A large portion of this woreda is occupied by the Awash National Park.
The dire conditions of the 2002 drought led local pastoralists, which included members of the Afar, Karayu and the Ittu Oromo, to armed conflicts over grazing and water access.
[1] Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 29,780, of whom 15,475 are men and 14,305 women; with an area of 1,046.41 square kilometers, Awash Fentale has a population density of 28.46.
[2] A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 2303 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.64 hectares of land.
Of the 1.47 square kilometers of private land surveyed, 63.3% was under cultivation, 1.89% pasture, 24.83% fallow, and 9.96% was devoted to other uses; none was used as woodland.