Western Tigray Mi'irabawi |
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Zone | |
Western Tigray location in Ethiopia |
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Country | Ethiopia |
Region | Tigray Region |
Largest city | Humera |
Area | |
• Total | 12,323.35 km2 (4,758.07 sq mi) |
Population (2012 est.) | |
• Total | 407,560 |
• Density | 33/km2 (86/sq mi) |
Mi'irabawi (or "Western") is the westernmost Zone of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into three woredas (districts); from north to south they are Kafta Humera, Wolqayt and Tsegede. Major towns and cities include Humera. Mi'irabawi is bordered on the east by the Semien Mi'irabawi (North Western) Zone, the south by the Amhara Region, the west by Sudan and on the north by Eritrea. Semien Mi'irabawi Zone was split off from Mi'irabawi in 2005.
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 356,598, of whom 182,571 are men and 174,027 women; 71,823 or 20.14% are urban inhabitants. Two largest ethnic groups reported in Semien Mi'irabawi were the Tigray (92.28%), and Amhara (6.48%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.24% of the population. Tigrinya is spoken as a first language by 86.73, and Amharic by 12.18%; the remaining 1.09% spoke all other primary languages reported. 96.25% of the population said they were Orthodox Christians, and 3.68% were Muslim.
At the time of the 1994 national census, Mi'irabawi included the six woredas that were split off in 2005 to form the new Semien Mi'irabawi Zone. That census reported a total population of 733,962, of whom 371,198 were males and 362,764 females; 84,560 or 11.5% of its population were urban dwellers. The inhabitants of the Zone were predominantly Tigrayan, at 91.5% of the population, while 4.3% were Amhara, 3.5% foreign residents from Eritrea, and 0.2% Kunama; all other ethnic groups accounted for 0.5% of the population. Tigrinya was spoken as a first language by 94.45% of the inhabitants, and Amharic by 4.85%; the remaining 0.7% spoke all other primary languages reported. 96.28% of the population said they were Orthodox Christians, and 3.51% were Muslim. Concerning education in the Zone, 9.01% of the population were considered literate; 11.34% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school, while 0.65% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school, and 0.51% of children aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions, about 63% of the urban houses and 18% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 19% of the urban and 5% of the total had toilet facilities.