Bale Zone (Oromo: AaanaBaalee) is azone inOromia Region ofEthiopia. Bale is bordered on the south by theGanale Dorya River which separates it fromGuji Zone, on the west by theWest Arsi Zone, on the north byArsi Zone, on the northeast by theShebelle River which separates it fromWest Hararghe Zone andEast Hararghe Zone, and on the east by theSomali Region.
The highest point in the Bale Zone, and also the highest point in Oromia, isMount Batu (4,307 m) in theUrgoma Mountains range. Other notable peaks of the Urgoma includeMount Tullu Dimtu,Mount Darkeena andMount Gaysay. Rivers include theWab and theWaab; notable lakes includeGarba Guracha andHora Orgona. Bale zone is connected with neighboring zones and region by national highway. It is connected with Addis Ababa via Robe highway. The economy of the zone is mainly dominated by agriculture. The zone is for coffee and wheat production. Points of interest in the Zone includeSheikh Hussein—named for the tomb of aMuslimsaint—theBale Mountains National Park, and theSof Omar Caves. Towns and cities in Bale includeDodola,Ginir,Goba andRobe.
Bale zone is the second largest zone inOromia National Regional State afterBorena zone with a total area of 63,555 km2. It shares about 17.5% of total area ofOromia. It has 18 districts, 2 urban administrative centers, 20 urban kebeles and 351 rural kebeles.[1]
TheCentral Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 5,130metric tons ofcoffee were produced in this zone in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 4.46% of the Region's output and 2.2% of Ethiopia's total output.[2]
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,402,492, an increase of 15.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 713,517 are men and 688,975 women; with an area of 43,690.56 square kilometers, Bale has a population density of 32.10. While 166,758 or 26.20% are urban inhabitants, a further 44,610 or 3.18% are pastoralists. A total of 297,081 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.72 persons to a household, and 287,188 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported were theOromo (91.2%), theAmhara (5.7%) and theSomali (1.44%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.66% of the population.Afaan Oromo was spoken as a first language by 90.46%,Amharic was spoken by 7.11% andSomali by 1.05%; the remaining 1.38% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants wereMuslim, with 81.83% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 16.94% of the population professedEthiopian Orthodox Christianity and 1.04% wereProtestant.[3]
Bale is named for the formerSultanate of Bale, which was in approximately the same area. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this zone of 1,217,864 in 250,586 households, of whom 603,895 were men and 613,969 women; 130,307 or 10.7% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Bale were theOromo (88.93%), theAmhara (7.65%), theSomali (1.39%), and theSidama (0.88%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.15% of the population.Oromo was spoken as a first language by 87.5%, 9.5%Amharic, 1.51% spokeSomali, and 0.88% spokeSidamo; the remaining 0.61% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 76.7% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 19.02% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 2.77% held traditional beliefs, and 1.15% were Protestant.[4]
According to a May 24, 2004World Bank memorandum, 11% of the inhabitants of Bale have access to electricity; this zone has a road density of 11.4 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers);[5] the average rural household has 1 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region);[6] and the equivalent of 1.0 head of livestock. 19.5% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a regional average of 24%. Concerningeducation, 66% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school and 21% in secondary schools. Concerninghealth, 53% of the zone is exposed tomalaria and none toTsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 555.[7]
Bale Zone is bounded byGenale river to the west and southwest andWabe Shebele river on east and north. These two rivers restrict surface transportation system intra zone and inter zones and regions. Altitude of Bale zone extends from less than 300 meters aroundMeda Welabu, southeast ofRayitu andGura Damole districts; to more than 4377 meters above sea level inGoba district namelyMount Tulu Dimtu. The annual average temperature of Bale zone is 17.5 °C. The maximum and minimum temperature is 25 °C and 10 °C respectively. The mean annual average rainfall is 875mm, whereas maximum 1200mm and 550mm minimum annual rainfall was recorded in the zone.[1]
6°45′N40°15′E / 6.750°N 40.250°E /6.750; 40.250
