Irob (woreda) - Demographics

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 25,471, an increase of 43.29% over the 1994 census, of whom 12,412 are men and 13,059 women; 2,091 or 8.21% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 1,532.64 square kilometers, Irob has a population density of 16.62, which is less than the Zone average of 56.93 persons per square kilometer. A total of 5,363 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.75 persons to a household, and 5,165 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 55.99% reporting that as their religion, while 40.64% of the population were Catholics, and 3.31% were Muslim.

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 17,776 of whom 8,663 were men and 9,113 were women; 490 or 2.76% of its population were urban dwellers. The two largest ethnic groups reported in this woreda were the Irob (91.83%) and the Tigrayan (6.94%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.23% of the population. Saho is spoken as a first language by 89.36%, and 10.5% speak Tigrinya; the remaining 0.14% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Catholic, with 51.63% of the population reporting that as their faith, while 44.3% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 4.04% were Muslim. Concerning education, 17.96% of the population were considered literate, which is greater than the Zone average of 9.01%; 29.15% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 1.59% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school; and 3.94% of the inhabitants aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions, all of the urban houses and 10.3% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; none of the urban and about 2% of the total had toilet facilities.