West Shewa Zone

West Shewa is bordered on the south by the Southwest Shewa Zone and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, on the southwest by Jimma, on the west by East Welega Zone, on the northwest by Horo Gudru Welega Zone, on the north by the Amhara Region, on the northeast by North Shewa, and on the east by Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Addis Abeba.

Towns and cities in West Shewa include Ambo.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 2,058,676, of whom 1,028,501 are men and 1,030,175 women; with an area of 14,788.78 square kilometers, West Shewa has a population density of 139.21.

The majority of the inhabitants professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 80.6% of the population having reported they practice that belief, while 7% of the population said they held traditional beliefs, 6.58% were Protestant, and 5.34% were Muslim.

[2] According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 35% of the inhabitants of West Shewa have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 29.2 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers),[3] the average rural household has 1.4 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region)[4] and the equivalent of 0.7 heads of livestock.