Afder Zone

Afder (Somali: Afdheer) is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Afder is bordered on the southwest by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Liben, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the north by Fiq Zone, on the northeast by Gode, and on south by the Provisional Administrative Line with Somalia. The administrative center of Afder is Hargele; other towns in Afder include Cherti and Weldiya.

In April 2006, in partnership with Al-Nejah Relief, CHF International began a program to restore shallow wells and improve sanitation habits in the Afder and Gode Zones of the Somali Region.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 570,629, of whom 325,764 are men and 244,865 women. While 45,763 or 8.02% are urban inhabitants, a further 316,032 or 55.38% were pastoralists. The largest ethnic group reported in Afder was the Somalis (91.83%); all other ethnic groups made up 8.17% of the population. Somali language is spoken as a first language by 88.21%; the remaining 11.79% spoke all other primary languages reported. 99.19% of the population said they were Muslim.