Afder is one of the

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''. These districts are f ...

s in the

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Part of the Afder Zone, Afder is bordered on the south by Dolobay, on the west by Jerti Jarreti, on the north by Elkere, on the west by the Gode Zone, and on the southeast by Barrey. Towns in Afder include Gud'usbo and Hargele.

History

The population of Afder was around 1,521,100. It was the starting point of the Bale revolt. Gebru Tareke dates its initial act to June 1963, when Kahin Abdi, a bandit known for harboring Somali nationalist sentiments, openly defied the government by "becoming an outlaw of the Robin Hood type." In September, his armed band burned the small salt mine in the district, then two months later besieged Hargele for two days. It was reported in 1994 that

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

extraction would provide a revenue source for Afder; the woreda administration was charging 200 Birr on each truck leaving with salt for Negele Boran and Gode.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 79,135, of whom 45,227 are men and 33,908 women. While 6,941 or 8.77% are urban inhabitants, a further 56,827 or 71.81% are pastoralists. 99.48% of the population said they were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. This woreda is inhabited by the Dir clans such as Gaadsan clan, Guure, Guro Dhamoole and

Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; , ) is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region. It is also natively referred to as Soomaali Galbeed (). The region forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia ...

clan of the Daarood clan in the north, and the Baadicade clan of the

Hawiye The Hawiye (; ) are one of the principal and largest of the Somali clans, tracing their lineage back to Sheikh Ahmed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Uthman, also known as Sheikh Hawiye, the eponymous figure of the clan. They are considered the earliest do ...

in the south. The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 65,609, of whom 38,499 were men and 27,110 were women; 6,527 or 9.95% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Afder was the Somali people (99.89%).''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