Afar (region)

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Afar
de-facto Kenia (mit Südsudan umstritten) Kenia Somalia Eritrea Dschibuti Jemen Südsudan Sudan Uganda Addis Abeba Harar (Region) Dire Dawa Gambela Region der südlichen Nationen, Nationalitäten und Völker Afar (Region) Tigray (Region) Benishangul-Gumuz Somali (Region) Amhara Oromialocation
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Basic data
Country Ethiopia
Capital Semera
surface 96,707 km²
Residents 1,411,092 (2007)
density 15 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2 ET-AF
politics
Head of government Awol Arba
Political party National Democratic Party of the Afar

Coordinates: 11 ° 49 '  N , 41 ° 25'  E

Afar ( Ethiopian script : አፋር ; in official documents also Affar ) is one of the nine ethnically defined administrative regions of Ethiopia .

The titular nation and majority of the population are the Afar , who also live in neighboring Eritrea and Djibouti . The capital today is Semera . The working language of the region is Afar .

The region lies in the Afar Triangle , a low-lying, volcanically active area with very high temperatures and low rainfall. On stranger river Awash in southern farming is possible with irrigation, traditionally the Afar live as nomadic cattle farmers and the salt trade. Salt from the salt lakes of the region is traditionally used in Ethiopia as a means of payment, amole .

The region is known for important fossil finds such as " Lucy ", " Ardi " and LD 350-1 . In Afar are the national parks Awash and Yangudi Rassa .

population

Afar nomad, 1950s

According to the 2007 census, of 1,411,092 inhabitants, 90.03% (1,251,103) were Afar, 5.22% (72,507) Amharen , 1.55% (21,604) Argobba and 1.15% (15,932) Tigray . 95.3% were Muslim and 3.9% Orthodox.

13.4% lived in cities. Larger places in Afar are Asaita , Dubti , Melka Werer , Melka Sedi , Awash Arba , Awash Sebat Kilo and Gewane .

In 2005, 15.3% of children in the Afar region (19.1% of boys, 11% of girls) attended primary school, 5.3% (6.7% boys, 4.1% girls) went to secondary school . 2.9% of the people tested were HIV- positive. 91.6% of the women were circumcised , 63.2% in the most severe form ( infibulation ); 65.6% of the women surveyed said they were in favor of continuing circumcision. The men circumcision is also prevalent with 98.5%.

With an index value of 0.397 in 2015, the Afar region has the lowest human development index of any region in the country.

history

While the Afar in coastal areas came under the influence of the colonial powers Italy (in Italian Eritrea ) and France (in Djibouti ) at the end of the 19th century, the Awsa Sultanate was incorporated in the interior of Ethiopia. After the Second World War, the Afar areas that came under Ethiopian control were divided into the provinces of Eritrea , Tigray , Wollo , Shewa and Hararge . Afar protested in vain for the unification and autonomy of their territories.

In 1987 the administrative structure of Ethiopia was reorganized and an autonomous region of Assab was established, in which the areas inhabited by Afar were combined. The part that had belonged to Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia in 1993 as part of the state of Eritrea. The Afar areas that remained with Ethiopia became today's federal state of Afar (initially also called Region 2 ) with the ethnic-federal reorganization of the country after 1991 . The capital was initially Asaita , which was later replaced by the newly built town of Semera.

politics

The National Democratic Party of the Afar (ANDP) is a regional partner of the EPRDF coalition of parties ruling at the national level . The Afar Revolutionary Democratic United Front ( Uguugumo ) is the most influential opposition party among the Afar .

After the 2005 elections, the ANDP had 84 out of 87 seats in the regional parliament, with the remaining three going to the Afar People's Democratic Movement .

Afar remains a poorly developed area. According to a 1996 report by the United Nations Development Program , health facilities, education and water supplies were utterly inadequate, and only the imported goods that the Afar nomads now purchase through trade ("such as ubiquitous plastic sandals, cigarettes and galvanized cooking vessels") would be the presence of distinguish earlier times.

In the past few years, thousands of Afar from Eritrea came to Ethiopia as refugees, where they initially settled with the local population in over 20 locations. The UNHCR plans to open two camps at Berhale and Asaita for these refugees.

Administrative structure

Afar is divided into five zones . These were given proper names in 2006: Awsi Rasu (formerly Zone 1), Kilbet Rasu (Zone 2), Gabi Rasu (Zone 3), Fantena Rasu (Zone 4) and Hari Rasu (Zone 5). The zones are further subdivided into woredas .

Web links

Commons : Afar (Region)  - collection of images, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Afar (region)  - in the news

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Central Statistics Agency : 2005 National Statistics, Section – B Population ( Memento from February 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Table B.4 (PDF; 1.8 MB)
  2. ↑ ethiopar.net: The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: The State of Afar ( Memento of September 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  3. ↑ a b Central Statistical Agency : Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results ( Memento of March 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.7 MB), (pp. 19, 88–90, 111)
  4. ↑ CSA: Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, 2005, pp. 20, 200, 218, 253
  5. ^ Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab. Accessed August 5, 2018 .
  6. ^ Gebru Tareke: Ethiopia: Power and Protest. Peasant Revolts in the Twentieth Century , Red Sea Press 1996, ISBN 978-1-56902-019-7 , pp.
  7. ^ A b Matthew Bryden, UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia: Situation report on Region 2 (Afar National Regional State) , January 1997. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  8. ↑ Unease over extent of ruling party's landslide in Ethiopia Ethiopian. People's Revolutionary Democratic Front secures 499 out of 547 seats, with allied parties winning a further 35. In: theguardian.com. May 25, 2010, accessed April 7, 2014 .
  9. ^ African Elections Database : Afar election results , accessed June 15, 2010
  10. ↑ UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2008–2009: Ethiopia (PDF; 303 kB), September 1, 2007
  11. ↑ 2010 UNHCR country operations profile - Ethiopia . Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  12. ↑ Focus on Ethiopia May 2006. (PDF) UN OCHA, May 2006, p. 4 , accessed on April 7, 2014 .