Korahe Zone

Korahe (Somali: Qoraxeey) is one of nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Korahe is bordered on the southwest by the Gode, on the northwest by Fiq, on the north by Degehabur, on the east by Werder, and on the southeast by Somalia. The largest city in Korahe is Kebri Dahar.

The gas fields of Calub and Hilala lie in this Zone, making local petrochemical extraction a potentially important industry.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 312,713, of whom 177,919 are men and 134,794 women. While 47,607 or 15.22% are urban inhabitants, a further 149,173 or 47.7% were pastoralists. The largest ethnic group reported in Korahe were the Somalis (99.22%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.78% of the population. Somali language is spoken as a first language by 99.45%; the remaining 0.55% spoke all other primary languages reported. 98.92% of the population said they were Muslim.

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 242,276 in 28,891 households, of whom 138,200 were men and 104,076 were women; 37,226 or 15.37% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Korahe was the Somali (98.75%); a similar proportion spoke Somali (99.13%) as their primary language. Only 14,256 or 5.88% were literate.