Mandura is one of the 20

Districts of Ethiopia 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 ...

, or ''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 ...

. 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 ...

, it is bordered by Dangur in the north and northwest, by

Pawe special woreda Pawe is one of the 20 woredas in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of 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 ...

in the northeast, by

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 ...

in the east, by Dibate in the south, and by Bulen in the southwest. Towns in Mandura include Genete Mariam. Originally Mandura and Dibate were subunits of

Guangua Guangua (Amharic: ጓንጓ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Agew Awi Zone, Guangua is bordered on the south and west by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by Dangila, on the northwest by Faggeta Lekoma ...

woreda, which was part of the Metekel ''awraja''; in the 1960s these two subunits were split off to form separate woredas in order to strengthen government control over the local

Gumuz people The Gumuz (also spelled Gumaz and Gumz) are an ethnic group speaking a Nilo-Saharan language inhabiting the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in western Ethiopia, as well as the Fazogli region in Sudan. They speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the N ...

. Remaining parts of Guangua was transferred to Amhara when that region was organized in the 1992.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 40,746, of whom 21,241 were men and 19,505 were women; 7,518 or 18.45% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants practiced traditional beliefs, with 47.76% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 39.26% 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 ...

, and 7.59% 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 ...

. 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 30,536, of whom 15,762 are men and 14,774 are women; 2,492 or 8.16% of the population are urban dwellers which is greater than the Zone average of 10.7%. With an estimated area of 1,003.76 square kilometers, Mandura has a population density of 30.4 people per square kilometer which is greater than the Zone average of 8.57. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 22,593 in 4,928 households, of whom 11,727 were men and 10,866 were women; 1,448 or 6.41% of its population were urban inhabitants. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Mandura were the Gumuz (87%), the Awi (8.9%) 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 ...

, the Amhara (3.9%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.2% of the population. Gumuz is spoken as a first language by 87%, 8.4% speak Awngi, and 4.6% speak Amhara. The majority of the inhabitants practiced traditional religions, with 72.5% of the population reporting beliefs classified under that category, while 24.5% 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 ...

, 5.97% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 18.61%; 7.26% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 1.74% 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 ...

, 82.6% of the urban houses and 7.7% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census, while 38.4% of the urban and 7.6% of all houses 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, 2.19, 3.5, 3.7, 6.11, 6.13 (accessed 30 December 2008)

Notes

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