Chole 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

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 ...

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

Arsi Zone Arsi () is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo people, Oromo, who inhabit in the area. Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by Ea ...

, Chole is bordered on the south by Amigna, on the southwest by Sude, on the northwest by

Merti Merti is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Merti is bordered on the south by Sude, on the west by Jeju, on the northwest by the East Shewa Zone, on the north by the Afar Region, on the east by A ...

, on the north by

Aseko Aseko is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of . It is the administrative center of Aseko woreda. According to the Oromia Regional government, this town currently has ...

, and on the east by Gololcha. Towns in Chole include Chole and Moye.

Overview

The highest point in this woreda is Mount Gugu (3626 meters). Construction on the 99 kilometer road between Chole and Dera was completed and opened for traffic 15 August 2009, at a cost of over 146 million Birr. The

Ethiopian Roads Authority The Ethiopian Road Transport Authority (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ መንገዶች ባለስልጣን, formerly called Road Transport Administration or RTA) is a public transport authority based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Ethiopia, offici ...

reported that the new road would reduce the distance between the two towns by half.

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 A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

of this woreda. Between 2,000 and 5,000 hectares are planted with this crop.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 89,291, of whom 45,018 were men and 44,273 were women; 6,747 or 7.56% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants 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 ...

, with 49.42% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 46.51% of the population 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 ...

, and 1.78% of the population 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 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 ...

in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 111,831, of whom 56,029 are men and 55,802 are women; 7,557 or 6.76% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 765.94 square kilometers, Chole has an estimated population density of 146 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 132.2. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 80,131, of whom 40,197 were men and 39,934 women; 4,233 or 5.28% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Chole were 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 ...

(63.91%), and the Amhara (35.69%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.4% of the population.

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 ...

was spoken as a first language by 58.21%, and 41.1% 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 0.69% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants professed

, with 50.85% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 48.03% of the population said they 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