Naannawa Ambo is one of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s in the

Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

region of

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 West Shaggar Zone, it is bordered on the southwest by Gurraacha Enchini, on the west by Cheliya, on the north by Kutaye-Liban, on the northeast by Jeldu, on the east by Dendi, and on the southeast by the Southwest Shewa Zone. The administrative center of this woreda is Ambo; other towns include Gorosile and

Meti Meti is a town in south-western Ethiopia, located in Godere woreda of the Gambela Region The Gambela Region, also spelled Gambella, and officially the Gambela Peoples' Region (), is a regional state in western Ethiopia. Previously known as ...

. Ambo Zuria and Toke Kutaye woredas and Ambo town were part of former Ambo woreda.

Overview

One of the high points in this woreda is Mount Wanchi (3386 meters).

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

is an important cash crop of Ambo; over 50 square kilometers are planted with this crop. This woreda is home to Dr.

Merera Gudina Merera Gudina (Oromo language, Oromo: Mararaa Guddinaa) (born 5 July 1956) is an Ethiopian professor and politician. He is the leader of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), a political party representing the Oromo people. The organization is oppos ...

, the founder and chairman of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC). Although the OPC has a large following in Ambo,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

has received reports of

kebele A ward (; ; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. Somali word that has meaning of collected people where water is fairly sufficient and available to prolongue thei ...

officials imprisoning people for campaigning for or providing support to the OPC, or expelling students from school for the same.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported this woreda's total population as 108,406, of whom 54,186 were men and 54,220 women; 865 or 0.8% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants (51.82%) said they practised

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

, while 32% of the population practiced traditional religions, and 15.9% were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 260,193, of whom 131,922 are men and 128,271 women; 70,675 or 27.16% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 1,588.13 square kilometers, Ambo has an estimated population density of 163.8 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 152.8. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 177,465, of whom 87,325 were men and 90,140 women; 39,535 or 22.28% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Ambo were the Oromo (92.58%), and the Amhara (5.76%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.16% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 90.92%, and 8.37% spoke

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

; the remaining 0.81% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants professed

, with 74.16% of the population reporting they practiced that belief, while 18.77% of the population said they held traditional beliefs, and 6.07% were

.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.13, 2.16, 2.20 (accessed 6 April 2009)

Notes

{{Districts of the Oromia Region Districts of Oromia