The General Background of the Southern Nations, Nationalities
and Peoples' Regional State
Location, Area and Administrative Divisions
The Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) is located in the Southern and south-western part of Ethiopia. Astronomically, it roughly lies between 4°.43 - 8°.58 North latitude and 34°.88 - 39°.14 East longitude. It is bordered with Kenya in south, the Sudan in southwest, Gambella region in northwest and surrounded by Oromiya region in northwest, north and east directions.
The total area of the region estimated to be 110,931.9 Sq.Km which is 10% of the country and inhabited by a population size of about 15,760,743 accounting nearly(in 1999E.C.) - accounting nearly 20% of the total population of the country. The population density of the region became 142 persons per sq.k.m, which makes the region one of the most populous parts of the country.
The region is a multination which consists of about 56 ethnic groups with their own distinct geographical location, language, cultures, and social identities living tog°ether. These varied ethnic groups are classified in to the Omotic, Cushetic, Nilo-Sahara and Semitic super language families. Among which Omotic and Cushetic are the most populous and diversified ones with the largest area coverage in region respectively. Based on ethnic and linguistic identities the region is at present divided into 13 zones-sub-divided in to 126 woredas and 8 special woredas .which again divided into3678 rural kebeles. Regarding urban areas there are 22 town administration and 114 certified towns with municipal city status totally having 238 urban kebeles
Population and Ethinicity
Since the 1994 census, the population of the region is estimated to grow at an average rate of 2.9% per annum. Based on this estimation, the region population was 15,336,328 of which 7,626,840 were males & 7,709,489 were females in 1999 E.C. This indicates that the percentage share of females is relatively high. In addition to this about 91.3 % of the population resides in rural areas and only 8.7 % in urban.
The data indicated that there were 3,249,102 households in the region with an average of 4.7 persons per household. Further, the projection shows that there are about 282,721 households with an average of 4.6 persons per household in urban areas, and 2,966,382 households with an average of 4.7 persons per household in rural areas.
Ethnic identity is another important attribute of a population. The region is a host of more than 56 ethnic groups with their own distinct language, cultures, beliefs, traditions, rituals, norms, values, and social identities living together. These diversified ethnic groups belong to Omotic, Cushitic, Semetic, and Nilo Sahara super linguistic families. Out of these, Debub Omo has 16 distinct ethnic groups belong to the four linguistic families. Next to that Benchi-Maji which has 6 distinct ethnic groups belong to Omotic and Nilo-Sahara linguistic families followed by Gamo Gofa (with five distinct ethnic groups belong to one linguistic families Omotic). Among Special Woreda, Derashe has 5 distinct ethnic groups belong to Cushitic linguistic families.
Climate
Rainfall
The amount, duration and intensity of rainfall in the region vary considerably. It generally decreases from west and northwest to south-eastwards. The main dry season is shorter in southern Ethiopia conversely the main rainy season is larger in south west and in south
The past three decades rainfall data show that the mean annual rainfall of the region was ranging from the lowest about 400 mm in the extreme south of Debub Omo zone to over 2200 mm in the west in Sheka and Kaffa zones. The lowest is experienced in parts of Debub Omo Zone such as Selamago, Benatsemay, kuraz and Hamer Woredas, and in Bench Maji zone such as Surma, Bero & Maji woredas. On the other hand highest values are recorded in Masha woreda of Sheka zone. Generally, in the western part of the region the rain occurs all the year round while it is bimodal in the eastern and southern part of the region.
Relying on the reliability of rainfall for crop production and duration of growing periods, the three seasonal pattern of rainfall in the region experienced Bega ( Dec.,Jan. Feb.)provide rain for limited part of the region, Belg(little rain season ) (March ,April) the amount of rainfall received is relatively lower than the kiremt rainfall that occurred in june,july ,Augest However, in each of the seasons the rain may begin earlier/later and lasts before the usual time. This has impact on growing period and reliability of rainfall.
Temperature
Temperature is the quantity that tells us how hot or cold some thing is relative to some set standard values. The degree and intensity of temperature determines the rate of evapo-transpiration, soil moisture content and the humidity of the atmosphere. The mean annual temperature of the region varies from less than 10°C in the extreme highlands to the east /parts of Sidama highlands/ to over 27°C in the lowlands to the south in the omo rate plain /Debub Omo zone/.
However, temperatures are generally high in the region with little variations among seasons. The Meteorological data of 2007 indicate that the mean annual maximum temperature of the region ranges for 31°c in Demeka station of Debub Omo zone to about 21.7°c in Butajira station of Gurage zone. On the other hand the mean annual minimum temperature roughly varies from 11°c in the high lands of Siltie zone to about 18.4°c in the stations of lowland Gamogofa & Dawro zones and konso special woreda.
Topography
The region is a land of outsanding natural beauty with
high mountains, steep valleys and rolling plains.
The most remarkable land feature of the region is the great rift
valley that runs along the eastern edge of the region and the Omo
valley which is the major feature of the region that roughly cuts in
to two halves.
Along the Omo river valley, a series of highlands complexes are
found such as Keffa high lands, Kulo- Kunta highlands, Gofa highlands etc... are the prominent examples
The altitudinal variation of the region extends from the lowest point at-lake Roudolf (Torkana) 376m above sea level to mount Guge of
Gamo highlands which is 4200m above sea level.
Wildlife Conservation Areas
The diverse climate, topography, water, and forest resources of the country have provided a wide range of environments for supporting great varieties of faunas and floras. So far 277 species of mammals and 847 species of birds have already been distinguished, of which 7(seven) species of mammals and 16(sixteen) species of birds are peculiar to Ethiopia. In the SNNPR as the ecology, permits more than 150 species of mammals and about 600 species of birds have been registered within the wildlife conservation areas of the region. The region encompasses seven National Parks, two Wild life Reserves and six Controlled Hunting Areas as well as one wildlife Sanctuary.
Infrastructure
The road Network of the region
At the end of 1999 E.C. the region has a total of road length of 7,955.7 KM. Out of which 633.1 Km is asphalt and the remaining 2,262.2 Km is federal gravel and 2,578 km is regional gravel..
Telephone Service
Nowadays telephone services are expanding in the region. There are four types of telephone services, namely: digital, automatic digital, semi automatic, and pay stations. Totally 150 telephone stations are found in the towns of the region; from which 17 are semi automatic, 73 are digital and 59 are pay stations (almost Vsat).
Postal Service
Although the establishment of fast electronic communication systems through internet and telephone are overwhelming; currently there are about 90 towns having different level postal services. When one can see the overall service; two district post offices are found in Awassa and Arbaminch city; while 16 post offices, 18 departmental post offices and 54 sub-post offices are found distributed in all Zones and Special Woredas of the Region.
Most of the postal services are agents and sub post offices deliver services. Although there exists a shift to electronic communication system, in places or situations telephones are utilized there is a need to improve the infrastructure.
Electricity
It is one of the modern sources of energy used as a source of power in industries, in residents, and as a fuel replacing wood and cow dung. The regional distribution of electric service can be seen in both inter-connected system and self-contained system /generator/.
In the Region 273, towns and villages have electric service provision though interconnected system and diesel generator supplied by Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation. On the other hand, 10 towns have fixed-time diesel power supply through public participation indicating that more than 96.3% of towns in the region are electrified through inter connected system.
Map of SNNPR
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