Aleta Wendo is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Sidama Zone, Aleta Wendo is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the west and north by Dale, on the east by Hula, and on the southeast by Dara. The administrative center is Aleta Wendo; other towns include Chuko.
A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 72% is arable or cultivable, 12.9% pasture, 7% forest, and the remaining 8% is considered swampy, degraded or otherwise unusable.[1] Important cash crops include corn, wheat, barley, horse beans, haricot beans, local varieties of cabbage, and shallots.[2] Landmarks include six megalithic sites, which contain a total of 74 steles.[3] According to a 2004 report, Aleta Wendo had 25 kilometers of asphalt roads, 88 kilometers of all-weather roads and 30 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 252 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers.[4]
Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 388,788, of whom 189,610 are men and 199,178 are women; 28,816 or 7.41% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 8.9%. With an estimated area of 567.03 square kilometers, Aleta Wendo has an estimated population density of 685.7 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 430.03.[5] The dominant Ethnic group in this woreda is the Sidama people; only 2% report as belonging to all other groups.[6]
In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 271,446, of whom 139,213 were men and 132,233 women; 15,904 or 5.86% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Aleta Wendo were the Sidama (92.14%), the Amhara (4.36%), and the Oromo (0.92%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.58% of the population. Sidamo is spoken as a first language by 94.12% of the inhabitants, 4.73% speak Amharic, and 0.26% Oromiffa; the remaining 0.89% spoke all other primary languages reported. 61.57% of the population said they were Protestants, 17.31% observed traditional religions, 8.82% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 5.21% were Muslim, and 4.15% embraced Catholicism.[7] Concerning education, 36.98% of the population were considered literate; statistics on school attendance in this woreda are missing. Concerning sanitary conditions, at the time of the 1994 national census about 91.29% of the urban houses and 24.17% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census, while about 76.50% of the urban and 12.83% of the total had toilet facilities.[8] However, according to a 2004 survey, none of the inhabitants have access to drinkable water; as a result 20% use unprotected river water, 60% unprotected springs, 1% unprotected ponds, and 19% unprotected wells.[9]