Bekoji ( om, Boqojji) was a

woreda 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. 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, ...

, Bekoji was bordered on the south by

Gedeb Gedeb is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia, named after its major town, Gedeb. Part of the Gedeo Zone, Gedeb is bordered on the east and south by the Oromia Region, on the west by Kochere, on ...

, on the southwest by

Kofele Kofele is a town in Oromia Region Ethiopia, and the administrative center of the Kofele woreda. Located in the West Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2695 meters above sea level. Accor ...

, on the west by

Munesa Munesa is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Munesa is bordered on the south and west by the West Arsi Zone and Lake Langano, on the northwest by Batu Dugda, on the n ...

, on the north by

Digeluna Tijo Digeluna Tijo is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Digeluna Tijo is bordered on the south by Bekoji, on the southwest by Munesa, on the northwest by Tiyo, on the north by Hitosa, on the northeast by Tena, and on the east ...

, on the east by Sherka, and on the southeast 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 separated it from the

Bale Zone (Oromo language, Oromo: Aaana ''Baalee'') is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Bale is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Guji Zone, on the west by the West Arsi Zone, on the north by Ar ...

. The administrative center of this woreda was

Bekoji Bekoji ( Oromo: Boqojjii, Amharic: በቆጂ) is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2810 m. It is the administrative centre of Limuna Bilbilo woreda ...

; other towns included Lemu Sirba,

Meraro Meraro is a town located in the Arsi Zone of Oromia Regional State to the south of Bekoji, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 3,030 meters. Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia published in 2005, ...

, Siltana and Sirbo. Bekoji was divided for

Enkelo Wabe Honkolo Wabe is one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is part of the Arsi Zone. It was part of former Bekoji woreda which was divided for and Limuna Bilbilo woredas. Demographics The 2007 national census reported a total popula ...

and

Limuna Bilbilo Limuna Bilbilo is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. It is part of the Arsi Zone. It was part of former Bekoji woreda which was divided for Enkelo Wabe and Limuna Bilbilo woredas. The name Limu stands for the Arsi Oromo sub- ...

woredas.

Demographics

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 district has an estimated total population of 234,741, of whom 119,275 are men and 115,466 are women; 30,137 or 12.84% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 1,501.72 square kilometers, Bekoji has an estimated population density of 156.3 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 132.2. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this district of 165,788, of whom 81,849 were men and 83,939 women; 16,876 or 10.18% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Bekoji were the Oromo (87.55%), and the Amhara (11.75%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.7% of the population. Oromo was spoken as a first language by 87.23%, and 12.57% 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 0.2% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants 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 ...

, with 58.91% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 39.96% of the population 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 ...

, and 1% 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 ...

.''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 Oromia Region {{Oromia-geo-stub