Misraq Gashamo ("East Gashamo") is one of the

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 in the

Somali Region The Somali Region ( so, Deegaanka Soomaalida, am, ሱማሌ ክልል, Sumalē Kilil, ar, المنطقة الصومالية), also known as Soomaali Galbeed (''Western Somalia'') and officially the Somali Regional State, is a regional state ...

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

Jarar zone Jarar ( so, Jarar) is a zone in Somali Region of Ethiopia. It was previously known as the Degehabur zone, so named after its largest city, Degehabur. Jarar Zone is bordered on the south by Korahe, on the southwest by Nogob, on the northwest by ...

, Misraq Gashamo is bordered on the south by the

Werder Zone Dollo ( so, Doollo) is one of the nine zones in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. It was previously known as Warder/Werder, so named after its largest city, Warder. Dollo is bordered on the southwest by Korahe, on the northwest by Jarar, on the ...

, on the southwest by Gunagadow, on the west by Aware, and on the north by

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

; it is frequently considered part of the

Haud The Haud (also Hawd) (, ), formerly known as the Hawd Reserve Area is a plateau situated in the Horn of Africa consisting of thorn-bush and grasslands. The region includes the southern part of Somaliland as well as the northern and eastern part ...

. The biggest town and capital of this district is Gashamo. The district is named after the town.

History

Before 1960, there was no water available during the dry season in Misraq Gashamo; the pastures in the woreda were traditionally abandoned by the local nomadic pastoralists for areas with abundant water with the advent of the dry season, like

Burco Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao (; so, Burco, , ar, برعو) is the capital of the Togdheer region and the second largest city in Somaliland. Burao was also the third largest city of Somalia. Burao was the site of the declaration of an in ...

. In the years after 1960 the construction of private ''birkas'' (underground concrete water tanks), which greatly increased after 1970; by 1998 there were 128 clusters of ''birkas'', each cluster corresponding to the number of permanent or semi-permanent settlements in the woreda. By the 1980s, pastoralists grazing in Misraq Gashamo had all but stopped the trek to Burco and other wells in the dry season. While this allowed the area that was previously grazed mainly in the wet season to now be grazed throughout the dry season, it has also led to a serious decline in the native species most favored for fodder and grazing in this woreda.

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 growt ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 95,191, of whom 52,645 are men and 42,546 women. While 6,659 or 7% are urban inhabitants, a further 20,583 or 21.62% are pastoralists. 98.72% 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 ...

. This woreda is inhabited by the

Habr Yunis The Habar Yoonis ( ar, هبر يونس , Full Name: '' Said ibn Al-Qādhī Ismā'īl ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin al-Ḥusayn al-Hāshimīy'' ) alternatively spelled as Habr Yunis is a major clan part of the sub-clan ...

and the

Habr Je'lo The Habr Je'lo ( so, Habar Jeclo, ar, هبر جعلو , Full Name: ''Mūsa ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad,'' historically known as the Habr Toljaala ( so, Habar Toljeclo) is a major sub-tribe of the wider Isaaq family. Its members form p ...

clans, both clans form part of the

Isaaq The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak, Isaac) ( so, Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, ar, بني إسحاق, Banī Isḥāq) is a Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. Per ...

clan family. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 72,574, of whom 39,596 were men and 32,978 were women; 5,231 or 7.21% were urban inhabitants. The largest ethnic group reported in Misraq Gashamo was the

Somali people 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 ...

(99.98%).''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region'', Vol. 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.12,

Cities and towns

* Gashamo * Tuulo Habreed * Gowlalaale * Haye Bari

Notes

{{Districts of the Somali Region Districts of Somali Region