Metekel Zone

Metekel is one of the three Zones in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, named after the former Metekkel province. It is bordered on the south and southwest by Kamashi, on the west by Sudan, and on the north and east by the Amhara Region. The Abay River defines the Zone's boundaries with Kamashi, while the Dinder River defines part of its boundary with the Amhara Region.

The administrative center of Metekel Zone is Gilgil Beles; other towns include Manbuk. The highest point is Mount Belaya (3,131 meters), which is part of the Dangur range.

MIDROC Gold reported in 2009 that it was exploring the Zone for gold deposits.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 276,367, of whom 139,119 are men and 137,248 women. 37,615 or 13.61% of population are urban inhabitants. A total of 58,515 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.72 persons to a household, and 56,734 housing units. The five largest ethnic groups reported in the Metekel Zone were the Gumuz (36.78%), the Shinasha (21.6%), the Amhara (17.39%), the Awi (11.33%), a subgroup of the Agew, and the Oromo (11.09%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.81% of the population. Main languages are the Gumuz (36.31%), Oromo (19.89%), Amharic (18.21%), Shinasha (12.81%) and Awngi (10.91%). The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 54.49% of the population reporting that they held that belief, while 20.31% were Muslim, 17.65% observed traditional religions, and 6.36% were Protestant.

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