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( Oromo: Aaana ''Baalee'') is a
zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...
in
Oromia Region 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 ...
. Bale is bordered on the south by the
Ganale Dorya River The Ganale Doria River ( so, Webiga Janaale) (also transliterated as Genale Dorya) is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Ganale flows south and east to join with the Dawa River, Dawa at the ...
which separates it from
Guji Zone Guji ( Oromo: ''Godina Gujii'') is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Guji is named after a tribe of the Oromo people. Guji is bordered on the south by Borena, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, on the nor ...
, on the west by the
West Arsi Zone West Arsi ( Oromo: ''Arsii Lixaa/Dhihaa'') is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named after a subgroup of the Oromo, who inhabit it. It covers an area of 11,776.72 km2, divided into 12 districts (''weredas''). The population ...
, on the north by
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, ...
, on the northeast by the
Shebelle River The Shebelle River ( so, Webi Shabeelle, ar, نهر شبيلي, am, እደላ) begins in the Ethiopian Highlands, highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where ...
which separates it from
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
East Hararghe Zone East Hararghe ( om, Harargee Bahaa) is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Hararghe Zone is bordered on the southwest by Bale, on the west by West Hararghe Zone, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somali Region. ...
, and on the east by the
Somali Region The Somali Region ( so, Deegaanka Soomaalida, am, ሱማሌ ክልል, Sumalē Kilil, ar, المنطقة الصومالية), also known as Soomaali Galbeed (''Western Somalia'') and officially the Somali Regional State, is a regional state ...
.


Overview

The highest point in the Bale Zone, and also the highest point in Oromia, is
Mount Batu Mount Batu is one of the highest of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, as well as of the Oromia Region. Part of the Bale National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. The park encompasses an area of approximat ...
(4,307 m) in the Urgoma Mountains range. Other notable peaks of the Urgoma include
Mount Tullu Dimtu Tullu Dimtu ( Oromo: Tulluu Diimtuu) is the fourth highest peak in Ethiopia after Ras Dashen (4550m), Ancua (4462m), and Kidus Yared (4453m). Tullu Dimtu is on the Sanetti Plateau in the Bale Mountains of Oromia Region in southeast Ethiopia, wi ...
,
Mount Darkeena Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
and Mount Gaysay. Rivers include the Wab and the Waab; notable lakes include Garba Guracha and Hora Orgona. Bale zone is connected with neighboring zones and region by national highway. It is connected with Finfinne via Robe highway. The economy of the zone is mainly dominated by agriculture. The zone is for coffee and wheat production. Points of interest in the Zone include
Sheikh Hussein __NOTOC__ Sheikh Hussein is a town in south-eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of 1386 meters above sea level. The Central Statistical Agency has not published an ...
—named for the tomb of a
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 ...
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
—the
Bale Mountains National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. The park encompasses an area of approximately in the Bale Mountains and Sanetti Plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands. The park's Afromontane habitats have one of the highest incid ...
, and the
Sof Omar Caves Sof Omar Caves is the longest cave in Ethiopia at long. When surveyed in 1972, it was the longest cave in Africa. Since then explorations in Algeria (Rhar Bou Ma’za - the Tafna River Cave 18.4 km) and Madagascar (Ambatoharanana - Crocodile C ...
. Towns and cities in Bale include
Dodola Dodola (also spelled ''Dodole'', ''Dudola'', ''Dudula'' etc.) and Perperuna (also spelled ''Peperuda'', ''Preperuda'', ''Preperuša'', ''Prporuša'', ''Papaluga'' etc.), are Balkans, Balkan Rainmaking (ritual), rainmaking pagan customs practiced ...
,
Ginir Ginir (also transliterated Ghinnir) is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the East Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation between 1750 and 1986 meters above sea level. Ginir is the ...
,
Goba Goba ( Oromo: ', Amharic: ጎባ) is a town and separate woreda located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia approximately 446 km southeast of Addis Ababa, this city has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,743 meters ...
and
Robe A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoils" ...
. Bale zone is the second largest zone in Oromia National Regional State after
Borena zone Borena ( Oromo: ''Boorana'') is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Borena is named after one of the two major subgroups of the Oromo People. Borena is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peop ...
with a total area of 63,555 km2. It shares about 17.5% of total area of
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 ...
. It has 18 districts, 2 urban administrative centers, 20 urban kebeles and 351 rural kebeles. 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 ...
(CSA) reported that 5,130
metric ton The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...
s of
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 ...
were produced in this zone in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 4.46% of the Region's output and 2.2% of Ethiopia's total output.


Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,402,492, an increase of 15.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 713,517 are men and 688,975 women; with an area of 43,690.56 square kilometers, Bale has a population density of 32.10. While 166,758 or 26.20% are urban inhabitants, a further 44,610 or 3.18% are pastoralists. A total of 297,081 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.72 persons to a household, and 287,188 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (91.2%), the Amhara (5.7%) and the Somali (1.44%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.66% of the population.
Afaan Oromo 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 that belongs to the Cushiti ...
was spoken as a first language by 90.46%,
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 ...
was spoken by 7.11% and Somali by 1.05%; the remaining 1.38% 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 81.83% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 16.94% of the population 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 ...
and 1.04% were
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. Bale is named for the former
Sultanate of Bale The Sultanate of Bale was a Sidama Muslim sultanate founded in the Bale Mountains of the southern Ethiopian Highlands and Horn of Africa. It corresponds roughly to the modern Bale Zone of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia. History Establishment The ...
, which was in approximately the same area. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this zone of 1,217,864 in 250,586 households, of whom 603,895 were men and 613,969 women; 130,307 or 10.7% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Bale were the Oromo (88.93%), the Amhara (7.65%), the Somali (1.39%), and the
Sidama The Sidama ( am, ሲዳማ) are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional sta ...
(0.88%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.15% of the population. Oromo was spoken as a first language by 87.5%, 9.5%
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 ...
, 1.51% spoke Somali, and 0.88% spoke Sidamo; the remaining 0.61% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 76.7% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 19.02% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 2.77% held traditional beliefs, and 1.15% were Protestant. According to a May 24, 2004
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
memorandum, 11% of the inhabitants of Bale have access to electricity; this zone has a road density of 11.4 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers); the average rural household has 1 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region); and the equivalent of 1.0 head of livestock. 19.5% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a regional average of 24%. Concerning
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
, 66% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school and 21% in secondary schools. Concerning
health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
, 53% of the zone is exposed to
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
and none to
Tsetse fly Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glo ...
. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 555.World Bank, ''Four Ethiopias: A Regional Characterization''
(accessed 23 March 2006).


Geography

Bale Zone is bounded by
Genale Genale is a town founded by Italian colonists in the southeastern Lower Shebelle (Shabeellaha Hoose) region of Italian Somalia. Currently it is called Janaale. History Genale was created in 1924 by a group of settlers from the Italian city of ...
river to the west and southwest and Wabe Shebele river on east and north. These two rivers restrict surface transportation system intra zone and inter zones and regions. Altitude of Bale zone extends from less than 300 meters around
Meda Welabu Meda Welabu is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Bale Zone, Meda Welabu is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from the Guji Zone, on the northwest by West Arsi Zone, on the north by Mennana Harena Bul ...
, southeast of Rayitu and Gura Damole districts; to more than 4377 meters above sea level in
Goba Goba ( Oromo: ', Amharic: ጎባ) is a town and separate woreda located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia approximately 446 km southeast of Addis Ababa, this city has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,743 meters ...
district namely Mount Tulu Dimtu. The annual average temperature of Bale zone is 17.5 °C. The maximum and minimum temperature is 25 °C and 10 °C respectively. The mean annual average rainfall is 875mm, whereas maximum 1200mm and 550mm minimum annual rainfall was recorded in the zone.


Notes

{{Districts of the Oromia Region Oromia Region Zones of Ethiopia Bale Mountains