Merti

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Merti is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Merti is bordered on the south by Sude, on the west by Jeju, on the northwest by the Misraq Shewa Zone, on the north by the Afar Region, on the east by Aseko, and on the southeast by Chole. The woreda capital is Abomsa; other towns include Reye.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1000 to 3280 meters above sea level; the highest points include Gora, Welergi, and Gara Sirri. Rivers include 65 kilometers of the Awash, 98 of the Arba Dima, 88 of the Arba Guracha, and 35 of the Homba. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 28% is arable or cultivable (20.0% in agricultural production), 39% pasture, 27% other kinds of vegetation, and the remaining 6% includes all other categories. The Fara Kasa pilgrimage center and the Arbagugu state forest are two landmarks. Linseed and teff are important cash crops.^[1].

Industry in the woreda includes quarrying and pottery making, 61 small scale undustries (including grain mills) that employ 178 people, as well as 727 registered traders 17.6% of whom were wholesalers, 42.4% retailers and 40% service providers. There were 25 Farmers Associations with 14,179 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 6958 members. Merti has 148 kilometers of dry-weather and 105 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 197 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 22.7% of the total population has access to drinking water.^[2]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 135,023, of whom 67,257 were males and 67,766 were females; 26,053 or 19.30% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 1,282.19 square kilometers, Merti has an estimated population density of 105.3 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 132.2.^[3]

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