Gurgura is 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 ...

in the

chartered city In the United States, a charter city is a city in which the governance, governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than solely by general-law municipality, general law. In states where city charters are allowed by law, ...

of Dire Dawa in

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 ...

Naming

It is named after the

Gurgura The Gurgure, Gorgorah or Gurgura ( so, Gurgure, om, Gurgura, ar, غرغرة) is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family. Distribution The Gurgure are the majority in the Erer district in the Sitti Zone and Dire Dawa ...

clan which traces its genealogy to the Dir clan family of the

Somalis The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

History

The woreda of Gurgura was in existence as early as 1964, when its administrative center was at Kersa."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 17 August 2009)

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 growt ...

in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 116,250, of whom 58,004 are men and 58,246 are women; 14,250 or 12.26% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the average for entire chartered city of 74.4. With an estimated area of 1,195.52 square kilometers, Gurgura has an estimated population density of 97.2 people per square kilometer, which is less than the average for the administrative region of 328. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 87,013 in 15,827 households, of whom 45,098 were men and 41,915 were women; 8,337 or 9.58% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Gurgura were the Oromo (81.48%), the Somali (16.53%), and the Amhara (1.24%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.75% of the population. Oromiffa is spoken as a first language by 82.29%, 15.77% Somali and 1.39% speak Amharic; the remaining 0.55% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 98.34% of the population reporting that as their faith, while 1.48% 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 Chri ...

. 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 ...

, 7.98% of the population were considered literate. Concerning sanitary conditions, 90% of the urban houses and 31% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 37% of the urban and about 7% of the total had toilet facilities. Censuses record that Oromo are the greatest percentage of the Gurgura woreda, based on the number who speak the Oromo language. But the

clan share both Somali and Oromo identities, speaking the Oromo language and tracing their genealogy to the Dir, a Somali clan family. Gurgura are mentioned in the ''Futuh Al Habasha : Conquest of Abyssinia'' as source dating back as far as the 16th century as Somalis who fought alongside

Ahmed Gran Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sultan ...

. So most inhabitants are of the Gurgura clan.

Notes

{{coord missing, Ethiopia Dire Dawa Districts of Ethiopia