedeo shares its northern boundary with Sidama. Dila is the administrative center; other towns include Yirgachefe.

The altitude of the Zone ranges from 1268 meters above sea level in the vicinity of Lake Abaya to an elevation of 2993 meters at Haro Wolabu Pond. Gedeo has 215 kilometers of all-weather roads and 54 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 199 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.

The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 63,562 tons of coffee were produced in Sidama and Gideo combined in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 63% of the SNNPR's output and 28% of Ethiopia's total output. On 28 July 2009, the Zonal agriculture and rural development coordination department in Dila reported that over 359.2 million Birr of coffee had been produced by farmers in the Gedeo Zone over the course of the year.

The 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia reports this Zone has a total population of 847,434, of whom 424,742 are men and 422,692 women; with an area of 1,210.89 square kilometers, Gedeo has a population density of 699.84. While 107,781 or 12.72% are urban inhabitants, a further 39 individuals are pastoralists. A total of 179,677 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.72 persons to a household, and 172,782 housing units. The four largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone were the Gedeo (86.14%), the Oromo (4.71%), the Amhara (3.37%) and the Gurage (1.55%); all other ethnic groups made up 4.23% of the population. Gedeo is spoken as a first language by 86.82%, 5.82% speak Amharic and 4.12% speak Oromiffa; the remaining 3.24% spoke all other primary languages reported. A plurality of the inhabitants said they were Protestants, with 73.21% of the population reporting answers in that category, while 10.67% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 7.96% observed traditional religions, 2.44% were Muslim, and 2.11% embraced Catholicism.

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