List of Towns, Villages and Cities in Dhawa Zone

Dhawa Zone (Somali: Daawa, also written Dawa) is the south-western corner of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, on the Kenyan border. Its administrative centre is El Leh, and the zone takes its name from the Dawa River, which forms the frontier with Kenya. Dhawa has four woredas: Hudet, Moyale, Mubarak and Qadhadhumo.

Woredas (Districts)

Dhawa is one of the Somali Region’s newer zones. It was carved out of the Liiban area, and only two of its four woredas — Moyale and Hudet — existed as separate units at the 2007 census, so only those two carry a published population series.

Major Towns

The zone is rural and its towns are small border and market settlements. Moyale, the largest, is a divided town: the Ethiopian side sits opposite Moyale in Kenya’s Marsabit County, and the crossing is one of the busiest on the frontier.

Geography

Dhawa is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the north-west by the Oromia Region, and on the north-east by Liiban Zone. It is the only Somali Region zone that touches Kenya without also touching Somalia.

The Dawa River runs along the southern edge and marks the international boundary before joining the Ganale Dorya near Dolo to form the Jubba. Away from the river the country is dry thornbush and open grazing at 500 to 1,000 metres, cut by seasonal watercourses. Rainfall follows two short seasons, the long gu rains from March and the shorter deyr rains from October, and both are unreliable.

The zone sits where Somali, Oromo and Kenyan Somali grazing ranges meet, and the borderland around Moyale and Hudet is shared ground between the two Ethiopian regions.

Demographics

No zone-level census total exists for Dhawa, because the zone was created after the 2007 census. Its two census-era woredas counted 297,317 people in 2007. On Central Statistical Agency projections those same two woredas reach about 431,000 by 2022. Every post-2007 figure for Ethiopia is a projection rather than a count; the country has not held a census since 2007.

The population is overwhelmingly Somali-speaking and Muslim, with Oromo-speaking communities along the Oromia boundary and around Moyale. Cross-border kinship with Somali and Borana communities in Kenya’s Mandera and Marsabit counties shapes trade and movement.

Economy & Local Life

Camels, goats and cattle are the mainstay. Herds move between Ethiopian and Kenyan rangeland, and the Moyale crossing carries a steady livestock trade south towards Nairobi as well as consumer goods north. Hudet and Mubarak hold weekly stock markets. Along the Dawa, small irrigated plots grow maize, onions and fodder. Frankincense and gum are collected in the bushland. Cross-border commerce, formal and informal, matters more here than in any other Somali Region zone.

Getting There

The main approach is the Addis Ababa–Moyale highway, which runs south through Oromia via Hawassa and Yabelo — about 770 km to Moyale, paved for most of the route. From Moyale, gravel roads run east to Hudet, El Leh and Mubarak. Reaching Dhawa from Jijiga means a long detour west through Oromia; there is no direct road from the rest of the Somali Region. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is at Negele Borana in Oromia.

FAQ

Where is Dhawa Zone?

In the extreme south-west of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, on the Kenyan border, between the Oromia Region and Liiban Zone.

What is the capital of Dhawa Zone?

El Leh.

How many woredas does Dhawa have?

Four: Hudet, Moyale, Mubarak and Qadhadhumo.

Why is it called Dhawa?

After the Dawa River, which forms the boundary with Kenya and joins the Ganale Dorya to make the Jubba.

Is Dhawa the same as Daawa Zone?

Yes. Daawa is the Somali spelling; Dhawa and Dawa are the usual English forms.

What language is spoken in Dhawa?

Somali, with Oromo spoken along the Oromia boundary and around Moyale.