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Benishangul-Gumuz is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia to the border of Sudan. It was previously known as Region 6. The region's capital is Assosa. Following the adoption of the 1995 constitution, the region was created from the westernmost portion of the Gojjam province, and the northwestern portion of the Welega Province. The name of the region comes from two peoples – Berta and Gumuz.
The Koman languages are a small close-knit family of languages located along the Ethiopia–Sudan border with about 50,000 speakers. They are conventionally classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan family. However, due to the paucity of evidence, many scholars treat it as an independent language family. Among scholars who do accept its inclusion within Nilo-Saharan, opinions vary as to their position within it.
Anfillo is a Northern Omotic language spoken in western Ethiopia by a few hundred people. The term Anfillo is used to refer both to the language and the people found in a small community in the Anfillo woreda, part of the Mirab Welega Zone. The language is on the verge of extinction as it is spoken only by adults above the age of sixty. All younger generations have shifted to Western Oromo.
Assosa is a zone in Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. This Zone was named after the Assosa Sultanate, which had approximately the same boundaries. Assosa is bordered on the south by the Mao-Komo special woreda, on the west by Sudan, and on the northeast by the Kamashi. The largest town in this zone is Assosa. Its highest point is Mount Bambasi, located in the woreda of the same name. The majority ethnic group in the zone is the Berta people.
Bambasi is one of the 20 Districts of Ethiopia, or woredas, in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Asosa Zone, it is bordered by the Mao-Komo special woreda on the southwest, Asosa in the northwest, Oda Buldigilu in the northeast, and by the Oromia Region in the southeast.
Oda Buldigilu is one of the 20 Districts of Ethiopia, or woredas, in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Asosa Zone, it is bordered by the Kamashi Zone in the north and east, by Oromia Region in the south, by Bambasi in the southwest, by Asosa in the west, and by Menge in the northwest. The major settlement in this woreda is Oda Buldigilu.
Dega is one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Buno Bedelle Zone, Dega is bordered on the south by Chora, on the west by Supena Sodo, on the north by the Mirab Welega Zone, on the northeast by the southern exclave of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, and on the east by Bedele. Towns in Dega include Dega and Mako. Mako woreda was part of Dega woreda.
Mana Sibu is one of the 180 Aanaas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the West Welega Zone, Mana Sibu is bordered on the south by Jarso, on the southwest by Begi, on the north by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, and on the southeast by Nejo. Mendi is the administrative center. Kiltu Kara woreda was part of Mana Sibu woreda.
Gimbi is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the West Welega Zone, Gimbi woreda is bordered on the south by Haru, on the southwest by Yubdo, on the west by Lalo Asabi, on the north by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the east by the East Welega Zone, and on the southeast by an exclave of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The administrative center for this woreda is Gimbi. Homa woreda was part of Gimbi woreda.
Begi is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the West Welega Zone, Begi is bordered on the south by Kelem Welega Zone, on the west and north by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the northeast by Mana Sibu, and on the east by Jarso. Towns in Begi include Begi, and Gaba dafino Kondala woreda was part of Begi woreda.
Diga was one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It was separated from Leka Dulecha woredas. Part of the Misraq Welega Zone, Diga Leka was bordered on the south by an exclave of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the west by the Didessa River which separates it from the Illubabor Zone on the southwest and the Mirab Welega Zone on the west, on the north by Sasiga, on the northeast by Guto Wayu and on the southeast by Leka Dulacha. The administrative center of the woreda was Diga; towns in Diga Woreda are Arjo Gudetu and Diga. Diga woreda is 12 km away from capital city of East Wollega, Nekemt town.
Mao-Komo is a woreda in Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia. Because it is not part of any zones in Benishangul-Gumuz, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area. The southernmost woreda in the Region, Mao-Komo is bordered on the west by Sudan and South Sudan, on the north by the Asosa Zone, and on the east and south by the Oromia Region. Towns in this woreda include Tongo and it has a weekly market. Tongo refugee camp, housing 12,483 displaced people from Sudan and South Sudan, is also located in Mao-Komo.
Begi is a town in south-western Ethiopia. Located in the West Welega Zone of the Oromia, the town has a latitude and longitude of 9°20′N34°29′E with an elevation of 1673 meters above sea level. Begi is the administrative center of Begi Aanaa. As of 2005, the district (Aanaa) is divided into two districts: Begi and Qondaala.
