Nejo (woreda)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nejo is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Welega Zone, Nejo is bordered on the southeast by Boji, on the west by Jarso, on the northwest by Mana Sibu, and on the north and east by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Towns in Nejo include Gori, Nejo and Wara Jiru.

In this woreda there is a gold mine said to be the oldest one in the world, according to the Spectrum Guide to Ethiopia; that book adds that it is "thought by some to be the source of the legendary 'King Solomon's Mines' featured in the novel of the same name by Rider Haggard."^[1] European prospectors, granted concessions by the Ethiopian government, searched for gold between 1901 until the Second Italian-Abyssinian War, finding deposits on Tulu Kami and Laga Gumbi hills, as well as along the Alaltu and Dilla Rivers.^[2]

Coffee is an important cash crop of Nejo. Over 50 km² is planted with this crop.^[3]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 148,891, of whom 75,785 were males and 73,106 were females; 25,927 or 17.41% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 10.9%. With an estimated area of 984.07 square kilometers, Nejo has an estimated population density of 151.3 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 91.7.^[4]

[edit] Notes