Nejo 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 ...

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 ...

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

West Welega Zone West Welega Zone ( om, Wallagga Lixaa) is a zone in the western part of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. This zone is named after the former province of Welega, whose western part lay in the area West Welega now occupies. West Wellega is bordered on the ...

, Nejo is bordered on the southeast by Boji, on the west by Jarso, on the northwest by

Mana Sibu Mana Sibu is one of the 180 Aanaas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the West Welega Zone, Mana Sibu is bordered on the south by Jarso, on the southwest by Begi, on the north by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, and on the southeast by Nejo. M ...

, and on the north and east by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The administrative center is

Nejo Nedjo (also transliterated Nejjoo) is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the West Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1821 meters above sea level. It is the administrative cente ...

; other towns in Nejo include Gori and Wara Jiru.

Overview

In this woreda there is a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mine said to be the oldest one in the world, according to the ''Spectrum Guide to Ethiopia''; that book adds that it is "thought by some to be the source of the legendary '

King Solomon's Mines ''King Solomon's Mines'' (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the ...

' featured in the novel of the same name by

Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

." European prospectors, granted concessions by the Ethiopian government, searched for gold between 1901 until the

Second Italian-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

, finding deposits on Tulu Kami and the Laga Gumbi hills, as well as along the Alaltu and Dilla Rivers.

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

is an important cash crop of Nejo. Over 50 square kilometers is planted with this crop. In the 2005 Ethiopian elections, the electoral district of Nejo elected

Mesfin Nemera Deriesa Mesfin, also Mesafint (Prince / Princes), was the title for the princes of the imperial family in the Ethiopian Empire and the highest dignitaries outside the imperial family. Particularly in the time from about 1750 until after 1850 the Mesafin ...

(party

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

of the

Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement om, Warraaqsa Federaalistii Uummata Oromoo, OFDM) was a political party in Ethiopia, created in 2005 by Bulcha Demeksa to further the interests of the Oromo people as an alternative to the armed Oromo ...

) as their representative in the House of People's Representatives.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 130,909 in 25,336 households, of whom 64,654 were men and 66,255 were women; 24,505 or 18.72% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants observed

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 ...

, with 63.72% reporting that as their religion, while 33.69% observed

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 were 1.72%

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 ...

. 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 148,891, of whom 75,785 are men and 73,106 are women; 25,927 or 17.41% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 10.9%. With an estimated area of 984.07 square kilometers, Nejo has an estimated population density of 151.3 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 91.7. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 103,993 in 51,115 households, of whom 65,660 were men and 52,878 were women; 14,503 or 13.95% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Nejo was the Oromo (98.94%).

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 99.32%. The majority of the inhabitants observed

, with 55.84% reporting that as their religion, while 42.26% 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 ...

, and 1.68%

.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
Tables 2.1, 2.12, 2.16, 2.20, Annex II.2 (accessed 9 April 2009)

Notes

{{Districts of the Oromia Region Districts of Oromia Region