Sherkole

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Sherkole is a district (woreda) in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, part of the Asosa Zone. It borders Menge to the south, Kurmuk to the west, Sudan to the north, and Kamashi Zone to the east. The main town is Holma. The Ad-Damazin transit center, home to about 14,431 displaced Sudanese, is located in Sherkole. A high point is Mount Abu Ranab near the Abay River, and the Tumat River, a tributary of the Abay, also flows through the woreda.

Population and religion: The 2007 census reported 24,679 people (12,288 men and 12,391 women), with 903 urban residents. About 98% are Muslim and around 1.5% practice Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. The 2005 estimate put the population at about 18,558.

Area and density: Sherkole covers about 3,204 square kilometers, giving a population density of roughly 5.8 people per square kilometer.

Earlier data: The 1994 census recorded 13,989 people in 3,231 households, with no urban dwellers. Ethnic groups were mainly Berta (92.4%) and Gumuz (2.4%); Berta was spoken by about 93% and Gumuz by about 2.5%. Religion was about 99.6% Muslim. Education and sanitation were low: literacy about 6.9% (zone average around 18.5%), only about 5.4% of children aged 7–12 attended primary school, virtually no one aged 13–18 attended school, 1.8% of houses had safe drinking water, and 2.4% had toilets.