Gibe region

The Gibe region is used to indicate a historic region in modern southwestern Ethiopia, to the west of the Gibe and Omo Rivers, and north of the Gojeb. It was the location of the former Oromo and Sidama kingdoms of Gera, Gomma, Garo, Gumma, Jimma, and Limmu-Ennarea.

To the north of the Gibe region lay the Macha tribe of the Oromo.

Until the mid 16th century, this region was part of the Sidama kingdoms of Ennarea, Hadiya, Janjero and Kaffa, tributary states to the Ethiopian Solomonic dynasty. The area was separated however, when the Oromo migrated into the area, destroying Hadiya, isolating Janjero, and reduced the area of Enerea and Kaffa. In the Gibe region, the Oromo came under the cultural influence of the kingdom of Kaffa, from whom they borrowed the concept of hereditary kingship (called Moti in all of the kingdoms except Limmu-Enerea, where for historical reasons the king was known as the Supera), and the practice of delimiting the boundaries or frontier of their states with a system of physical barriers.