Kembata Tembaro Zone

Kembata Tembaro is a zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR). It was formerly known as Kembata, Alaba and Tembaro, until Alaba became a special woreda in 2002. This zone is named after sub-groups of Kambaata and Tembaro people.

The zone is bordered on the south by Wolayita, on the southwest by Dawro, on the northwest by Hadiya, on the north by Gurage, on the east by the Alaba special woreda, and on the southeast by an exclave of the Hadiya Zone. The administrative center is Durame; other important towns include Shinshicho. Other local landmarks include the three mountains of Ambaricho, Kataa, and Datoo, and the hot springs at Motokoma. The longest river in the area is the Lagabora which means in Kambatinga the "river of Bora".

Kembata Tembaro has 217 kilometers of all-weather roads and 140 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 249 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 8,364 tons of coffee were produced in Gurage, Hadiya and Kembata Tembaro in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 8.33% of the SNNPR's output and 3.36% of Ethiopia's total output.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,080,837, of whom 536,676 are men and 544,161 women; with an area of 1,355.89 square kilometers, Kembata Tembaro has a population density of 502.13. While 97,797 or 14.36% are urban inhabitants, a further 35 individuals are pastoralists. A total of 122,580 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 5.55 persons to a household, and 118,077 housing units. The five largest ethnic groups reported were the Kambaata (72.48%), the Tembaro (13.73%), the Hadiya (5.5%), the Donga (4.81%) and the Wolayta (1.75%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.73% of the population. Kambaata was spoken as a first language by 74.03%, 13.83% Tembaro, 5.56% spoke Hadiya, and 1.29% Wolaytta; the remaining 1.13% spoke all other primary languages reported. 83.6% of the population said they were Protestants, 6.55% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 5.94% embraced Catholicism, and 3.07% were Muslim.

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