Kombolcha (woreda)

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Kombolcha is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone, Kombolcha is bordered on the south by the Harari Region, on the southwest by Haro Maya, on the northwest by Dire Dawa, on the north by the Somali Region, and on the east by Jarso. The administrative center of the woreda is Melka Rafu.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1200 to 2460 meters above sea level; Were Mucha, Babo and Lalu are amongst the highest points. Rivers include the Yerer, and Fefra. A survey of the land in Kombolcha shows that 16.8% is arable or cultivable, 1.7% pasture, 3.9% forest, and the remaining 77.6% is considered builtup, degraded or otherwise unusable. Khat, fruits and vegetables are important cash crops.^[1]

Industry in the woreda includes 18 grain mills employing 51 people, as well as 266 registered businesses including wholesalers, retailers and service providers. There were 14 Farmers Associations with 17,216 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 3950 members. Kombolcha has 23 kilometers of gravel and 20 kilometers of dry-weather, for an average road density of 97.5 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 19.5% of the urban and 4.7% of the rural population have access to drinking water.^[1]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 116,022, of whom 56,697 were males and 59,325 were females; 9,823 or 8.47% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 441.1 square kilometers, Kombolcha has an estimated population density of 263 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6.^[2]

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