Seru is a town in south-eastern

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 ...

. Seru is also capital of one of the 22 districts of Arsi zone, Located in the

Arsi Zone Arsi () is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo people, Oromo, who inhabit in the area. Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by Ea ...

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 ...

, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2302 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Seru

woreda 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 ...

. It is bordered by Amigna district in the north and northwest, Robe district in west and southwest,

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 ...

in the south and southeast and

west Hararghe West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

in the east. Having the total area of 2412km2 it is the largest district from the zone (11.48%). Seru district has 32 peasant association of which 2 (Seru Abas and Bele) are urban administrative units. Seru Abas town is the capital of the district, located at 297 km from Finfine and 172 km from zonal capital, Asella town. According to the information obtained from elder persons, Seru was recognized as a district 90 years a go. There were no written documents and reliable oral tells about the precise meaning of the word Seru. Based on information from local elders, the name of the town Seru originated from Afaan Oromo Seera which is means rule and norm. Thus the term Seru is to indicate a place where rules and norms are discussed about. The elders commonly say Seeruun Seera qabdi in Afaan Oromo which means the town Seru got rules and norms. According to the Oromia Regional government, the only communication service currently in this town currently is radio communications for official purposes. Seru has no electricity. An UN-OCHA fact-finding mission visiting the town in 2003 described the community's water source as "quite original": the town has been built over a ground water reserve. The UN-OCHA report states, "Every compound has a hand-dug well, administration and school compounds as well. Water is reachable at 12 to 15 m depth". However, the report notes that the local people "have reported that the water table level has decreased over the past years." Seru was mentioned in the ''Guido'' published by the

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

in 1938. 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, Seru has an estimated total population of 3,082 of whom 1,422 are men and 1,660 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
Table B.4 The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1,727 of whom 771 were men and 956 were women.

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Oromia