Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region

The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; Amharic: የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, romanized: Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) was a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia.

The region included major cities and towns like Wolaita Sodo, Arba Minch, Jinka, Dila, Boditi, Areka, Butajira, Welkite, Bonga, Hosaena and Worabe.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the SNNPR regional state had an estimated total population of 14,929,548, of whom 7,425,918 were men and 7,503,630 women.

[6] In August 2008, the head of public relations for the Bureau, Abdulkerim Nesru, announced that 94 million birr had been spent to further increase the availability of drinkable water in the region from 58% in the previous year to 63.6%.

Priority was given to certain zones, such as Sidama, Welayta and Gurage, as well as the Alaba special woreda and several resettlement areas.

[8] The SNNPR, being an amalgam of the main homelands of numerous ethnicities, contains over 45 indigenous ethnic groups: The ethnicities native to the SNNPR, with percentages of the population as reported in the 2007 national census and organized by linguistic grouping, include:[4] The 2007 census reported that the predominantly spoken mother tongue languages include Sidama (19.59%), Welayta (10.48%), Hadiya (8%), Gurage (7.13%), Gamo (6.9%), Kafa (5.36%) and Amharic (4.10%).

[4] The 1994 census reported that the predominantly spoken languages include Sidamo (18%), Gurage (14.72%), Welayta (11.53%), Hadiya (8.53%), Kafa (5.22%), and Kambaata (4.35%).

Kambaata family in front of their tukul in the Kembata Tembaro Zone
A Kambaata woman extracting the edible part of an enset (a major staple crop of the SNNPR) with a traditional tool.
Waterfalls in Arba Mich