Degehabur Zone is one of the nine Zones in the Somali Region

Somali Region

Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

 of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. This zone is named after its largest city, Degehabur

Degehabur

Degehabur is a town in the eastern part of Ethiopia known as the Ogaden. Located in the Degehabur Zone of the Somali Region on the Jerer River, it sits at 1044 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center of Degehabur woreda....

. Degehabur Zone is bordered on the south by Korahe

Korahe Zone

Korahe is one of nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Korahe is bordered on the south and west by Gode, on the north by Degehabur, and on the east by Werder...

, on the west by Fiq

Fiq Zone

Fiq is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named after its largest city, Fiq. Fiq Zone is bordered on the south by Gode, on the west and north by the Oromia Region, and on the east by Degehabur...

, on the northwest by the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...

, on the north by Jijiga

Jijiga Zone

Jijiga is one of nine zones of the Ethiopian Somali Region. This zone is named after its largest city, Jijiga. Other towns and cities in this zone include Qarbibayax, Dhurwaale Awbere, Derwonaji, tuli gulled and Hart Sheik...

 and Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, and on the east by Werder

Werder Zone

Werder is one of nine Zones of the Somali Region in Ethiopia. This zone is named after its largest city, Werder. Werder is bordered on the south by Gode, on the west by Korahe, on the northwest by Degehabur, and on the northeast and southeast by Somalia...

.

Degehabur Zone is facing a crisis in deforestation

Ethiopian deforestation

Deforestation in Ethiopia is due to locals clearing forests for their personal needs, such as for fuel, hunting, agriculture, housing development, and at times for religious reasons. The main causes of deforestation in Ethiopia are shifting agriculture, livestock production and fuel in drier areas...

 due to charcoal production which "requires burning trees that will take decades to grow back, if they ever do."

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency

Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)

The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...

 (CSA) in 2005, Deghabur has an estimated total population of 387,428, of whom 210,652 are men and 176,776 are women; 86,304 or 22.3% of its population are urban dwellers. Information is not available for the area of this zone, so its population density cannot be calculated.

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 304,907 in 72,010 households, of whom 168,211 were men and 136,696 were women; 57,866 or 18.98% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Degehabur was the Somali

Somali people

Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

 (99.55%); a similar proportion spoke Somali

Somali language

The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....

 (99.58%). Only 13,514 or 4.43% were literate.

According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 memorandum, 1% of the inhabitants of Deghabur have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 10.3 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers, the average rural household has 1.5 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 2.25 for pastoral Regions) and the equivalent of 1.5 heads of livestock. 28.2% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and an average of 28% for pastoral Regions. 23% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 3% in secondary schools. 100% of the zone is exposed to malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, and none to Tsetse fly

Tsetse fly

Tsetse , sometimes spelled tzetze and also known as tik-tik flies, are large biting flies that inhabit much of mid-continental Africa between the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. They live by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals and are the primary biological vectors of trypanosomes, which...

. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 614.

Agriculture

On 5-23 November 2003, the CSA conducted the first ever national agricultural census, of which the livestock census was an important component. For the Somali Region, the CSA generated estimated figures for the livestock population (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and equids) and their distribution by commissioning an aerial survey. For the Degehabur Zone, their results included:

Animal	Estimated total	number per sqk.
cattle	51,536	1.4
sheep	1,395,779	56.6 (including goats)
goats	721,925	56.6 (including sheep)
camels	131,106	3.5
asses	5,415	0.1 (all equids)
mules	68	0.1 (all equids)
horses	19	0.1 (all equids)