Dawro (or Dawuro) 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 the South West Region 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 located at about 500km southwest of

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, the capital of Ethiopia and 319 km of Hawassa, the capital of the SNNPR. Dawuro is bordered on the south by

Gamo Gofa Zone Gaamo Zone is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Gaamo is bordered on the south by the Dirashe special woreda, on the southwest by Debub (South) Omo and the Basketo special woreda, on the northwest by K ...

, on the west by the

Konta special woreda Konta is a Municipal Council and tehsil headquarters in Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, India. Konta is a model town situated near bank of sabri River and Konta Legislative Assembly constituency is one of the 90 Legislative Assembly , Konta M ...

, on the north by the

Gojeb River The Gojeb River is eastward-flowing tributary of the Omo River in Ethiopia. It rises in the mountains of Guma, flowing in almost a direct line its confluence with the Omo at . Its canyon provided the former Kingdom of Kaffa an important defensive ...

which defines its boundary with the

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 ...

,Jimma zone, on the northeast by Hadiya and

Kembata Tembaro Zone Kembata Tembaro is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It was formerly known as ''Kembata, Alaba and Tembaro'', until Alaba became a special woreda in 2002. This zone is named after the Kambaata peopl ...

s, and on the east by

Wolayita Zone Wolayita or Wolaita is an administrative zone in Ethiopia. It is named for the Welayta people, whose homeland is in the zone. Wolayita is bordered on the south by Gamo Gofa, on the west by the Omo River which separates it from Dawro, on the n ...

; the

Omo River The Omo River (also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile, Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Keny ...

defines its eastern and southern boundaries. The administrative center of Dawuro was Waka before it was transferred to Tarcha. Dawuro has 111 kilometers of all-weather roads and 123 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 53 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. High points in this Zone include

Mount Holla 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, Co ...

(3720 meters). Dawuro used to be part of the

North Omo Zone North Omo Zone ( Amharic: ሰሜን ኦሞ) was a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It was named after the Omo River, which flows in the western area of the former zone. In 2000 it was split into three ...

, and the 1994 national census counted its inhabitants as part of that Zone. However friction between the various ethnic groups in Semien Omo, which was often blamed on the

Welayta people The Welayta, Wolayta or Wolaitta ( Ge'ez: ወላይታ ''Wolaytta'') are an ethnic group and its former kingdom, located in southern Ethiopia. According to the most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zo ...

for "ethnic chauvinism" and despite the efforts of the ruling party to emphasize the need to coordinate, consolidate, and unify the smaller ethnic units to achieve the "efficient use of scarce government resources", led to the division of the zone in 2000, resulting with the creation of the Dawuro, Gamo Gofa, and Wolayita Zones, and two special districts.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted 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 ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this zone has a total population of 489,577, of whom 249,263 are men and 240,314 women; with an area of 4,814.52 square kilometers, Dawuro has a population density of 101.69. While 35,044 or 7.16% are urban inhabitants, a further 14 individuals are pastoralists. A total of 89,915 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 5.44 persons to a household, and 86,642 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported in this zone included the Dawro (97.32%), and the Hadiya (1.3%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.38% of the population. Dawurtsho is spoken as a first language by 97.44% of the inhabitants, and 1.3% speak Hadiya; the remaining 1.26% spoke all other primary languages reported. 57.71% of the population said they were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, 31.86% practiced

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 ...

, 4.9% observed traditional religions, and 4.61% embraced

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

.Census 2007 Tables: Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4. Dawro is one of the ethnic groups in Ethiopia that uses its own character set of the Ethiopic syllabary.

Woredas

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 ...

s and town administration districts in the Dawro Zone include: * Gena Bosa * Isara * Loma * Mareka *

Tocha Tocha is a civil parish in the municipality of Cantanhede, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,992, in an area of 78.44 km². References Freguesias of Cantanhede, Portugal {{Coimbra-geo-stub ...

Former woredas include: *

Isara Tocha Isara Tocha was one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Dawro Zone, Isara Tocha was bordered on the south by the Omo River which separates this woreda from the Gamo Gofa Zone, on the ...

Loma Bosa Loma Bosa (also known as simply Loma) was one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Dawro Zone, Loma Bosa was bordered on the south by the Gamo Gofa Zone, on the west by Isara Tocha, o ...

Mareka Gena Mareka Gena was one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Omo Zone, Mareka Gena was a triangle-shaped area located south of the confluence of the Omo River and its east-flowing ...

References

{{Districts of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region Zones of Ethiopia South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region