Dara (

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 ...

: ዳራ) 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

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 ...

. Part of the

, Dara is bordered on the south by the

Gedeo Zone Gedeo is a zone in the South Ethiopia Regional State (SERS) of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the Gedeo people, whose homelands lie in this zone. Gedeo is an exclave of the SERS consisting of a narrow strip of land along the eastern escarpment ...

and on either side of it by 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 ...

, on the northwest by Chuko, on the north by

Aleta Wendo Aleta Wendo (also known as Wendo) is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in a fertile and forested area near Lake Abaya in the upper Gidabo River basin, not far from the sources of the Ganale Dorya and Dawa Rivers in the Aleta Wendo Zone of t ...

, and on the northeast by

Hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant (''oli'') or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), ''mele''). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli ...

. Towns in Dara include Kebado, Teferi Kela Abera and Machisho. According to a 2004 report, Dara had 8 kilometers of asphalt road, 66 kilometers of all-weather roads and 16 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 369 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this woreda has a total population of 155,265, of whom 76,475 are men and 78,790 women; 10,660 or 6.87% 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 85.54% of the population reporting that belief, 7.04% 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 ...

, 2.55% 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 ...

, 2.36% observed traditional religions, and 1.43% 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 ...

. In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 105,196, of whom 52,043 were men and 53,153 women; 5,130 or 4.88% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Dara were the

Sidama The Sidama () are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional state in Ethiopia ...

(89.68%), the Amhara (5.28%), the Silte (1.62%), and 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 ...

(1.37%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.05% of the population. Sidamo is spoken as a first language by 92.54% of the inhabitants, and 5.42% speak

; the remaining 2.04% spoke all other primary languages reported. 64.4% of the population said they were

, 15.82% observed traditional religions, 11.85% practiced

, 4.23% were

, and 1.4% were

. 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 ...

, 27.91% of the population were considered literate; 9.76% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 1.82% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school; and 1.36% 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 62.94% of the urban houses and 20.04% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census, while about 83.53% of the urban and 28.97% 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