Oromia

Oromiyaa Oromia
Symbols
	flag
	flag
Basic data
Country	Ethiopia
Capital	Addis Ababa (does not belong to the region)
surface	353,632 km²
Residents	33,692,000 (2015)
density	95 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	ET-OR
politics
Head of government	Shimelis Abdisa
Political party	Democratic organization of the Oromo people

8.59 39.24Coordinates: 9 ° N , 39 ° E

Oromia ( Oromo Oromiyaa , Amharic ኦሮሚያ Oromiya ) is one of the nine administrative regions of Ethiopia . The largest ethnic group and titular nation are the Oromo .

Oromia is by far the largest region in Ethiopia in terms of area and population and includes areas in the west, center and south of the country. The region was formed in 1991 from parts of the historical provinces of Wollega , Illubabor , Shewa , Arsi , Sidamo , Harerge and Bale . The capital is Addis Ababa , called Finfinnee by the Oromo , but as an independent city it is not part of the region itself.

population

In 2015, the population was estimated to be 33,692,000. According to the 2007 census, the Oromo are by far the largest ethnic group with 87.83% (23,708,767). The next larger groups are the 7.20% (1,943,578) Amhars , 0.92% Gurage (248,100), 0.90% (242,529) Gedeo and 0.33% (89,533) Somali .

Due to the different historical development of subgroups and areas, the Oromo belong to different religions today. In the former provinces of Shewa and Wollo , where the Oromo were in close contact with the Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity is widespread among them . In most of the other areas, the majority of the Oromo are Muslims, and parts of the traditional belief in a god Waaqa also exist, especially in the south . The Protestantism was especially in the West in the former province Wollega spread by German missionaries. According to the census, 47.5% of Oromia's population are Muslim, 30.4% Ethiopian Orthodox Christians , 17.7% Protestants and 3.3% followers of traditional religions.

12.3% live in cities, which is below the national average. The largest city is Adama / Nazret, other cities with over 20,000 inhabitants are, according to the Central Statistics Agency for 2005, Gimbi , Dembi Dolo , Shambu , Nekemte , Bedele , Metu , Jimma , Agaro , Ambo , Holeta Genet , Sebeta , Waliso , Fiche , Walenchiti , Wenji Gefersa , Mojo , Debre Zeyit , Meki , Zway , Arsi Negele , Shashemene , Asela , Asebe Teferi , Dodola , Ginir , Robe , Goba , Kibre Mengist , Shakiso , Hagere Mariam , Negele Boran and Moyale .

In 2005, 42.7% of children in Oromia (43.9% of boys, 41.4% of girls) went to primary school, which is roughly the national average. 14.5% (18% boys, 10.5% girls) attend secondary school. 87.2% of the women were circumcised , 2.5% of them in the most severe form (infibulation). 29.8% of women said that they support the continuation of circumcision.

Population development

year	population
1994 census	18,732,525
2007 census	26,993,933
2015 estimate	33,692,000

history

The region was formed after the revolution in 1991, when the new federal administrative structure of Ethiopia dissolved the historical provinces and the largest ethnic groups each received their own federal state. It was also called Region 4 at first.

Not all Oromo areas became part of Oromia. Thus the northernmost Oromo groups in the provinces of Tigray (the Rayya and Azabo ) and Wollo were assigned to the regions of Tigray and Amhara . Parts of the Wollega province were added to Benishangul-Gumuz , and Oromia had to forego some areas in favor of the Somali region and the region of the southern nations, nationalities and peoples .

Border disputes persist, especially with the Somali region. In the border area, groups like the Gabbra , Garre , Jarso and Guura traditionally consider themselves both Oromo and Somali. The city of Harar , claimed by both regions , where Oromo make up the majority of the population, became a separate state with the Aderi as the titular nation, and the also controversial Dire Dawa became an independent city.

