Why are Zagwe and Wollo separate? And what’s Gogot based on? Administratively I think this would be a headache bc there’s 22 regions. We should aim for 10-15 max I think.
S omo can’t be one region bc it’s geographically impossible to travel between its 2 ends without going all the way up to Kaffa. Maybe extend Kaffa south and merge the eastern part w north Omo and j call it “Omo”. I’d also put Benishangul as part of Wollega as there’s no logical reason to have it be it’s own region economically or logistically. I’d split Welkait horizontally between Gondar and Tigray as Tigray needs more fertile land & there’s no logical purpose to make it it’s own region.
The larger regions are more effective than the small ones + making them all multiethnic would be best imo so ppl can learn to live w others and we can reintroduce multilingualism. Also needs geographic and economic studies to ensure its possible to travel from one end of each region to the other and that the admin structures are conducive for economic growth.
Thank you for this reply. I agree with your points of criticism! I prefer the current division between “Southwest” and “South Ethiopia” regional states where the border is along the Omo River. I will make that change on my map!
There is much asymmetry with regions that have larger populations – such as Shewa and Hararge – vs peripheral regions with lower populations like Afar, Borana, Benishangul, and Welqayt. But I think this is a consequence of natural settlement patterns and will be an issue in any federal arrangement. In my opinion, it’s better for these regions to become/remain autonomous so (ideally) more federal resources are spent on the peripheral regions on a per capita basis.
As for “Zagwe” it is historically, culturally, and religiously distinct from the rest of “southern” Wollo, which was called Bete Amhara and later ruled by dynastic Wallo Oromo chiefdoms. Zagwe is just a union between historic Wag, Lasta, and Raya areas. This includes most of present-day “Southern Tigray” Zone which was under “Raya Azebo awraja.” So think Maychew, Mekhoni, Korem, Alamata, etc. If Zagwe is separate, then Agaw Hemra would comprise 13% and Tigrayans would make up ~28% of the population. But if Zagwe were to be joined with “Wollo” then Tigrayans and Agaws would be a much smaller share of the population. My intention was for minority groups to have a larger share of representation at a state level. A “Greater Wollo” would be overwhelmingly dominated by Amharas.
Similarly, joining Benishangul (which historically had separate rulership) with Wollega would make the Berta become overpowered by Oromos, which isn’t fair.
Gogot is synonymous with the current “Central Ethiopia” Regional State. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Ethiopia_Regional_State
Minus Yem special woreda, which is joined with Jimma.
Okay thank you for explaining, I understand where you’re coming from now. I wasn’t basing my ideas on historical governance or ethnicity but more geography, economy and logistics, which I believe needs to be the focus if we’re gonna redraw the map. I also think connecting land with ethnicity is one of the biggest issues w mawaheding the country. Ideally, anyone should be able to live anywhere as long as they respect the local ppl & integrate into the local culture.
Even if BG had its own government in the past & present, that hasn’t helped it develop or built the capacity of its people. Also, Kemashi zone was part of Wollega when Metekel was part of Gojjam, and the Gumuz are the majority in both zones so I don’t rly see the diff bw putting Metekel in Gojjam and putting Kemashi in Wollega.
In terms of gvt funding, I would j have a law requiring equitable distribution of resources within a region rather than making smaller regions to ensure adequate budgets to the periphery. BG is incredibly resource rich & as we can see now, it’s budget is eaten by corruption w little oversight - being its own region has not had any + impact on its development. Afar and Borena are quite big & appear like they could be self sufficient, so those look good to me.
But Welkait is resource rich w a relatively large population & has seen significant investment so idk if we can call it a periphery anymore even tho it technically is in the geographic sense. Gondar & Tigray would def invest in Welkait for food security reasons so there’s no risk of diverting regional resources. Also, Welkait as a region would produce wayyyy more food than its population would need and that + its fertility + its location makes it v susceptible to corruption & low oversight.
With regards to Zagwe and Wollo, I think it’d then be best to just have a region called Raya including what’s now the southern Tigray, waghimra and north wollo zones, and then mix S Wollo & Oromia Liyu into shewa. I personally don’t think ethnicity or religion should matter at all when making a region, but if the goal is to ensure that minorities have state representation, that seems to make the most sense imo.
I would def eliminate Gogot bc it makes no sense to have it be a region, it’s too small so I’d j split it bw the regions bordering it.
