Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region

The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; Amharic: የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, romanized: Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of five kililoch, called Regions 7 to 11, following the regional council elections on 21 June 1992.[5] Its government is based in Hawassa.

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል
Regional state
From left: Lake Chamo; Hamer people; Sunset on Lake Awasa; Welayta and Kambaata dance respectively
Flag of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
Flag
Official seal of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
Seal
Map of Ethiopia showing Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region
Map of Ethiopia showing Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region
Coordinates: 6.5°N 37.1°E / 6.5; 37.1
Country Ethiopia
Administrative headquartersHawassa
Government
 • Chief AdministratorErstu Yirdaw (Prosperity Party)
Area
 • Total54,400 km2 (21,000 sq mi)
 • Rank5
 [1]
Population
 (2017)
 • Total9,126,000[2]
 • Rank4
 [3]
ISO 3166 codeET-SN
HDI (2019)0.488[4]
low · 6th of 11

The SNNPR borders Kenya to the south (including a small part of Lake Turkana), the Ilemi Triangle (a region claimed by Kenya and South Sudan) to the southwest, the South West Ethiopia Region to the west, the Oromia Region to the north and east, and the Sidama Region to the east. The region's major cities and towns include Arba Minch, Sodo, Jinka, Dila, Boditi, Areka, Butajira, Welkite, Bonga, Hosaena and Worabe.

The regional government of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region is based in the city of Hawassa. Following the formation of the Sidama Region in June 2020, Hawassa is located outside of the boundaries of the region. The regional government is planning to move to a city within the region's boundaries after two consecutive national electoral cycles.[6] The largest cities in the region are Sodo with the population of 194,977 and Arba Minch with the population of 151,013 [7]

Demographics
Kambaata family in front of their tukul in the Kembata Tembaro Zone

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the SNNPR regional state had an estimated total population of 14,929,548, of whom 7,425,918 were men and 7,503,630 women. 13,433,991 or 89.98% of the population are estimated to be rural inhabitants, while 1,495,557 or 10.02% are urban; this makes the SNNPR Ethiopia's most rural region. With an estimated area of 105,887.18 square kilometers, this region has an estimated density of 141 people per square kilometer. For the entire region 3,110,995 households were counted, which results in an average for the region of 4.8 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 3.9 and rural households 4.9 people.[3] The projected population for 2017 was 19,170,007.[2]

In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the region's population was reported to be 10,377,028 of whom 5,161,787 were men and 5,215,241 were women. At the time of the census, the rural population of the Region accounted for 93.2% of the total population. Semien Omo, Wolayita, and Gurage were the three zones with the highest population. The population is concentrated mostly in eastern, northern and central part of the SNNPR while the western and southern part of the region is sparsely populated.

The SNNPR Water Resources Bureau announced that as of the fiscal year ending in 2006, they had increased the area of the region that had access to drinkable water to 54% from 10 to 15% 15 years ago.[8] In August 2008, the head of public relations for the Bureau, Abdulkerim Nesru, announced that 94 million birr had been spent to further increase the availability of drinkable water in the region from 58% in the previous year to 63.6%. Priority was given to certain zones, such as Sidama, Welayta and Gurage, as well as the Alaba special woreda and several resettlement areas.[9]

Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for the SNNPR as of 2005 include the following: 10.7% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 57% and for women 22.4%; and the Regional infant mortality rate is 85 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is greater than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants' first month of life.[10]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1994 10,377,028—    
2007 14,929,548+43.9%
2017 19,170,007+28.4%
source:[11]

Religion
Religion 1994 Census 2007 Census[3]
Protestants 34.8% 55.5%
Orthodox Christians 55.6% 19.86%
Muslim 35.2% 36.2%
Traditional religions 15.4% 6.6%
Roman Catholics 3% 2.4%
Other religious affiliations — 1.5%

Ethnicities
Mursi people
Surma people
Daasanach people

The SNNPR, being an amalgam of the main homelands of numerous ethnicities, contains over 45 indigenous ethnic groups:

Largest ethnicities
People 1994 Census 2007 Census[3]
Welayta 12% 10.59%
Hadiya - 7.98%
Gurage 15% 19.54%
Gamo - 7%
Kafficho - 5.44%
Silt'e - 5.37%
Amhara - 4.10%
All ethnicities in region

The ethnicities native to the SNNPR, with percentages of the population as reported in the 2007 national census and organized by linguistic grouping, include:[3]

Languages

The 2007 census reported that the predominantly spoken mother tongue languages include Sidama (19.59%), Welayta (10.48%), Hadiya (8%), Gurage languages (7.13%), Gamo (6.9%), Kafa (5.36%) and Amharic (4.10%). Other languages spoken in the State include Kambaata, Mello, Goffa, Gedeo and Dima; because of the relatively few number of speakers of most of the languages in the region, the working language of the state is Amharic (the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia and formerly the only official language).[3]

The 1994 census reported that the predominantly spoken languages include Sidamigna (18%), Guragigna (14.72%), Welayta (11.53%), Hadiyigna (8.53%), Keffigna (5.22%), and Kembatigna (4.35%). Other languages spoken in the State include Gamoigna, Mello, Goffa, and Gedeo.[12]

Amharic is still the working language although most pupils get eight years of primary education in their home language and all secondary and further education is in English.[13]

Agriculture
A Kambaata woman extracting the edible part of an enset (a major staple crop of the SNNPR) with a traditional tool.

