Aseko is one of the
Aanaa
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''.
These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...
s in the
Oromia
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. It is named after the administrative center of the Aanaa,
Aseko. Part of the
Arsi Zone
Arsi ( om, Godina Arsii) is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo, who inhabit in the area.
Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by East Shewa Zone, ...
, Aseko is bordered on the southwest by
Chole, on the northwest by
Merti
Merti is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Merti is bordered on the south by Sude, on the west by Jeju, on the northwest by the East Shewa Zone, on the north by the Afar Region, on the east by A ...
, on the north by the
West Hararghe Zone
West Hararge () is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. West Hararghe takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. West Harerge is bordered on the south by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the southwest by Arsi, o ...
, and on the east by
Gololcha.
Overview
The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1000 to 2900 meters above sea level; the highest mountains include Weranbus, Abakoro and Dao. Rivers include the Arba, Dagnam Yelew and Bagdo. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 19.2% is arable or cultivable, 17.9% pasture, 17.1%
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, and the remaining 45.7% is considered swampy, mountainous or otherwise unusable. Arbagugu State Forest is a local landmark.
Coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
,
khat
Khat or qat ( ''ch’at''; Oromo: ''Jimaa'', so, qaad, khaad, khat or chat, ar, القات ''al-qāt'') is a flowering plant native to eastern and southern Africa. Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant, which is said to cause e ...
,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s and
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
are important cash crops.
[''Socio-economic profile of Arsi Zone'']
Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006)
Industry in the woreda includes one
grain mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
and some
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
, as well as 83 licensed traders of whom 71% were retailers, 26.5% wholesalers and 2.5% service providers. According to the Government of Oromia, "Aseko is the
ostdisadvantaged district in industrial activities in Arsi zone." There were 13 Farmers Associations with 9669 members.
[ Aseko has no reported roads, and is reportedly only accessible during the dry season; due to this inaccessibility, the woreda was largely excluded from rural development programs between 1974 and 1984.]["Local History in Ethiopia"]
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 27 May 2008) However, 27 kilometers of road connecting Abomsa
Abomsa is a town in central Ethiopia; Traditionally, the Etymology of the word Abomsa is ʔabbo /Abbo/ and mɨsɑ. Abbo is the short form of the Name Saint Abune Gebre Menfes Kiduss and popularly called Abbo and mɨsa is lunch. In the early perio ...
in Merti to Aseko was reported as under construction in 2005. About 19% of the total population has access to drinking water
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
.[
]
Demographics
The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 84,112, of whom 42,399 were men and 41,713 were women; 3,988 or 4.74% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants said they were Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, with 62.83% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 36.89% of the population practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
.
Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth ...
in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 84,959, of whom 41,940 are men and 43,019 are women; 1,961 or 2.31% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 618.13 square kilometers, Aseko has an estimated population density of 137.4 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 132.2.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 61,513, of whom 31,327 were men and 30,186 women; 1,097 or 1.78% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Aseko were the Oromo (59.49%), and the Amhara (40.08%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.43% of the population. Oromiffa
Oromo ( or ; Oromo: ''Afaan Oromoo''), in the linguistic literature of the early 20th century also called Galla (a name with a pejorative meaning and therefore rejected by the Oromo people), is an Afroasiatic language
The Afroasiatic languag ...
was spoken as a first language by 55.62%, and 44.35% spoke Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
; the remaining 0.03% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, with 54.53% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 45.38% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.13, 2.16, 2.20 (accessed 6 April 2009).
Notes
{{Districts of the Oromia Region
Districts of Oromia Region