Meta is one of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s in the

Oromia 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 East Hararghe Zone, Meta is bordered on the southwest by Deder, on the northwest by Goro Gutu, on the north by the

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

, on the northeast by Kersa, and on the southeast by Bedeno. Towns in Meta include Chelenqo and Kulubi.

Overview

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

is an important cash crop of this woreda. Over 50 square kilometers is planted with this crop. Around 2000 a team of workers sponsored by

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n aid widened and resurfaced significant parts of the all-weather road between

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...

and Kulubi. The Battle of Chelenqo was fought in what became this District on 6 January 1887. The army of

Negus ''Negus'' is the word for "king" in the Ethiopian Semitic languages and a Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, title which was usually bestowed upon a regional ruler by the Ethiopian Emperor, Negusa Nagast, or "king of kings," in pre-1974 Et ...

Menelik of Shewa routed the army of Emir 'Abd Allah II of

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

, and afterwards the Negus occupied and annexed that city state.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this District of 252,269, of whom 127,371 were men and 124,898 were women; 15,198 or 6.03% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants said they 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 93.2% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 6.26% of the population practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this District has an estimated total population of 240,285, of whom 117,864 are men and 122,421 are women; 12,459 or 5.19% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 657.03 square kilometers, Meta has an estimated population density of 365.7 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this District of 172,803, of whom 88,440 were men and 84,363 women; 6,958 or 4.03% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Meta were the Oromo (92.03%), and the Amhara (7.6%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.37% of the population. Oromo was spoken as a first language by 92.32%, and 7.44% spoke

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 ...

; the remaining 0.24% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were

, with 91.97% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 7.81% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.''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