Seru (woreda)

Seru is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the woreda capital, Seru.

Part of the Arsi Zone, Seru is bordered on the south and east by the Shebelle River which separates it from the Bale Zone, on the west by the Wabe River which separates it from Robe, on the north by Amigna, and on the northeast by the Mirab (West) Hararghe Zone. Other towns include Bele.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 950 to 2500 meters above sea level; Abul Kasim is the highest point. Rivers include the 70 kilometers of the Darro and 25 kilometers of the Waji. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 19.8% is arable or cultivable (13.1% was under annual crops), 21.8% pasture, 32.9% forest, and the remaining 25.5% is considered swampy, mountainous or otherwise unusable. The Arba Liji cave and mosque are local landmarks. Khat and coffee are important cash crops. [ [http://oromiagov.org/Socio%20Economic%20Profile/Arsi/Arsi%20Zone.pdf "Socio-economic profile of Arsi Zone"] Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006).] .

Industry in the woreda includes 16 grain mills employing 45 people, as well as 269 registered businessmen of whom 26% were wholesalers, 57.6% retailers and 16.4% were service providers. There were 27 Farmers Associations with 13,573 members and 5 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 10,496 members. Seru has 31 kilometers of dry-weather and 34 of all-weather road, for an average of road density of 27.5 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 14.1% of the total population has access to drinking water. [Government of Oromia Region, "Socio-economic profile."]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 112,183, of whom 56,642 were males and 55,541 were females; 7,733 or 6.89% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 2,361.57 square kilometers, Seru has an estimated population density of 47.5 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 132.2. [ [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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