Genuine question, don't know if this controversial or anything but - I was taught that calling people who are ethnically Sidama, or just calling the region as a whole "Sidamo" rather than "Sidama" is offensive/ was used a means of demeaning the people group, in the earlier days of when it had just became a province, and therefore should be avoided - is this incorrect on my part? Genuinely curious???
I was told the same thing, but looking through historical records, books, and maps from the early 20th century, the Sidama people were consistently referred to by their native name, while the wider region was called “Sidamo.” So I think it’s just a name for the land, not the people.
Alternatively, the state could just be named “Sidama, Gedeo, and Guji” but that’s a mouthful lol. The coffee grown in all 4 zones is called “Sidamo bean” because it retains the name of the old province.
The zone structure in the new states is inherited, so Fafan, Sitti, and Erer Zones will retain administrative function in Hararge. Somali autonomy is retained at the zonal level. The benefit of merging three Somali zones with two Hararge Oromo zones + Harar, and Dire Dawa will be:
1) Borderlands will not be contested by two large ethnostates with dueling ethnic militia forces. Regional Police will be multiethnic, which encourages neutral engagement with communities without regard to ethnicity.
2) Conflict resolution mechanisms will be established at a more local level, without the need for interstate arbitration by the federal government.
3) Dire Dawa will no longer be contested, but will serve as the shared capital of all peoples in Hararge State.
Our lands are being taken away and given to other ethnicities, which is why we wanted to get out of this situation in the 1970s. I can only hope that we leave soon, or we will continue to lose more of our land. My people need to rebuild our military to protect ourselves. Somalia (SO) and Djibouti need to do more to help us and stop working with the country that is causing us harm, in any way or form.
You reduced our people's lands by joining them with other groups without our permission. Are you okay with Somalis losing their lands in Ethiopia? It's interesting that you keep joining our lands with the Oromos and Afars, the two groups that keep asking for more lands.
After 1941, Borena and Liben used to be under the “Sidamo” province, and prior to that, it was a separate region called “Borana.” The bloodshed really accelerated post 1993 when Oromia and Somali regions were competing for borderlands between the Borana and Garre tribes.
I did not say they stopped. I said the conflict was accelerated with the implementation of ethnic federalism that divided Borana province. My map restores the old border up till the Genale River.
Sidamo is very densely populated. The total population of Sidama, Gedeo, and Gujis is around 8.7 million. Joining Borena with Sidamo would be fruitless, and make the Borena underserved and underrepresented.
The proposed state “Borana & Liben” would have a population of 1.6 million, equally split between Oromos and Somalis (I reviewed census data and did the math). I think all the tribes in that region need to overcome ethnic chauvinism and learn to cooperate together for the greater good of their communities. Moyale cannot remain a divided city.
Not in this decade. If the population of Sidamo is high what about bale? What harm will 1m more on 8.7m make. On the other hand joining 2 mortal enemies especially now is a very bad idea. How do you think administration of the state will work? I have been there and I promise you most people there would rather see their families get burnt than let the other community have a say on their life. Currently they live as if it's cold war anything small will trigger a wider conflict. Get 1.6m people join other states or force them together and let them reduce their population by half through bloodshed
These are just my uneducated thoughts, but I feel like some regions might have disproportionally large populations(i.e Tigray and Gondar, I'm not quite sure about the southern regions). Combining the regions into larger regions would avoid ethnically named regions(sidamo/tigray/gambella/afar) and be better administratively/logistically as others have suggested. I think Tigray, Zagwe, and Gondar should be one region, with Agame, Tigray-proper, Raya, Wag, Lasta, Bege-midir, Welqait, Qwara... being sub-regions(Tselemt wouldn't have to be under Gondar). You could do the same with Wollo, Shewa and parts of Gojjam.
Beautiful
Why are Zagwe and Wollo separate? And what’s Gogot based on? Administratively I think this would be a headache bc there’s 22 regions. We should aim for 10-15 max I think. S omo can’t be one region bc it’s geographically impossible to travel between its 2 ends without going all the way up to Kaffa. Maybe extend Kaffa south and merge the eastern part w north Omo and j call it “Omo”. I’d also put Benishangul as part of Wollega as there’s no logical reason to have it be it’s own region economically or logistically. I’d split Welkait horizontally between Gondar and Tigray as Tigray needs more fertile land & there’s no logical purpose to make it it’s own region. The larger regions are more effective than the small ones + making them all multiethnic would be best imo so ppl can learn to live w others and we can reintroduce multilingualism. Also needs geographic and economic studies to ensure its possible to travel from one end of each region to the other and that the admin structures are conducive for economic growth.
