Dera ( Oromo: ''Deeraa,'' Amharic: ደራ) is a

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 ...

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 Kaba Shewa Zone, Dera is bordered on the south by the

Jamma River The Jamma River (Amharic: ጃማ) is a river in central Ethiopia and a tributary to the Abay River, Abay (or Blue Nile). It drains parts of the Semien Shewa Zones of the Semien Shewa Zone (Amhara), Amhara and Semien Shewa Zone (Oromia), Oromia Re ...

which separates it from Hidabu Abote and Wara Jarso, on the west, north and east by the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

; the

Abay River Abay may refer to: People * Abay (name) Places * Abay District, East Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan * Abay District, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan ** Abay (town), the province's administrative center * Abay, Almaty, Kazakhstan * Abay, Aktobe, a villag ...

defines the western boundary, and its tributary the

Walaqa River The Walaqa River, a tributary of the Blue Nile, is a river in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Wegde is located to its north. Mida Woremo and Dera, Oromia (woreda), Dera are to the south, while Kelala (woreda), Kelala is to the northeast. The Walaqa ...

the northern. The administrative center of Dera is Gundo Meskel. The woreda government announced March 2008 the completion of infrastructure improvements, which consisted of 77 kilometers of new road and an additional 366 kilometers renovated at the cost of 2.6 million Birr.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 141,426, of whom 70,787 were men and 70,639 were women; 10,531 or 14.89% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants 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 ...

, with 64.87% of the population reporting they practised that belief, and 34.92% 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 ...

. 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 193,214, of whom 99,085 are men and 94,129 are women; 5,719 or 2.96% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 9.5%. With an estimated area of 1,550.47 square kilometers, Dera has an estimated population density of 124.6 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 143. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 139,661, of whom 68,474 were men and 71,187 women; 3,210 or 2.3% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. Dera is almost evenly divided between the two largest ethnic groups reported in this woreda: the Oromo (50.18%), and the Amhara (49.76%). Further,

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 ...

was spoken as a first language by 50.69%, and 49.28% spoke Oromo. The majority of the inhabitants professed

, with 64.49% of the population reporting they practiced that belief, while 35.45% 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