Jarso (Hararge)

:For|the woreda in the Mirab Welega Zone|Jarso (Welega)

Jarso is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone, Jarso is bordered on the south by the Harari Region, on the west by Kombolcha, on the north by the Somali Region, and on the east by Gursum. The administrative center of this woreda is Ejersa Goro.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1050 to 3030 meters above sea level; Sirirta, Aybera, Kilisa and Bekekalu are amongst the highest peaks. Rivers include the Gideya. A survey of the land in Jarso (reported in 1995/96) shows that 19.3% is arable or cultivable, 1.7% pasture, 21.6% forest, and the remaining 57.4% is considered degraded or otherwise unusable. Khat, fruits and vegetables are important cash crops. [http://oromiagov.org/Socio%20Economic%20Profile/East%20Hararge/East%20Hararghe.pdf "Socio-economic profile of the East Hararghe Zone"] Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006).]

Industry in the woreda includes 11 grain mills employing 37 people, as well as 195 registered businesses including wholesalers, retailers and service providers; although chalk, kaolin, lead and coal are known in this woreda, none of these deposits have been mined. There were 18 Farmers Associations with 19,524 members and one Farmers Service Cooperative with 1092 members. Jarso has 36 kilometers of gravel and 62 kilometers of dry-weather road, for an average road density of 194 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 19% of the urban and 4.8% of the rural population have access to drinking water.

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 123,556, of whom 61,592 were males and 61,964 were females; 3,104 or 2.51% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 504.54 square kilometers, Jarso has an estimated population density of 244.9 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Tables B.3 and B.4]

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