The Kwama, are a Nilo-Saharan-speaking community living in the Sudanese-Ethiopian borderland, mainly in the Mao-Komo special woreda of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Ethiopia. They belong, culturally and linguistically, to the Koman groups, which include neighboring communities such as the Uduk, Koma, and Opuuo. Although they traditionally occupied a larger territory, they have been forced to move to marginal, lowland areas by the Oromo from the 18th century onwards. In some villages Kwama, Oromo and Berta live together. The Kwama are often called "Mao" by other groups, especially by the Oromo. The people who live in the southern area and near the Sudanese borderland often call themselves "Gwama" and use the term "Kwama" to refer to those living further to the south and in Sudan. These other "Kwama" are usually known by anthropologists as Koma or Komo. In recent years, many people belonging to this ethnic group have been resettled by the Ethiopian state in order to provide them with clinics and schools.
Jimma Gidami was a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab (West) Welega Zone, Jimma Gidami was bordered on the south by Anfillo, on the west by South Sudan, on the northwest by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by Begi, on the east by Gawo Dale, and on the east by Hawa Welele. Towns in Jimma Gidami included Gidami and Nunu Kumba. It was separated for Gidami and Jimma Horo woredas.
Bambassi is an Omotic Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia around the towns of Bambasi and Didessa in the area east of Asosa in Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The parent language group is the East Mao group. Alternative names for the language are Bambeshi, Siggoyo, Amam, Fadiro, Northern Mao, Didessa and Kere.
Hozo is an Afroasiatic language spoken mostly in the Kondala woreda of Mirab Welega Zone by peoples generically known as "Mao". There are smaller groups of Hozo speakers in Mana Sibu woreda. The term Hozo is usually understood by the Mao to refer to a clan. Hozo speakers prefer to call themselves Amo. Hozo and Seze are sometimes called Begi Mao. Hozo is spoken by roughly 3,000 people in Ethiopia. Hozo is also a clan in the Begi area. The Hozo language is also known as Begi-Mao and Mao of Begi. Its classification is Afro-Asiatic, Omotic, and Mao. The word Mao is Omotic and means ‘man; people’, occurring as [ma:ɪ] in Seze and as [mɔ:] in Hozo. Mao is frequently used as an ethnic term. There is a kind of Mao identity across language differences in Ethiopia. While it is generally accepted today that Omotic is one of the primary branches of the Afro-Asiatic family, the position of the four languages Hozo, Seze, Ganza and Northern Mao is still being discussed. The Mao languages are the least documented within Omotic, and Omotic itself is the least documented of the Afroasiatic groups.
Komo is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Kwama (Komo) people of Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. It is a member of the Koman languages. The language is also referred to as Madiin, Koma, South Koma, Central Koma, Gokwom and Hayahaya. Many individuals from Komo are multilingual because they are in close proximity to Mao, Kwama and Oromo speakers. Komo is closely related to Kwama, a language spoken by a group who live in the same region of Ethiopia and who also identify themselves as ethnically Komo. Some Komo and Kwama speakers recognize the distinction between the two languages and culture, whereas some people see it as one "ethnolinguistic" community. The 2007 Ethiopian census makes no mention of Kwama, and for this reason its estimate of 8,000 Komo speakers may be inaccurate. An older estimate from 1971 places the number of Komo speakers in Ethiopia at 1,500. The Komo language is greatly understudied; more information is being revealed as researchers are discovering more data about other languages within the Koman family.
Ganza is an Omotic language spoken in the Al Kurumik district of the Blue Nile (state) in Sudan and in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, specifically in the village districts of Penishuba and Yabeldigis.
Kondala is one of the Aanaas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is part of the West Welega Zone. It was established in December 2005 after being separated from the Begi woreda. It is bounded by Benishangul-Gumuz Region and Mana Sibu in the north, Kelem Welega Zone in the south and southeast, Begi in the west and Babo Gambel in northeast. Gaba Dafino is the administrative center.
References
- ↑ Küspert, Klaus-Christian (2015). "The Mao and Komo Languages in the Begi–Tongo area in Western Ethiopia: Classification, Designations, Distribution". Linguistic Discovery. 13 (1). doi: 10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.447 .
- ↑ Chan, Eugene (2019). "The Afro-Asiatic Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.