 | This article needs to be updated.(September 2023) |
Ethiopia is administratively divided into four levels: regions, zones, woredas (districts) and kebele (wards). [1] [2] The country comprises 12 regions and two city administrations under these regions, plenty of zones, woredas and neighbourhood administration: kebeles. In addition to the Twelve federal states within the country, there are two federal-level city administrations in Addis Ababa and Dire Dava. [3]
The first administrative division in Ethiopia is a region, also called kilil, or alternatively regional state. The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia established the regions based on ethno-linguistic territories. [1] [4] Previously, this level was called a province, and though many of the old province and new region names are the same, the entities are not identical and the words region and province are not interchangeable. As of 2023 [update] , there were twelve regions.
Additionally there are two independently chartered cities which are on the same level as a region.
Regions are subdivided into zones . The number of zones varies, but most regions have around six to twelve zones. The largest region Oromia has over 20 zones, and the two smallest regions have none. There are some cities which are set up as "special zones", such as Bahir Dar Special Zone in the Amhara Region. The earlier equivalent to a zone was called an awrajja, and many zones today are named the same as their earlier awrajja, but the terms zone and awrajja are not interchangeable.
Zones are divided into woredas (districts). In Ethiopia, the woredas comprise three main organs: a council, an executive and a judicial. The Woreda Council is the highest government organ of the district, which is made up of directly elected representatives from each kebele in the woredas. The representative of the people in each kebele is accountable to their electorate. The woreda chief administration is the district's executive organ that encompasses the district administrator, deputy administrator, and the head of the main sectoral executive offices found in the district, which are ultimately accountable to the district administrator and district council. The quasi-judicial tasks belong to the Security and Justice administration. In addition to woredas, city administrations are considered at the same level as the woredas. A city administration has a mayor whom members of the city council elected. As different regional constitutions govern woredas, the names of the bodies may differ. [3]
Woredas are divided into kebele , municipalities. This is the smallest administrative division. This is sometimes also called tabia or tabiya. They are at the neighbourhood level and are the primary contact for most citizens living in Ethiopia. Their administrative unit consists of an elected council, a cabinet (executive committee), a social court and the development and security staff. Kebeles are accountable to their woreda councils and are typically responsible for providing basic education, primary health care, agriculture, water, and rural roads. [3]
Prior to the 1995 Constitution, Ethiopia was divided into provinces, and those were further subdivided into awrajjas, then into woredas and then sub-woredas. Boundaries were sometimes redrawn and the number of provinces varied across time. [lower-alpha 1] Awrajja were subdivisions of provinces, and were the rough equivalent of the current term zones. After the 1995 Constitution, the terms "province" and "awrajja" were dropped in favor of the terms "region" and "zone". [1]
Addis Ababa is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. In the 2007 census, the city's population was estimated to be 2,739,551 inhabitants. Addis Ababa is a highly developed and important cultural, artistic, financial and administrative centre of Ethiopia. It also serves as the capital of the Oromia Region.
Oromia is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa (Finfinne).
Ethiopia is a federation subdivided into ethno-linguistically based regional states and chartered cities. This system of administrative regions replaced the provinces of Ethiopia in 1992.
The Somali Region, also known as Soomaali Galbeed and officially the Somali Regional State, is a regional state in eastern Ethiopia. Its territory is the largest after Oromia Region. The regional state borders the Ethiopian regions of Afar and Oromia and the chartered city Dire Dawa to the west, as well as Djibouti to the north, Somalia to the northeast, east and south; and Kenya to the southwest.
Historically, Ethiopia was divided into provinces, further subdivided into awrajjas or districts, until they were replaced by ethnolinguistic-based regions (kililoch) and chartered cities in 1995.
Amaro Zone is a zone in South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. The people are called Koore and their language is Koorete. Amaro is one of the areas in which members of Koore nations widely live in. Amaro got zonal status in August 2023 upon the formation of the South Ethiopia Regional State. In 2011, the Segen Area Peoples Zone was established, which includes Amaro woreda and the 3 former special woredas surrounding it. Located in the Great Rift Valley, Amaro is bordered on the south by Burji Zone, on the southwest by Konso Zone, on the west by Dirashe Zone, on the northwest by Gamo Zone and Lake Chamo, and on the north by Lake Abaya and in east and northeast by Oromia Region. It is divided into 35 kebeles. The administrative center of the woreda is Kelle. Jijola, Derba Menena, and Kereda are other growing municipals of the zone.
Konso is a zone in the South Ethiopia Regional State, Ethiopia. It was formerly a woreda. Prior to 2011, Konso was not part of any Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and was therefore considered a special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area. In 2011, the Segen Area Peoples Zone was established, which includes Konso special woreda and the 3 former woredas surrounding it. This special woreda is named after the Konso people. Located in the Great Rift Valley, Konso is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the west by the South Omo Zone, on the northwest by Alle special woreda, on the north by Dirashe special woreda, on the northeast by Amaro special woreda, and on the east by Burji special woreda. The Sagan River, which flows south then west to join the Weito, defines part of the woreda's boundary with Burji and the entire length of the boundary with the Oromia Region. The administrative center is Karati; other towns in Konso include Fasha and Sagen. After protesting by residents to become a zone for several years, Konso became a zone in November 2018.
