A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 51% is arable or cultivable, 8.3% pasture, 5.9% forest or shrubland, 17.98% covered with water, and the remaining 17.03% is considered degraded or other.

[2] The village of Bura, outside of Addis Zemen, was struck by an outbreak of Kala Azar in May 2005, which infected 230 people there.

The heavy rain caused Lake Tana to overflow its banks, making thousands of people homeless.

"Thousands of heads of cattle, whole silos of grain, and significant tracts of grazing and farmland have been washed away," according to IRIN.

The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 96.19% reporting that as their religion, while 3.69% of the population said they were Muslim.