Werder 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 stat ...

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 ...

, named after its administrative center, Werder. Part of the Werder Zone, Werder is bordered on the southwest by the

Korahe Zone Korahe ( so, Qoraxeey) is one of eleven Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Korahe is bordered on the southwest by the Gode, on the northwest by Fiq, on the north by Degehabur, on the east by Werder, and on the southeast by Somalia's feder ...

, on the north by Danot, and on the east by Geladin.

Overview

The average elevation in this woreda is 943 meters above sea level. , Werder has no all-weather gravel road nor any community roads; about 7.25% of the total population has access to drinking water. Before 1960, the only water available during the dry season in the woreda were the Werder wells and those in its vicinity: Welwel, Gerlogube, Afyerado, Ubatale, Wafdug and Yo'ub. eri Koombe

Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...

Dhulbahante The Dhulbahante ( so, Dhulbahante, ar, دلبةنتئ) is a Somali clan family, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to the largest Somali clan-family — the Darod. They are the traditional inhabitants of the physiographic Nugaal in its ...

Majeerteen The Majeerteen ( so, Majeerteen, ar, ماجرتين; also spelled Majerteen, Macherten, Majertain, or Mijurtin) is a sub-clan. It is one of the major Somali groups, with a vast traditional territory spanning 3 major regions of Somalia: Bari, ...

and

Habar Yoonis 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 ...

pastoralists watered from these wells. In the years after 1960 the construction of private ''birkas'' (underground concrete water tanks), which greatly increased after 1970. 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."Changing Pastoralism in the Ethiopian Somali National Regional State (Region 5)"
UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia report, dated 30 May 1998 (accessed 22 December 20080 The woreda was greatly affected by Ethiopian military actions. According to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

, in late May and June 2007, the

Ethiopian army The Ethiopian Ground Forces () is the land service branch of the Ethiopian National Defense Force. It is senior of the two uniformed military branches. It engages in land warfare and combined arms operations, including armored and mechanize ...

and Regional authorities armed forces forced the inhabitants of numerous villages within a 60-kilometer radius of the administrative center, including Aado (Caado), Arowela, Daratoole, Dhurwaa-Hararaf, Lahelow, Neef-Kuceliye, Qamuuda, Ubatale, Wa’di, Ubatale, Wafdug and Yo'ub. Over the following weeks, many of these villages were then burned: Daratoole in mid-June; Lahelow in late June; Neef-Kuceliye on 23 June; Aado and Wa’di in mid-July.

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 grow ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 58,035, of whom 32,743 are men and 25,292 women. While 9,211 or 15.87% are urban inhabitants, a further 13,493 or 23.25% are pastoralists. 99.24% 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 primarily inhabited by the Makahiil Darood clan and the Dhulbahante clan. The Ogaaden inhabit the northern parts wheres the Dhulbahante and Majerteen inhabit the eastern and southern parts of the woreda. The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 98,699, of whom 55,320 were men and 43,379 were women; 12,309 or 12.47% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Werder was the Somali 98,447 (99.9%).''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1''
Tables 2.1, 2.12 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.

Notes

{{Districts of the Somali Region Districts of Somali Region