Offa (woreda)

Oofa Woreda Oofa Allaanaa (Wolaytta) ኦፋ ወረዳ (Amharic)
Woreda
Country	Ethiopia
Region	South Ethiopia
Zone	Wolaita
Seat	Gesuba
Government
• Chief administrator	Teferi Lera (Prosperity Party)
Population  (2019)
• Total	134,259
• Male	65,733
• Female	68,526
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

Offa is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. It is a Part of the Wolayita Zone. Offa is bordered on the south by the Gamo Zone, on the west by Kindo Didaye, on the north by Kindo Koysha, on the northeast by Sodo Zuria, on the north by Kawo Koysha and on the east by Humbo woredas. The administrative center of Offa is Gesuba. Western part of Offa was added to Kindo Didaye woreda in 1998 E.C.

According to a 2004 report, Offa had 22 kilometers of all-weather roads and 56 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 133 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers.^[1]

Prior to the 2005 Ethiopian general elections, Amnesty International reports that a total of 38 Coalition for Unity and Democracy members were arrested in Offa between 11 and 17 February, and held for seven days on the accusation they held their campaign meeting without giving police 48 hours' notice. Amnesty International included this incident as part of a series of government intimidation of opposition party activists.^[2]

Demographics

Based on the 2019 population projection conducted by the CSA,^[3] this woreda has a total population of 134,259, of whom 65,733 are men and 68,526 women. The majority of the inhabitants were Protestants, with 85.55% of the population reporting that belief, 11.97% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 1.1% were Catholic.^[4]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 111,384 of whom 55,323 were men and 56,061 were women; 2,931 or 2.63% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Offa was the Welayta (99.21%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.79% of the population. Welayta was the dominant first language, spoken by 99.34% of the inhabitants; the remaining 0.66% spoke all other primary languages reported.^[5]

Notes

1. "Detailed statistics on roads" Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, SNNPR Bureau of Finance and Economic Development website (accessed 15 September 2009)
2. "Ethiopia: The 15 May 2005 elections and human rights - recommendations to the government, election observers and political parties", Amnesty International website, Report AFR 25/002/2005 (accessed 20 May 2009)
3. "Projected population of Ethiopia" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2021.
4. Census 2007 Tables: Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region Archived November 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Tables 2.1, and 3.4.
5. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Vol. 1, part 1 Archived November 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Tables 2.1, 2.12, 2.15 (accessed 30 December 2008)

6°45′N 37°30′E