West Arsi Zone

West Arsi Zone Arsii Dhihaa
Zone
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Oromia
Capital	Shashamane

Map of the regions and zones of Ethiopia

West Arsi (Oromo: Arsii Lixaa/Dhihaa) is a zone in Oromia of Ethiopia. This zone is named after a subgroup of the Oromo, who inhabit it. The administrative center of this zone is Shashamane

Demographics[]

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 1,964,038, of whom 973,743 are men and 990,295 women. 272,084 or 13.85% of population are urban inhabitants. A total of 387,143 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 5.01 persons to a household, and 369,533 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported in West Arsi were the Oromo (88.52%) and the Amhara (3.98%); all other ethnic groups made up 7.5% of the population. Oromo was spoken as a first language by 87.34% and 6.46% spoke Amharic; the remaining 6.2% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 80.34% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 11.04% of the population professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and 7.02% of the population professed Protestantism.^[1]

Notes[]

External links[]

• Fig1: Map of Ethiopia, West Arsi Zone and Shashemene City
• The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative | Bale – West Arsi Eco-Region, Ethiopia