Gurage Zone

Gurage is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR). This zone is named for the Gurage people, whose homeland lies in this zone. Gurage is bordered on the southeast by Hadiya and Yem special woreda, on the west, north and east by the Oromia Region, and on the southeast by Silt'e. Its highest point is Mount Gurage. Welkite is the administrative center of the Zone; Butajira is the largest city in this zone and the former administrative center. Other towns in Gurage include Endibir and Enseno.

Most parts of this Zone are heavily eroded, which required farmers to protect their enset fields with stone and soil bunds. During the 1930s, about 20% of the land in Gurage was covered with natural forests, which has since been almost completely cut down; the removal was especially fast during the years 1991 and 1992. As of 1996^[update] one of the largest natural forests is Ziarem forest (also known as Forehina), about 800 hectares in size. On the other hand, beginning in the early 1960s the inhabitants started to grow eucalyptus on an increasing scale, which has increased the amount of land being covered with trees. This Zone has 783 kilometers of all-weather roads and 281 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 182 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.

The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 7,624 tons of coffee were produced in Gurage, Hadiya and Kembata Tembaro combined in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 7.6% of the SNNPR's output and 3.36% of Ethiopia's total output.

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