Silt'e Zone

Silt'e is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR). This zone is named for the Silt'e people, whose homeland lies in this zone. Silt'e is bordered on the south by Alaba special woreda, on the southwest by Hadiya, on the north by Gurage, and on the east by the Oromia Region.

Following a referendum held between 18 and 26 April 2001, the Silt'e unanimously voted to form their own Zone, Silt'e.^[1] Later more woredas from Gurage and Hadya zones and Alaba special woreda were added.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 750,398, of whom 364,108 are men and 386,290 women; 47,097 or 6.28% are urban inhabitants. The largest ethnic group reported in Silt'e was the Silt'e people (97.35%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.65% of the population. Silt'e is spoken as a first language by 96.95% of the population, and 1.48% spoke Amharic; the remaining 1.57% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were reported as Muslim, with 97.6% of the population reporting that belief, while 2.03% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.^[2]

Notes

1. Sarah Vaughan, "Ethnicity and Power in Ethiopia" (University of Edinburgh: Ph.D. Thesis, 2003), p. 265
2. Census 2007 Tables: Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, Tables 2.1, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4.