Chena is a

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 ...

in the South West 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 ...

. The name Chena comes from one of the provinces in the former

Kingdom of Kaffa The Kingdom of Kaffa was a kingdom located in what is now Ethiopia from 1390 to 1897, with its first capital at Bonga. The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and ...

, whose administrative center had been at Wacha. Part of the

Keffa Zone Keffa or Kaffa, is a zone in the South West Region of Ethiopia. The administrative center is Bonga. History The Zone is named after the Kingdom of Kaffa. Kaffa was part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) unti ...

, Chena is bordered on the south by the

Bench Maji Zone Bench Sheko (previously known as Bench Maji) is a zone in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Bench Sheko is bordered on the south and southeast by West Omo, on the west by the Gambela Region on the north by Sheka, and on the e ...

, on the west by Bita, on the north by Gewata, on the northeast by

Ginbo Ginbo (also spelled Gimbo) is a district in the South West Region of Ethiopia. The name Ginbo comes from one of the provinces in the former Kingdom of Kaffa. That province, as well as the Kafficho provinces Bonga and Manjo, became districts with t ...

, and on the east by

Decha Decha is a Districts of Ethiopia, district in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region, South West Region of Ethiopia. The name Decha comes from one of the provinces in the former Kingdom of Kaffa, which had the approximately same boundaries. Part o ...

. Towns in Chena include Shishinda. Western kebeles of Chena were used to form Bita district.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this district has a total population of 158,449, of whom 78,150 are men and 80,299 women; 11,629 or 7.34% 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 43.62% of the population reporting that belief, 40.84% 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 ...

, 7.95% practiced traditional beliefs, 3.9% 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 3.09% embraced

Catholicism 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 ...

. In the 1994 national census Chena had a population of 153,646, of whom 75,745 were men and 77,901 women; 12,887 or 8.39% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in this district were the Kafficho (75.76%), the Bench (16.19%), the

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

(3.5%), and the Amhara (2.73%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.82% of the population. Kafa was spoken as a first language by 75.43% of the inhabitants, 18.36% spoke Bench, 3.6% 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 ...

, and 3.09% spoke

Oromiffa Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia; and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia and n ...

; the remaining 5.6% spoke all other primary languages reported. 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 ...

, 16.97% of the population were considered literate; 12.45% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 2.77% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and 2.13% of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning

sanitary conditions Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems a ...

, about 69% of the urban and 12% of the total had toilet facilities.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region'', Vol. 1, part 2
, Tables 6.3, 6.13 (accessed 17 April 2009)

Notes

{{Authority control Districts of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region