Bensa 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

Sidama Region The Sidama Region (Sidama language, Sidama: ; ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in southern Ethiopia. It was formed on 18 June 2020 from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and transformation of the Sidama ...

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 ...

. Daye is the capital city of Eastern Sidaama zone (Soojjaati zoone), also known as Bensa zone. Bensa is one of the more populous woredas in Sidama, extending into the

Oromia Region 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 ...

like a peninsula, Bensa is bordered on the south and north by the Oromia Region, with Bona Zuria on the west, Arbegona on the northwest, Chire on the east, and Aroresa on the southeast. The major town in Bensa is

Daye Daye ( zh, c= , p=Dàyě) is a county-level city in eastern Hubei province, China. It is under the administration of the Huangshi prefecture-level city. As it is usually the case with county-level cities, Daye includes both an urban core and a f ...

. According to a 2004 report, Bensa had 101 kilometers of all-weather roads and no kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 125 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this woreda has a total population of 250,727, of whom 126,959 are men and 123,768 women; 11,588 or 4.62% of its population are urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants were

Protestants 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 ...

, with 92.8% of the population reporting that belief, 2.67% 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 ...

, and 1.89% practiced

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 ...

. In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 186,343, of whom 94,823 were men and 91,520 women; 5,897 or 3.16% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Bensa were the Sidama (96.18%), the Amhara (2.2%), and the Oromo (0.96%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.66% of the population. Sidamo is spoken as a first language by 97.64% of the inhabitants, 1.46% speak

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 ...

, and 0.77% Oromiffa; the remaining 0.13% spoke all other primary languages reported. 77.76% of the population said they were

, 7.59% observed traditional religions, 5.58% were

, 3.21% were

Ethiopian Orthodox 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 ...

, and 2.51% were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Concerning

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, 18.18% of the population were considered literate; 6.96% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 1.70% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school; and 0.93% of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions, about 62.36% of the urban houses and 13.61% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census, while about 65.72% of the urban and 5.1% 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