Selamago

Selamago is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Debub Omo Zone, Selamago is bordered on the south by Kuraz, on the west by the Omo River which separates it from the Bench Maji Zone and the Keficho Shekicho Zone, on the north by the Semien Omo Zone, on the east by Bako Gazer, and on the southeast by the Usno River which separates it from Hamer Bena; the Mago River defines part of the boundary with Bako Gazer. The major town in Selamago is Hana.

The southern part of this woreda along the Mago and Usno rivers, a length of about 20 kilometers, is included in the Mago National Park.

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 19,329, of whom 9,825 were males and 9,504 were females; 718 or 3.71% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 8.5%. With an estimated area of 4,191.25 square kilometers, Selamago has an estimated population density of 4.6 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 21.1. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Tables B.3 and B.4]

David Turton describes this area as one of the most isolated in Ethiopia: the Omo and Mago rivers make access difficult and the conquering armies of Menelik II bypassed it. Although the occupying Italians briefly occupied a military post along the Omo in what later became Selamago in 1940, it was not until the 1970s that direct Ethiopian administration reached this area. [David Turton, "A problem of domination at the periphery: the Kwegu and the Mursi" in Donald L. Donham and Wendy James (editors) "The Southern Marches of imperial Ethiopia" (Oxford: James Curry: 2002), p. 148.]

The homelands of the Dime people lie in the northern part of this woreda, while the homelands of the Mursi people extend into the southern part; villages of the Kwegu people can be found along the Omo River. [This description is based on an older version of the Ethnologue map of Southwestern Ethiopia; [http://www.ethnologue.com/maps/ETHSW_ET.jpgthe most recent version] shows the Kwegu as inhabiting an area near the confluence of the Usno with the Omo.]

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