Meta Robi

Meta Robi is one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the West Shewa Zone, it is bordered on the south by Ejerie, on the southwest by Jeldu, on the northwest by Ginde Beret, on the north by the Muger River (which separates it from the North Shewa Zone), and on the east by Adda Berga. The major town in Meta Robi is Sheno.

The missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf passed through the district of a tribe of the Oromo, who were called the Meta Robi, named in part after a local river, the Robi on 27 January 1840. The river was in Shewa, southwest of Ankober.^[1]

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 140,627, of whom 69,664 were men and 70,963 were women; 4,027 or 2.86% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants said they practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 62.35% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 27.49% of the population were Protestant, and 9.76% practiced traditional beliefs.^[2]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 144,103, of whom 73,070 are men and 71,033 are women; 2,683 or 1.86% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 972.51 square kilometers, Meta Robi has an estimated population density of 148.2 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 152.8.^[3]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 104,427, of whom 51,786 were men and 52,641 women; 1,502 or 1.44% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Meta Robi were the Oromo (97.61%), and the Amhara (2.33%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.06% of the population. The Oromo language was spoken as a first language by 99.15% The majority of the inhabitants professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 90.67% of the population reporting they practiced that belief, while 4.98% of the population said they practiced traditional beliefs, and 4.29% were Protestant.^[4]

Notes

1. Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf, Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, Detailing their proceedings in the kingdom of Shoa, and journeys in other parts of Abyssinia, in the years 1839, 1840, 1841 and 1842, (London, 1843), p. 201
2. 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1, Tables 2.1, 2.5, 3.4 (accessed 13 January 2012)
3. CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables B.3 and B.4
4. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Tables 2.1, 2.13, 2.16, 2.20 (accessed 6 April 2009)

Coordinates: 9°20′N 38°10′E / 9.333°N 38.167°E