Benishangul-Gumuz Region

The Benishangul-Gumaz Region, also known as Benshangul/Gumuz, is one of the ten ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. Before the administrative reorganization of 1995 this area was known as Region 6. Its capital is Asosa.

Demographics

The Benishangul-Gumuz region is inhabited by ethnic groups belonging to the Nilo-Saharan (Bertha or Berta, Gumuz, Komo and Mao), Cushitic (Oromo and Agaw), Semitic (Amhara) and Omotic (Sinasha or Gonga) linguistic families and mao). The Nilo-Saharan communities practice slash-and-burn agriculture, compared to their Cuchitic and Semitic neighbors (more recent arrivals in the region) who have an economy based on intensive agriculture.

The Bertha are the majority ethnic group in the region, with about 300,000 individuals, living south of the Blue Nile in the Benishangul area. Originally they come from Sudan, where they would form part of the conglomerate of peoples called the Kingdom of Funj. They must have arrived in Ethiopia at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century. Today this group is mostly Muslim, due to Islamic influence from neighboring Sudan. The Gumuz are the second group in demographic terms and live in the Metekel area, north of the Blue Nile, and in the Kamashi area, which includes the Nile valley and the Didessa, a tributary of the former to the south. The Gumuz continue to largely practice traditional religions. Both the Berta and the Gumuz have traditionally suffered slave raids by their Sudanese and Abyssinian neighbours. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, local chiefs such as Sheikh Khoyele and Hamdan Abu Shok were actively involved in enslavement of their town —Berta and Gumuz respectively. As regards the Komo and Mao, these are small heterogeneous communities, speaking different languages and must therefore have equally diverse historical origins. Its current situation is possibly due to the pressure of the Oromo since the XVIII century and the slave raids of their Sudanese and Oromo neighbors.

Religion

In terms of religion, 44.7% are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, 33.3% Muslims, 13.53% Protestant Christians of various groups, and 7.09% practice traditional beliefs. It had a projected population of 1,127,001 for 2018.

Political parties

The state government includes the Northwest Ethiopia Benshangul People's Democratic Unity Party, the Western Ethiopia Benishangul People's Democratic Unity Party and the Benishangul-Gumuz Popular Democratic Unity Front.

The Benishangul People's Liberation Movement was a nationalist group that was armed and trained in 1991/92 to combat the Oromo Liberation Front. Once the objective was achieved, the government itself fostered an internal conflict in the organization that it did not have sufficiently controlled. The conflict served as a pretext for the attack and the dispersal of the group with the death of several commanders, and the flight of others to Sudan. At present, two organizations have been created: one nationalist and the other linked to the regime (the Benishangul Democratic Organization).

Administrative subdivisions

• Assy Zone
• Kamashi area
• Metekel area
• Mao Komo (specialwave)
• Pawe (woreda especial)