West Arsi ( Oromo: ''Arsii Lixaa/Dhihaa'') is a zone in the

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 ...

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 ...

. 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

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

s (''weredas''). The population was officially estimated at 2,929,894 in mid 2022. The administrative center of this zone is

Shashamane Shashamane ( om, Shashamannee, am, ሻሸመኔ) is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Oromia Region with a 2007 Census population of 100,454, but with an estimated 208,368 inhabitants in mid 2022; the town is known for its Rastafarian ...

, with an estimated 208,368 inhabitants in mid 2022; other towns in this zone (with estimated populations in mid 2022) include Arsi Negele (98,114) in Arsi Negele District, Dodola (43,186) in

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 ...

District, Asassa (42,867) in

Gedeb Asasa Gedeb Hassasa is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia of Ethiopia. Part of the West Arsi Zone, Gedeb Hassasa is bordered on the south by the Dodola, on the west by Kofele, on the north west by Kore, and on the north and east by Bekoji. The administrative ...

District, Kofele (27,948) in

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. Accord ...

District, and Adaba (25,098) in Adaba District.

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 1,964,038, of whom 973,743 are men and 990,295 women. 272,084 or 13.85% of population are urban inhabitants. A total of 387,143 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 5.01 persons to a household, and 369,533 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported in West Arsi were the Oromo (88.52%) and the Amhara (3.98%); all other ethnic groups made up 7.5% of the population. Oromo was spoken as a first language by 87.34% and 6.46% 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 6.2% 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 80.34% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 11.04% 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 7.02% of the population professed

Protestantism 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 ...

.Census 2007 Tables: Oromia Region
Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4. The population was officially estimated at 2,929,894 in mid 2022, comprising 1,446,807 males and 1,483,087 females.

Notes

{{coord missing, Ethiopia Oromia Region Zones of Ethiopia

External links

Fig1: Map of Ethiopia, West Arsi Zone and Shashemene City

The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative | Bale – West Arsi Eco-Region, Ethiopia