Dara ( Amharic: ዳራ) 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

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern ...

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 Sidama Zone, Dara is bordered on the south by the

Gedeo Zone Gedeo is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the Gedeo people, whose homelands lie in this zone. Gedeo is an exclave of the SNNPR consisting of a narrow strip of land along the e ...

and on either side of it by the

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 Benis ...

, on the northwest by Chuko, on the north by Aleta Wendo, and on the northeast by

Hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song ( mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visua ...

. Towns in Dara include Kebado , Teferi KelaAbera and Machisho]. According to a 2004 report, Dara had 8 kilometers of asphalt road, 66 kilometers of all-weather roads and 16 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 369 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this woreda has a total population of 155,265, of whom 76,475 are men and 78,790 women; 10,660 or 6.87% of its population are urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants were P'ent'ay, Protestants, with 85.54% of the population reporting that belief, 7.04% 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 Chri ...

, 2.55% were Muslim, 2.36% observed traditional religions, and 1.43% were

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 105,196, of whom 52,043 were men and 53,153 women; 5,130 or 4.88% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Dara were the

Sidama The Sidama ( am, ሲዳማ) are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional st ...

(89.68%), the Amhara (5.28%), the Silte (1.62%), and the Oromo (1.37%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.05% of the population. Sidamo is spoken as a first language by 92.54% of the inhabitants, and 5.42% speak Amharic; the remaining 2.04% spoke all other primary languages reported. 64.4% of the population said they were P'ent'ay, Protestants, 15.82% observed traditional religions, 11.85% practiced

, 4.23% were Muslim, and 1.4% were

. Concerning

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, 27.91% of the population were considered literate; 9.76% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 1.82% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school; and 1.36% of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions, about 62.94% of the urban houses and 20.04% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census, while about 83.53% of the urban and 28.97% of the total had toilet facilities.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.12, 2.19, 3.5, 3.7, 6.3, 6.11, 6.13 (accessed 30 December 2008)

Notes

{{Districts of the Sidama Region Districts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region