Guba is one of the 20 ''woredas'' in the

Benishangul-Gumuz Region Benishangul-Gumuz () is a regional state in northwestern 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 Er ...

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 ...

. It is named after the former Sultanate of Gubba. Part of the

Metekel Zone Metekel Zone is located in the current Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the south and southwest by Kamashi, on the west by Sudan, and on the north and east by the Amhara region. The Abay River which formerly defined the w ...

, Guba is bordered by 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 ...

on the south which separates it from the

Kamashi Zone Kamashi is a zone in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. It covers part of the southern bank of the Abay and the valley of the Didessa Rivers. The Zone is bordered on the south and east by the Oromia Region, on the west by the Asosa and Su ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

on the west,

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 ...

on the north, Dangur on the east, and on the southeast by the

Beles River The Beles (''Kusa'' in Gumuz language) is a river of western Ethiopia. The Beles, a tributary of the Abay River (Blue Nile), originates in Dangur woreda and flows southwest to its confluence. Its catchment area amounts to about 14,200 square kilo ...

, which separates it from Wenbera. Towns in Guba include Mankush. A

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...

for displaced persons from Sudan operated in this woreda at Yarenja until all of its inhabitants were repatriated and the camp closed 28 March 2007.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 14,907, of whom 7,484 were men and 7,423 were women; 2,339 or 15.69% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants were

Moslem Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or ''Allah'') as it ...

, with 87.25% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 12.54% of the population 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 ...

. Based on figures from 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 10,851, of whom 5,305 are men and 5,546 are women; 1,255 or 11.57% of the population are urban dwellers which is greater than the Zone average of 10.7%. With an estimated area of 3,896.10 square kilometers, Guba has a population density of 2.8 people per square kilometer which is less than the Zone average of 8.57. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 7,962 in 2193 households, of whom 3,899 were men and 4,063 were women; 729 or 9.16% of its population were urban. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Guba were the Gumuz (66.5%), the Shinasha (24.9%), the

Amhara Amhara may refer to: * Amhara people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia * Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people * Bete Amhara, a lordship and later province of medieval Ethiopia * Amhara Province, a historical region of Ethiopia * Amhara Region ...

(6.6%), the Awi (1%) a subgroup of the

Agaw The Agaw or Agew (, modern ''Agew'') are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic bran ...

, and the

Tigrayans The Tigrayan people (, ''Təgaru'') are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily lif ...

(1%). Gumuz is spoken as a first language by 65.1%, while 25.7% speak

Boro BORO (Business Objects Reference Ontology) is an approach to developing ontological or semantic models for large complex operational applications that consists of a top ontology as well as a process for constructing the ontology. It was originally ...

, 7.2% speak

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 ...

, 1% speak Awngi, and 1% speak

Tigrinya Tigrinya may refer to: * Tigrinya language Tigrinya, sometimes romanized as Tigrigna, is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It i ...

. The majority of the inhabitants 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 88.9% of the population reporting that they held that belief, while 7% practiced

. 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 ...

, 9.5% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 18.61%; 5.67% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; a negligible number of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school; and a negligible number 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 ...

, 98% of the urban houses and 9.2% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 33.3% of the urban and 3.8% of the total had toilet facilities.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Vol. 1''
, Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.12, 2.15, 2.15, 2.19, 3.5, 3.7, 6.11, 6.13 (accessed 30 December 2008)

Notes

{{Districts of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region Districts of Benishangul-Gumuz Region