FDRE States-Basic Information, Gambella

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The State of Gambella Peoples

The Constitution of the State	Major Economic Activities	Topography and Climate
Location	Tourism and Heritage	Population
Area / Sq. Km.	Investment	Rivers and Lakes
Minerals	Livestock	Fauna

The State of Gambella is composed of two administrative zones and eight woredas.

CAPITAL CITY

Gambella is the capital city of the region. LOCATION The State of Gambella Peoples' is located in the western tip of Ethiopia bordering with the Sudan in the west,south, and north, the State of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' in the south and east; and with the State of Oromiya in the north and east. AREA The area of the State is estimated at 25,274 square kilometers (not including a woreda recently integrated in to the region) POPULATIONAccording to the 1994 census, the total population was 181,862 of which 92,090 were males while 88,960 were females. 153,438(84.9%) of the population live in rural areas.

The main nationalities of the State are Nuer, Agnuak, Mezhenger, Apana and Komo. Moreover, the Oromo, Amhara, Kembta, Keffa, Tigray and other nations and nationalities live in the State. Of the total ethnic composition the Nuer consists 40% , the Agnuak 27%, Amhara 8%, Oromo 6%, Mezhenger 5.8%, Keffa 4.1%, Mocha 2%, Tigraway 1.6% and other ethnic groups predominantly from Southern Ethiopia 5.5%. Amharic is the working language of the State. Regarding religion, Protestants constitute 44%, Orthodox Christians 24.1%, traditional religion 10.3%, Muslims 5.1%, Catholics 3.2%, and others 12.7%.

MAJOR ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES Pastoralism is the leading preoccupation of the people. People are also engaged in the cultivation of sorghum, bean, sesame, mango, banana etc., for their livelihood. TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Most of the State is flat and has hot humid weather. Annual rainfall registered at Gambella station for 17 years is 615.9mm while the minimum/ maximum temperatures is 21.1⁰C and 35.9⁰C respectively. RIVERS AND LAKES Baro, the only navigable river in Ethiopia, is found in this State. It connects the region with the Sudan. TOURISM AND HERITAGE Gambella national park is safari in the western savanna lowlands of Ethiopia. The fauna of the region include Elephants, Buffaloes, Monkeys and Parrots. Hot spring and mineral waters, waterfalls, densely natural forest are among the few resources and tourist attractions of the region. INVESTMENT Nine private investors are engaged in agricultural, construction and service areas, with 28.4 million Birr capital and, 543 persons will benefit form the opportunities created by the investment projects. Gambella has rich potential for the production of cotton, groundnut, sesame and other oil seeds. Fishing, mining gold and exploring petroleum, mineral water and construction materials are other important areas of investment in the state.