Siltʼe Zone


Siltʼe is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region. This zone is named for the Siltʼe people, whose homeland lies in this zone. Like other nationalities in Ethiopia Siltʼe people have their own language Siltish |Siltigna. Siltʼe is bordered on the south by Alaba special woreda, on the southwest by Hadiya, on the north by Gurage, and on the east by the Oromia Region.
Following a referendum held between 18 and 26 April 2001, the Siltʼe unanimously voted to form their own Zone, Siltʼe. Later more woredas from Gurage and Hadya zones and Alaba special woreda were added.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, this Zone has a total population of 750,398, of whom 364,108 are men and 386,290 women; 47,097 or 6.28% are urban inhabitants. The largest ethnic group reported in Siltʼe was the Siltʼe people ; all other ethnic groups made up 2.65% of the population. Siltʼe is spoken as a first language by 96.95% of the population, and 1.48% spoke Amharic; the remaining 1.57% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were reported as Muslim, with 97.6% of the population reporting that belief, while 2.03% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

Woredas

Current woredas of Siltʼe Zone are: