Raya Azebo

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this district has a total population of 135,870, an increase of 55.04% over the 1994 census, of whom 67,687 are men and 68,183 women; 16,056 or 11.82% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,132.83 square kilometers, Raya Azebo has a population density of 63.70, which is greater than the Zone average of 53.91 persons per square kilometer. A total of 32,360 households were counted in this district, resulting in an average of 4.20 persons to a household, and 31,468 housing units. 70.61% of the population said they were Orthodox Christians, and 29.32% were Muslim.[2]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this district of 87,638 of whom 43,259 were men and 44,379 were women; 8,047 or 9.18% of its population were urban. Tigrigna was spoken as a first language by 85.52%, 11.04% Amharic, 1.83% Oromo, and 1.53% spoke Afar; the remaining 0.08% spoke all other primary languages reported. 69.15% of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 30.82% were Muslim. Concerning education, 8.44% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 15.71%; 14.64% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 0.9% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school; and 0.31% of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions, 56.9% of the urban houses and 13.4% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 20.6% of the urban and about 4.7% of the total had toilet facilities.[3]