Offa 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

South Ethiopia Regional State The South Ethiopia Regional State (Amharic: ደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ ክልላዊ መንግስት) is a region in southern Ethiopia. It was formed from the southern part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) on 19 A ...

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 a Part of the

Wolayita Zone Wolayita or Wolaita is an administrative Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Ethiopia. Wolayita is bordered on the south by Gamo Zone, on the west by the Omo River (Ethiopia), Omo River which separates it from Dawro Zone, Dawro, on the northwest by Kem ...

. Offa is bordered on the south by the

Gamo Zone Gamo Zone is a Zone in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. Gamo is bordered on the south by the Dirashe Zone, on the southwest by South Omo Zone, on the west by Gofa Zone, on the north by Wolayita, on the northeast by the Lake Abaya ...

, on the west by

Kindo Didaye Kindo Didaye is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. It is a Part of the Wolayita Zone. Kindo Didaye is bordered on the south by the Gamo Zone, on the west by the Dawro Zone, on the northeast by Kindo Koysha, and ...

, on the north by

Kindo Koysha Kindo Koysha is a district in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. It is a Part of the Wolayita Zone, Kindo Koysha is bordered on the south by Offa, on the southwest by Kindo Didaye, on the west by the Dawro Zone, on the north by Boloso ...

, on the northeast by

Sodo Zuria Sodo Zuria (Amharic "Greater Sodo Area") is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. Part of the Wolayita Zone, Sodo Zuria is bordered on the southwest by Offa, on the west by Kindo Koysha, on the northwest by Damot S ...

, on the north by

Kawo Koysha Kawo Koysha is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia part of the Wolayita Zone. Kawo Koysha is bordered on the south by Offa woreda, on the west by the Kindo Didaye, on the north and east by Kindo Koysha Kindo Koysh ...

and on the east by

Humbo Humbo is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. It is a Part of the Wolayita Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Humbo is bordered on the southeast by Abala Abaya, on the south by the Gamo Zone, on the west by Offa ...

woredas. The administrative center of Offa is Gesuba. Western part of Offa was added to Kindo Didaye woreda in 1998 E.C. According to a 2004 report, Offa had 22 kilometers of all-weather roads and 56 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 133 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers. Prior to the

2005 Ethiopian general election General elections were held in Ethiopia on 15 May 2005, for seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives and four regional government councils. Under pressure from the international community, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi promised that this elec ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

reports that a total of 38

Coalition for Unity and Democracy The Coalition for Unity and Democracy ( Ge'ez : ቅንጅት ለአንድነት እና ዴሞክራሲ), commonly referred to by its English abbreviation CUD, or occasionally CDU (its Amharic abbreviation, used in Ethiopia, is Qinijit; in Englis ...

members were arrested in Offa between 11 and 17 February, and held for seven days on the accusation they held their campaign meeting without giving police 48 hours' notice. Amnesty International included this incident as part of a series of government intimidation of opposition party activists.

Demographics

Based on the 2019 population projection conducted by the CSA, this woreda has a total population of 134,259, of whom 65,733 are men and 68,526 women. The majority of the inhabitants were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, with 85.55% of the population reporting that belief, 11.97% practiced

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 1.1% were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 111,384 of whom 55,323 were men and 56,061 were women; 2,931 or 2.63% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Offa was the Welayta (99.21%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.79% of the population. Welayta was the dominant first language, spoken by 99.34% of the inhabitants; the remaining 0.66% spoke all other primary languages reported.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.12, 2.15 (accessed 30 December 2008)

Notes

{{Districts of Wolayita Zone Wolayita Zone Districts in South Ethiopia Regional State