Demographics
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 221,462, an increase of 33.34% over the 1994 census, of whom 112,054 are men and 109,408 women; 20,745 or 9.37% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 3,071.65 square kilometers, Chilga has a population density of 72.10, which is greater than the Zone average of 63.76 persons per square kilometer. A total of 47,336 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.68 persons to a household, and 45,352 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 96.7% reporting that as their religion, while 3.1% of the population said they were Muslim. Although the Amhara people are the predominant ethnic group in this woreda, the Qemant, one of the Agaw people, are an important minority who are concentrated around the town of Chilga. Although the priestly head of the Chilga Qement is the spiritual leader of the Qement south of the Gwang River, the other head priest, who lives at Tekle Dingay, has more prestige. For this reason the head priest of Chilga on occasion travels to Tekle Dingay to participate in holiday festivities, while the head priest in the latter town does not return the visit.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 166,086 in 29,955 households, of whom 84,798 were men and 81,288 women; 9,618 or 5.79% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Chilga were the Amhara (68.65%), and the Qemant (30.77%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.51% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 99%, and Qemant by 0.83%; the remaining 0.17% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 96.21% embracing that faith, while 3.7% of the population said they were Muslim.
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