Yabelo (woreda)

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Yabelo is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the administrative center, Yabelo. Part of the Borena Zone, Yabelo is bordered on the south by Dire, on the west by Teltele, on the north by Hagere Mariam, and on the east by Arero.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 350 to 1800 meters above sea level. There are no rivers or streams in Yabelo. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 10% is arable or cultivable (7.5% was under annual crops), 60% pasture, 10% forest (5.5% state forests), and the remaining 20% is considered swampy, degraded or otherwise unusable. A notable local landmark is the Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary. Teff, wheat, corn, haricot bean, sorghum and barley are important crops.^[1]

Industry in the woreda includes 19 grain mills and one metal works. Deposits of nickel are known to exist but have not been commercially developed. There were 15 Farmers Associations and 6 Farmers Service Cooperatives; about 70% of the farmers are pastoralists. Yabelo has 163 kilometers of dry-weather and 103 all-weather road, for an average road density of 48.2 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 41% of the rural and 58.1% of the urban 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 82,443, of whom 41,132 were males and 41,311 were females; 18,478 or 22.41% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 11.6%. With an estimated area of 5,523.31 square kilometers, Yabelo has an estimated population density of 14.9 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 21.1.^[3]

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