Merti 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 Regional State 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, ...

, Merti is bordered on the south by Sude, on the west by

Jeju Jeju may refer to: * Jeju Island (Jejudo), an island near South Korea * Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo **Jeju City, the biggest city on Jejudo **Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo ** Jeju l ...

, on the northwest by the

East Shewa Zone East Shewa ( om, Shawaa Bahaa) is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Shewa is located at centre of oromia Oromia, connecting the western regions to the eastern ones. This zone is bordered on the south by the West Arsi Zone, on the southw ...

, on the north by the

Afar Region The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the paved ...

, on the east by Aseko, and on the southeast by Chole. The administrative center of this woreda is

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 ...

; other towns in Merti include Reye. Guna woreda was separated from Merti.

Overview

The altitude of Momina in 1927, which embraces a

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...

of Christian and Moslem beliefs and rituals, is an important local landmark. A lesser one is the Arbagugu state forest.

Linseed 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 ...

and

teff ''Eragrostis tef'', also known as teff, Williams lovegrass or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known as ...

are important cash crops.''Socio-economic profile of Arsi Zone''
Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006) Industry in the woreda includes quarrying and pottery making, 61 small scale industries (including

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 ...

s) that employ 178 people, as well as 727 registered traders 17.6% of whom were wholesalers, 42.4% retailers and 40% service providers. There were 25 Farmers Associations with 14,179 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 6958 members. Merti has 148 kilometers of dry-weather and 105 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 197 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 22.7% 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 90,408, of whom 46,759 were men and 43,649 were women; 14,655 or 16.21% 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 60.74% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 37.68% of the population 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 ...

, and 1.37% of the population 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 ...

. 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 135,023, of whom 67,257 are men and 67,766 are women; 26,053 or 19.30% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 1,282.19 square kilometers, Merti has an estimated population density of 105.3 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 132.2. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 93,895, of whom 47,201 were men and 46,694 women; 14,575 or 15.52% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Merti were the Oromo (71.29%), and the Amhara (26.3%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.41% 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 65.38%, and 33.79% 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 0.83% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were

, with 59.71% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 39.91% of the population said they professed

.''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