Werabe (allegedly from the Silti word for "

Hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

") is a town in south-central

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 ...

. Official sources locate this town in the Silte Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), although it is reported that at a referendum in 2000 the Silt'e people unanimously voted to form their own Zone, Silt'e, which includes Werabe. The town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of above sea level. According to the Central's Bureau of Finance and Economic Development, Werabe amenities include digital telephone access, postal service, and 24-hour electrical service. Werabe has nearly 120,000 people Capital of silte zone Near to lakes with best sand used for construction of buildings in central ethiopia

History

The first recorded mention of Worabe dates to 1583/, during the reign of Emperor

Sarsa Dengel Sarsa Dengel ( ; 1550 – 4 October 1597), also known as Sarsa the Great, was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was throne name Malak Sagad I (መለክ ሰገድ ). He is considered one of the greatest w ...

, when members of the

Oromo people The Oromo people (, pron. ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group native to the Oromia region of Ethiopia and parts of Northern Kenya. They speak the Oromo language (also called ''Afaan Oromoo''), which is part of the Cushitic language ...

arrived in the area and began to besiege Worabe and Fanfara. A German ethnographic expedition visited this town in April 1935. They found a big town on a flat hill, with a small lake to the east and fields which were likely to get waterlogged in the rainy season, as well as ancient decorated

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monolit ...

s in the neighbourhood, which were first described by Père Azaïs, who had travelled in the area in the 1920s, but the later German expedition failed to find two of the most important monuments. Local people thought they had been moved to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, but they could not be traced there.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Werabe has an estimated total population of 1,250 of whom 668 are men and 582 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
Table B.4 The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 690 of whom 370 were males and 320 were females. It is one of three towns in Silte

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 ...

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region