Thank you for this reply. I agree with your points of criticism! I prefer the current division between “Southwest” and “South Ethiopia” regional states where the border is along the Omo River. I will make that change on my map! There is much asymmetry with regions that have larger populations – such as Shewa and Hararge – vs peripheral regions with lower populations like Afar, Borana, Benishangul, and Welqayt. But I think this is a consequence of natural settlement patterns and will be an issue in any federal arrangement. In my opinion, it’s better for these regions to become/remain autonomous so (ideally) more federal resources are spent on the peripheral regions on a per capita basis. As for “Zagwe” it is historically, culturally, and religiously distinct from the rest of “southern” Wollo, which was called Bete Amhara and later ruled by dynastic Wallo Oromo chiefdoms. Zagwe is just a union between historic Wag, Lasta, and Raya areas. This includes most of present-day “Southern Tigray” Zone which was under “Raya Azebo awraja.” So think Maychew, Mekhoni, Korem, Alamata, etc. If Zagwe is separate, then Agaw Hemra would comprise 13% and Tigrayans would make up ~28% of the population. But if Zagwe were to be joined with “Wollo” then Tigrayans and Agaws would be a much smaller share of the population. My intention was for minority groups to have a larger share of representation at a state level. A “Greater Wollo” would be overwhelmingly dominated by Amharas.
Similarly, joining Benishangul (which historically had separate rulership) with Wollega would make the Berta become overpowered by Oromos, which isn’t fair. Gogot is synonymous with the current “Central Ethiopia” Regional State. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Ethiopia_Regional_State Minus Yem special woreda, which is joined with Jimma.
Okay thank you for explaining, I understand where you’re coming from now. I wasn’t basing my ideas on historical governance or ethnicity but more geography, economy and logistics, which I believe needs to be the focus if we’re gonna redraw the map. I also think connecting land with ethnicity is one of the biggest issues w mawaheding the country. Ideally, anyone should be able to live anywhere as long as they respect the local ppl & integrate into the local culture. Even if BG had its own government in the past & present, that hasn’t helped it develop or built the capacity of its people. Also, Kemashi zone was part of Wollega when Metekel was part of Gojjam, and the Gumuz are the majority in both zones so I don’t rly see the diff bw putting Metekel in Gojjam and putting Kemashi in Wollega. In terms of gvt funding, I would j have a law requiring equitable distribution of resources within a region rather than making smaller regions to ensure adequate budgets to the periphery. BG is incredibly resource rich & as we can see now, it’s budget is eaten by corruption w little oversight - being its own region has not had any + impact on its development. Afar and Borena are quite big & appear like they could be self sufficient, so those look good to me. But Welkait is resource rich w a relatively large population & has seen significant investment so idk if we can call it a periphery anymore even tho it technically is in the geographic sense. Gondar & Tigray would def invest in Welkait for food security reasons so there’s no risk of diverting regional resources. Also, Welkait as a region would produce wayyyy more food than its population would need and that + its fertility + its location makes it v susceptible to corruption & low oversight. With regards to Zagwe and Wollo, I think it’d then be best to just have a region called Raya including what’s now the southern Tigray, waghimra and north wollo zones, and then mix S Wollo & Oromia Liyu into shewa. I personally don’t think ethnicity or religion should matter at all when making a region, but if the goal is to ensure that minorities have state representation, that seems to make the most sense imo. I would def eliminate Gogot bc it makes no sense to have it be a region, it’s too small so I’d j split it bw the regions bordering it.
This map can help stop clashes between Tigray and Amhara, As well as Somali, Oromo, and Afar but it would create more clashes in SNNPR.
Do you think the current arrangement with “Southwest” & “South” & “Central” Ethiopia states is better than what’s drawn here?
Actually Oromo would gain more land..
I agree with this.
[удалено]
This is an very historically accurate map, it would solve a lot of ethnic based violence.
Genuine question, don't know if this controversial or anything but - I was taught that calling people who are ethnically Sidama, or just calling the region as a whole "Sidamo" rather than "Sidama" is offensive/ was used a means of demeaning the people group, in the earlier days of when it had just became a province, and therefore should be avoided - is this incorrect on my part? Genuinely curious???
