List of Towns, Villages and Cities in Fantí Rasu (Zone 4)

Fantí Rasu, officially Administrative Zone 4, is the northwestern zone of Ethiopia’s Afar Region. Its administrative centre is Kaluwan, also written Gulina, and its largest town is Dibina. The zone covers 11,203 square kilometres, and the 2007 census counted 246,822 people; current projections for its five woredas total about 328,000. It is the least urbanised zone in Ethiopia’s least urbanised region.

Woredas (Districts)

Fantí Rasu has five woredas. Federal tables spell two of them Awra and Golina; regional and Wikipedia listings use Aura and Gulina for the same districts.

Major Towns

No settlement in Fantí Rasu has a separately published town population. Only 9,441 residents, 3.83% of the zone, lived in a town at the 2007 census. The places below are the administrative centres of the zone and its woredas.

• Kaluwan (Gulina) — zone administrative centre
• Dibina — the zone’s largest town
• Teru — centre of Teru woreda
• Yalo — centre of Yalo woreda
• Ewa — centre of Ewa woreda
• Awra — centre of Awra woreda

Geography

The zone sits between the Afar plain and the eastern wall of the Ethiopian highlands. Awsi Rasu lies to the south and east and the Amhara Region to the southwest. The Tigray Region is northwest and Kilbet Rasu north. The Amhara boundary runs along North Wollo Zone.

Ground rises sharply on the western edge, where the escarpment climbs several hundred metres into Wollo, then falls east into hot, stony lowland. Seasonal streams run off the escarpment and feed the Mille and Golina catchments before drying out on the plain. Rainfall is low and unreliable, and grazing depends on where the short rains land in a given year.

Demographics

The 2007 census recorded 246,822 residents: 140,741 men and 106,081 women. Pastoralist households accounted for 118,691 people, or 48.09%, the highest share of any Afar zone. Town dwellers numbered 9,441, or 3.83%, the lowest. The five woreda projections sum to about 328,000 for 2022; Ethiopia has held no census since 2007, so that figure is a projection.

Fantí Rasu is the most homogeneous zone in the region. Afar people made up 98.67% of the population and Amhara 1.09%. Afar was the first language of 98.64% and Amharic of 1.15%. Muslims accounted for 99.62%.

Economy & Local Life

Herding supports nearly half the population directly and most of the rest indirectly. Households keep camels, goats, sheep and cattle, and move between escarpment grazing in the dry months and plain grazing after rain. Livestock, milk and hides move west to highland markets in Wollo and are traded for grain, salt and cloth. Small irrigated plots along seasonal streams grow maize and sorghum where water allows. Drought is the recurring shock, and the zone appears regularly in national relief assessments.

Getting There

Fantí Rasu is the hardest Afar zone to reach. The usual approach is from the Amhara highlands. Roads leave Woldia and Kobo on the Addis Ababa–Mekelle highway and drop east towards Ewa, Awra and Gulina. From the lowland side, a road turns north from the Addis Ababa–Djibouti highway near Mille and runs through Chifra towards Teru. Most of these routes are gravel and can close in the rains. There is no airport in the zone; the nearest scheduled flights are at Semera and Mekelle.

FAQ

Where is Fantí Rasu?

In the northwest of Ethiopia’s Afar Region, against the Amhara and Tigray highlands, south of Kilbet Rasu.

What is the capital of Fantí Rasu?

Kaluwan, also written Gulina, is the administrative centre. Dibina is the largest town.

How many woredas does Fantí Rasu have?

Five: Awra, Ewa, Golina, Teru and Yalo.

What is the population of Fantí Rasu?

246,822 at the 2007 census. Adding the current official projections for its five woredas gives about 328,000.

What language is spoken in Fantí Rasu?

Afar, the first language of 98.64% of residents at the 2007 census.

Is Fantí Rasu the same as Zone 4?

Yes. Federal records use the number and regional records the Afar name.