Bereh is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It was part of former Berehna Aleltu woreda which was separated for Aleltu and Bereh woredas and Sendafa Town. Part of the Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, Bereh is bordered on the south by the Akaki and East Shewa Zone, on the southwest by the city of Addis Ababa, on the west by Sululta, on the north by North Shewa Zone, and on the east by the Amhara Region.
Mieso is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the West Hararghe Zone, Mieso is bordered on the south by Guba Koricha, on the west by the Afar Region, on the north by the Somali Region, on the east by Doba and on the southeast by Chiro. The administrative center for this woreda is Mieso; other towns in Mieso include Bordede, Asebot, Kora, and Gololcha.
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas, are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after zones and the regional states.
Sire is a town in south-western Oromia. Located in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia, Ethiopia. This town has a latitude and longitude of 08°17′N39°27′E with an altitude of 1793 meters above sea level. It is administrative center of Sire woreda. Currently Sire District or Aanaa Siree is divided in to seventeen rural administrative communes or Kebele peasant Associations and one urban town administration. The rural community or Araddaa in Sire District are the following: Alelu Gasala, Amola Tebbo, Amola Chancho, Borera Chireo, Dankicha Gafarsa, Gasala Amuta, Gasala Chacha, Gasala Shashe, Huduga Borano, Ibseta Huduga Koloba Hawas, Koloba Bikka, Koloba Balie, Koloba Shamida, Lodie Banban, Lodie Lammffo and Ufura Hagamsa, The urban Araddaa administration is Sire 01 Araddaa.
The 2014–2016 Oromo protests were a series of protests and resistance first sparked on 25 April 2014. The initial actions were taken in opposition to the Addis Ababa Master Plan, and resumed on 12 November 2015 by university students and farmers in the town of Ginchi, located 80 km southwest of Addis Ababa, encircled by the Oromia region. The plan was to expand the capital into the Oromia special zone, leading to fears that native Oromo farmers would lose their land and be displaced. The plan was later dropped but protests continued, highlighting issues such as marginalization and human rights. Mulatu Gemechu, deputy chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, expressed to Reuters: "so far, we have compiled a list of 33 protesters killed by armed security forces that included police and soldiers but I am very sure the list will grow". Protesters demanded social and political reforms, including an end to human rights abuses like government killings of civilians, mass arrests, government land seizures, and political marginalization of opposition groups. The government responded by restricting access to the internet and attacking as well as arresting protesters.
The Transitional Government of Tigray was a caretaker administration that was formally declared by the House of Federation of Ethiopia on 7 November 2020, in the context of a conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in power in the Tigray Regional State and the federal government of Ethiopia. In late November 2020, the administration, headed by Mulu Nega, planned public consultation and participation in choosing new leaders at the regional and zonal level and preservation of woreda and kebele administrations. The Transitional Government left Tigray in late June 2021 during Operation Alula.
Following the 2018 dissolution of the ethnic federalist, dominant party political coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, there was an increase in tensions within the country, with newly resurgent regional and ethnically based factions carrying out armed attacks on military and civilians in multiple conflicts throughout Ethiopia.
The government of Amhara Region is composed of the executive branch, led by the President; the legislative branch, which comprises the Regional Council; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Regional Supreme Court. The Amhara Region alongside almost all other regions are based on a singular ethnicity excluding Chartered Cities, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa and the Region Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.
Since the 1990s, the Amhara people of Ethiopia have been subject to ethnic violence, including massacres by Tigrayan, Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups among others, which some have characterized as a genocide. Large-scale killings and grave human rights violations followed the implementation of the ethnic-federalist system in the country. In most of the cases, the mass murders were silent with perpetrators from various ethno-militant groups— from TPLF/TDF, OLF–OLA, and Gumuz armed groups.
Since the new constitution of Ethiopia enacted in 1995, Ethiopia's legal system consisted of federal law with bicameral legislature. The House of People's Representatives (HoPR) is the lower chamber of bicameral legislature of Federal Parliamentary Assembly with 547 seats and the House of Federation with 108 seats, the former vested on executive power of Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and the latter have authority to interpret federal law and oversees regional and federal decisions.
The Amhara Association of America (AAA) (Amharic: የዐማራ ማህበር በአሜሪካ) is a non-profit organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina, focused on advocating for the human rights of the Amhara people in Ethiopia.
Courts in Ethiopia divided into three-level structures: the State Supreme Court, High Courts and the First Instance Courts. State Courts are represented in every regions of Ethiopia and have seat in each capital cities. The FDRE Constitution provides judicial review to the Federal Supreme Court, delegated by State Supreme Court, Federal High Courts and Federal First Instance Courts respectively.
Events in the year 2023 in Ethiopia.