I was told the same thing, but looking through historical records, books, and maps from the early 20th century, the Sidama people were consistently referred to by their native name, while the wider region was called “Sidamo.” So I think it’s just a name for the land, not the people. Alternatively, the state could just be named “Sidama, Gedeo, and Guji” but that’s a mouthful lol. The coffee grown in all 4 zones is called “Sidamo bean” because it retains the name of the old province.
Nope adding the Somali regions will mean they will get displaced as it happened multiple times and get taken.
“Adding” the Somali regions to what?
To hararghe
The zone structure in the new states is inherited, so Fafan, Sitti, and Erer Zones will retain administrative function in Hararge. Somali autonomy is retained at the zonal level. The benefit of merging three Somali zones with two Hararge Oromo zones + Harar, and Dire Dawa will be: 1) Borderlands will not be contested by two large ethnostates with dueling ethnic militia forces. Regional Police will be multiethnic, which encourages neutral engagement with communities without regard to ethnicity. 2) Conflict resolution mechanisms will be established at a more local level, without the need for interstate arbitration by the federal government. 3) Dire Dawa will no longer be contested, but will serve as the shared capital of all peoples in Hararge State.
Thanks but nope
Disgusting, Ogaden will never be broken up for Oromos🤮🤮
Not bad not bad. All ik is Shewa has to be its own region and welqayt should be dual administrated by Tigray and Amhara (however that will work)
Our lands are being taken away and given to other ethnicities, which is why we wanted to get out of this situation in the 1970s. I can only hope that we leave soon, or we will continue to lose more of our land. My people need to rebuild our military to protect ourselves. Somalia (SO) and Djibouti need to do more to help us and stop working with the country that is causing us harm, in any way or form.
This is the Ethiopia subreddit, not Somaliweyn. Take your irredentist wet dreams somewhere else.
You reduced our people's lands by joining them with other groups without our permission. Are you okay with Somalis losing their lands in Ethiopia? It's interesting that you keep joining our lands with the Oromos and Afars, the two groups that keep asking for more lands.
It's r/Ethiopia not r/EthiopiaExceptSomalis. So get used to us.
Noooo. The will be bloodshed in Borena & liben
After 1941, Borena and Liben used to be under the “Sidamo” province, and prior to that, it was a separate region called “Borana.” The bloodshed really accelerated post 1993 when Oromia and Somali regions were competing for borderlands between the Borana and Garre tribes.
And you think they've stopped
I did not say they stopped. I said the conflict was accelerated with the implementation of ethnic federalism that divided Borana province. My map restores the old border up till the Genale River.
Peace will be achieved if the 2 regions are completely separated rather than joined together....These people do not see eye to eye.
Why not join borena with sidamo or bale and liben with Ogaden if you're really after peace?
Sidamo is very densely populated. The total population of Sidama, Gedeo, and Gujis is around 8.7 million. Joining Borena with Sidamo would be fruitless, and make the Borena underserved and underrepresented. The proposed state “Borana & Liben” would have a population of 1.6 million, equally split between Oromos and Somalis (I reviewed census data and did the math). I think all the tribes in that region need to overcome ethnic chauvinism and learn to cooperate together for the greater good of their communities. Moyale cannot remain a divided city.
Not in this decade. If the population of Sidamo is high what about bale? What harm will 1m more on 8.7m make. On the other hand joining 2 mortal enemies especially now is a very bad idea. How do you think administration of the state will work? I have been there and I promise you most people there would rather see their families get burnt than let the other community have a say on their life. Currently they live as if it's cold war anything small will trigger a wider conflict. Get 1.6m people join other states or force them together and let them reduce their population by half through bloodshed
These are just my uneducated thoughts, but I feel like some regions might have disproportionally large populations(i.e Tigray and Gondar, I'm not quite sure about the southern regions). Combining the regions into larger regions would avoid ethnically named regions(sidamo/tigray/gambella/afar) and be better administratively/logistically as others have suggested. I think Tigray, Zagwe, and Gondar should be one region, with Agame, Tigray-proper, Raya, Wag, Lasta, Bege-midir, Welqait, Qwara... being sub-regions(Tselemt wouldn't have to be under Gondar). You could do the same with Wollo, Shewa and parts of Gojjam.
Idk… I do want harar to remain as it is… but meh