Nejo (woreda)

Nejo is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Welega Zone, Nejo is bordered on the southeast by Boji, on the west by Jarso, on the northwest by Mana Sibu, and on the north and east by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The administrative center is Nejo; other towns in Nejo include Gori and Wara Jiru.

In this woreda there is a gold mine said to be the oldest one in the world, according to the Spectrum Guide to Ethiopia; that book adds that it is "thought by some to be the source of the legendary 'King Solomon's Mines' featured in the novel of the same name by Rider Haggard." European prospectors, granted concessions by the Ethiopian government, searched for gold between 1901 until the Second Italian-Abyssinian War, finding deposits on Tulu Kami and the Laga Gumbi hills, as well as along the Alaltu and Dilla Rivers.Coffee is an important cash crop of Nejo. Over 50 square kilometers is planted with this crop.

In the 2005 Ethiopian elections, the electoral district of Nejo elected Mesfin Nemera Deriesa (party whip of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement) as their representative in the House of People's Representatives.

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 130,909 in 25,336 households, of whom 64,654 were men and 66,255 were women; 24,505 or 18.72% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants observed Protestantism, with 63.72% reporting that as their religion, while 33.69% observed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and were 1.72% Muslim.

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