Initially, the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa - called by the Oromo Finfinnee - was also the capital of Oromia. In 2000 it became an independent city and Adama / Nazret was declared the new regional capital. After protests, Addis Ababa became the capital of Oromos again in 2005 without becoming part of the region.

politics

Since Oromia was founded, the regional government has provided the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), which belongs to the ruling EPRDF coalition . It was founded in 1989 by the TPLF , which was not satisfied with its previous partner among the Oromo - the separatist Oromo Liberation Front OLF. In 2000, the OPDO gave its approval to spin off the previous regional capital Addis Ababa from Oromia and to make Adama / Nazret the new capital.

In the elections for the regional parliament with 537 seats in 2005, the OPDO won 387 seats. 105 seats went to the Oromo People's Congress (OPC / KUO) from the opposition coalition UEDF , which is striving for a stronger federalization of Ethiopia and is primarily anchored in the Oromo. The other major opposition coalition CUD / Qinijit , which on the contrary again advocates more centralism and was elected by some Oromo and Amharen in Oromia in protest against the EPRDF, received 33 seats. The Oromo opposition party OFDM / WAFIDO won ten seats and the Geda System Advancement Party two.

Party or coalition	Seats (537)	proportion of
OPDO	387	72.1%
OPC / KUO	105	19.6%
Qinijit Coalition	33	6.1%
OFDM / WAFIDO	10	1.9%
Geda System Advancement Party	2	0.4%

The OLF continues to campaign violently, but largely unsuccessfully, for the independence of the Oromo from Ethiopia. The central government and the regional government allied with it therefore see any expressions of Oromo culture, Oromo nationalism and political criticism as a potential threat. Oromos who support or are accused of supporting independence are being persecuted.

Administrative structure

Oromia, like the other regions of Ethiopia, is divided into administrative zones. These were formed in the mid-1990s on the basis of the federal constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia that came into force on August 22, 1995 . However, the administrative zones already existed at the time of the 1994 census (12 zones are listed for Oromia in the census reports). The no longer up-to-date division of Oromia into 12 zones can still be found on many maps of the administrative structure of Ethiopia on the internet. Until the next and so far last census in 2007, eight further zones (Guji, Kelem Wellega, Southwest Shewa, West Arsi, Adama Special Zone, Jimma Special Zone and Burayu Special Zone) were added by dividing existing zones. The Burayu Special Zone, which consists of the city of Burayu located immediately west of Addis Ababa (Finfinne), was renamed the Oromia Special Zone by Finfinne (Addis Abeba) in 2008 and significantly expanded. In 2015/16 (2008 according to the Ethiopian calendar ) and 2016/17 (2009 according to the Ethiopian calendar), two further zones were added with the Bunno Bedele zone and the West Guji zone , so that the following administrative zones currently exist :

The zones are further subdivided into more than 260 woredas , whereby the number of woredas has changed several times due to various subdivisions and reorganizations. The woredas are further divided into kebeles . Below the Kebele level, gott and garree were introduced as the next lower administrative level. According to critics, this even tighter administrative structure also served to strengthen the control of the ruling OPDO / EPRDF over the population.

Web links

Commons : Oromia - collection of images, videos and audio files

Basic information about Oromia (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Ethiopia: Regions, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Retrieved December 1, 2017 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Central Statistics Agency (CSA): Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results (PDF; 1.7 MB), (pp. 7, 78, 79, 112)

↑ ^a ^b Abdulkader Saleh, Nicole Hirt, Wolbert GC Smidt, Rainer Tetzlaff (eds.): Peace spaces in Eritrea and Tigray under pressure: Identity construction, social cohesion and political stability , LIT Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 9783825818586 (p. 224, 349 )

↑ CSA: Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, 2005, pp. 20, 253

↑ Thomas Zitelmann: Nation of the Oromo. Collective identities, national conflicts, we-group formation , 1994, ISBN 9783860930366 (p. 178f.)

↑ Tobias Hagmann, Mohamud H. Khalif: State and Politics in Ethiopia's Somali Region since 1991 ( Memento of the original dated August 31, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: Bildhaan. An International Journal of Somali Studies 6, 2006, pp. 25–49 (PDF; 121 kB) @1@ 2