The CSA reported that for 2004–2005 100,338 tons of coffee were produced in the SNNPR, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 44.2% of the total production in Ethiopia.

Farmers in the Region had an estimated total 7,938,490 head of cattle (representing 20.5% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 3,270,200 sheep (18.8%), 2,289,970 goats (17.6%), 298,720 horses (19.7%), 63,460 mules (43.1%), 278,440 asses (11.1%), 6,586,140 poultry of all species (21.3%), and 726,960 beehives (16.7%).[14]

Enset is a major indigenous local crop in the SNNPR.

List of Chief Administrators
Main article: List of governors of the Regions of Ethiopia

Administrative zones
Waterfalls in Arba Mich
Hawassa Stadium in the regional state
Hawassa University in SNNPR

The following table shows administrative zones and special woredas (an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area is based on information from 2022; the list of second administrative level bodies maintained by the United Nations Geographic Information Working Group dates from 2002.[17]

Zones and Special Woredas in SNNPR
NumberZoneSeat
1Gamo ZoneArba Minch
2Gofa ZoneSawula
3Gedeo ZoneDilla
4Gurage ZoneWelkite
5Hadiya ZoneHosaena
6Kembata Tembaro ZoneDurame
7Silt'e ZoneWorabe
8Debub Omo ZoneJinka
9Wolayita ZoneSodo
10Alaba ZoneHalaba Kulito
11Amaro special woredaKele
12Alle Special Woreda
13Basketo special woredaLaska
14Burji special woredaSoyama
15Dirashe special woredaGidole
16Konso ZoneKarat
17Yem special woredaFofa

Former zones

Peace and stability
Further information: Human rights in Ethiopia

See also

References
  1. "2011 National Statistics" (PDF). Central Statistics Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  2. Population Projection of Ethiopia for All Regions At Wereda Level from 2014 – 2017. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Central Statistical Agency. Archived from the original on 6 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. Central Statistical Agency: The 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Statistical Report for Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region; Part I: Population Size and Characteristics Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine. July 2010.
  4. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  5. Lyons, Terrence (1996). "Closing the Transition: The May 1995 Elections in Ethiopia". Journal of Modern African Studies. 34 (1): 135. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00055233. JSTOR 161741. S2CID 155079488.
  6. "NEWS: SNNPRS Council approves legal framework which makes Hawassa city accountable to future Sidama Regional State". Addis Standard. 2019-10-18. Archived from the original on 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  7. "Population Projection Towns as of July 2021" (PDF). Ethiopian Statistics Agency. 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  8. "Potable water expansion works underway with over 60mln birr in SNNP State". Walta Information Center. 28 November 2006. Archived from the original on 7 October 2007.
  9. "SNNP State builds, repairs water facilities with over 94 mln birr". Walta Information Center. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  10. Macro International Inc. "2008. Ethiopia Atlas of Key Demographic and Health Indicators, 2005." (Calverton: Macro International, 2008) Archived 2010-11-05 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 2, 3, 10 (accessed 28 January 2009)
  11. "Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region population statistics". Archived from the original on 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  12. "FDRE States-Basic Information, Southern nations and Nationalities". Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2006.
  13. Kathleen Heugh: Margins, Diversity and Achievement: System-Wide Data and Implementation of Multilingual Education in Ethiopia, p. 48, at Google Books. In: Durk Gorter, Victoria Zenotz, Jasone Cenoz (eds.): Minority Languages and Multilingual Education: Bridging the Local and the Global. Springer 2013, ISBN 978-94-007-7317-2.
  14. "CSA 2005 National Statistics" (PDF). Tables D.4–D.7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2008.
  15. "Ethiopia Regions". Worldstatesmen.org. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  16. "Ethiopia: Dessie Dalke Appointed As Chief of South Ethiopia State". AllAfrica.com. Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency. July 13, 2013. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  17. "Names and codes for January 2000, Ethiopia". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2020-10-05. The information in the WHO spreadsheet is built on information received 18 September 2002 from the Ethiopian Ministry of Federal Affairs.
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