Bale Zone

Points of interest in the Zone include Sheikh Hussein—named for the tomb of a Muslim saint—the Bale Mountains National Park, and the Sof Omar Caves.

Towns and cities in Bale include Dodola, Ginir, Goba and Robe.

[1] The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 5,130 metric tons of coffee were produced in this zone in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority.

[2] Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,402,492, an increase of 15.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 713,517 are men and 688,975 women; with an area of 43,690.56 square kilometers, Bale has a population density of 32.10.

The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 76.7% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 19.02% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 2.77% held traditional beliefs, and 1.15% were Protestant.

[4] According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 11% of the inhabitants of Bale have access to electricity; this zone has a road density of 11.4 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers);[5] the average rural household has 1 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region);[6] and the equivalent of 1.0 head of livestock.

Altitude of Bale zone extends from less than 300 meters around Meda Welabu, southeast of Rayitu and Gura Damole districts; to more than 4377 meters above sea level in Goba district namely Mount Tulu Dimtu.