Girawa (woreda)

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Girawa (also called Girawa Meyu Mulike) is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone, Girawa is bordered on the south by Gola Odana Meyumuluke, on the west by Bedeno, on the north by Kurfa Chele, and on the east by Fedis. The woreda capital is Girawa; other towns include Megala.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 500 to 3230 meters above sea level; Geyle is the highest point; other significant peaks include Mount Gara Muleta. A survey of the land in Girawa (released in 1996) shows that 54.3% is arable or cultivable, 4.4% pasture, 1.2% forest, 21.8% built-up, and the remaining 18.3% is considered degraded or otherwise unusable. Khat, fruits and vegetables are important cash crops.^[1] Coffee is also an important cash crop; over 5,000 hectares are planted with it.^[2]

Industry in the woreda includes 14 grain mills employing 45 people, as well as 95 registered businesses including wholesalers, retailers and service providers. Deposits of feldspar, mica and amazonite are known, but they have not been developed. There were 46 Farmers Associations with 43,373 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 4965 members. Girawa has 75 kilometers of dry-weather and 12 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 60.3 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 21.8% of the urban and 3.2% of the rural population have access to drinking water.^[3]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 247,992, of whom 121,416 were males and 126,576 were females; 7,767 or 3.13% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 1,442.19 square kilometers, Girawa has an estimated population density of 172 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6.^[4]

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