Eastern Oromo is a dialect of the

Oromo language 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 an ...

widely spoken in the

East Hararghe Zone East Hararghe () is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Hararghe Zone is bordered on the southwest by Bale Zone, Bale, on the west by West Hararghe Zone, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somal ...

West Hararghe Zone West Hararge () is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. West Hararghe takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. West Harerge is bordered on the south by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the southwest by Arsi, on ...

and northern

Bale Zone Bale Zone (Oromo language, Oromo: Godina ''Baalee'') is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Bale is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Guji Zone, on the west by the Shashamane, on the nort ...

of 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 ...

. According to ''Ethnologue'', there are 11 million speakers of this Oromo form. However, the 1994 Ethiopian national census did not break down language speakers according to dialect, although it reported 2,570,293 speakers of Oromo in those two zones.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
, Tables 2.15 (accessed 6 April 2009)

References

Literature

*Owens, Jonathan. 1985. ''A grammar of Harar Oromo (Northeastern Ethiopia): including a text and a glossary.'' Cushitic language studies; Bd. 4) Hamburg: Buske. Languages of Ethiopia Oromo groups {{AfroAsiatic-lang-stub