Subdivisions of Ethiopia in Amharic and Somali: regional states, zones
Ethiopia is divided into regional states (ክልል, kələl) and two chartered cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, and the regions into zones (ዞን, zon) and special districts. This list gives each region with its ISO 3166-2 code and centre, then 70 zones and special districts in Amharic, with the Somali names for the Somali region.
- Regions and cities
- 13
- Groups
- 1
Updated
Amharic names and a Somali column
All names are given in Amharic, in the Ethiopic script, with a transliteration that marks the seven vowel orders. A region is ክልል (kələl), and its full name starts with yä-, of: የአፋር ክልል (yä-Ăfar kələl) is the region of the Afar. Below the regions the list counts zones, ዞን (zon), and special districts, ልዩ ወረዳ (ləyu wŏräda), which stand beside the zones.
For the Somali region the list adds the Somali names, written in the Latin alphabet. There the zone is a gobol, so the zone that Amharic calls አፍዴር ዞን (Ăfder zon) is Gobolka Afdheer in Somali, and the region itself is Dhulka Soomaalida Ogaadeenya.
Regional states and chartered cities of Ethiopia
Each region and city with its Amharic name, the ISO 3166-2 code and the present centre, as on the Ethiopia page of this site.
Regions and cities 13
| Amharic | Somali | Centre | Centre in Somali | ISO code | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
የአዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር አካባቢyä-Ăddis Ăbäba ăstädadär ăkababi · Addis Ababa
|
አዲስ አበባAddis Ababa (Ăddis Ăbäba)
|
ET-AA
|
|||
የአፋር ክልልyä-Ăfar kələl · Afar
|
ሰመራSemera
|
ET-AF
|
Capital moved from Asayita (Ăsayta) to Semera
|
||
የአማራ ክልልyä-Ămara kələl · Amhara
|
ባሕር ዳርBahir Dar (Baḥr Dar)
|
ET-AM
|
|||
የቤንሻንጉል-ጉምዝ ክልልyä-Benšangul-Guməz kələl · Benishangul-Gumuz
|
አሶሳAsosa (Ăsosa)
|
ET-BE
|
|||
የድሬዳዋ አስተዳደር አካባቢyä-Dəredawa ăstädadär ăkababi · Dire Dawa
|
ድሬዳዋDire Dawa (Dəredawa)
|
ET-DD
|
2002: Added to ISO 3166-2 as an administration
|
||
የጋምቤላ ሕዝቦች ክልልyä-Gambela Ḥəzboč kələl · Gambela Peoples
|
ጋምቤላGambela
|
ET-GA
|
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የሐረሪ ሕዝብ ክልልyä-Ḥăräri Ḥəzb kələl · Harari People
|
ሐረርHarar (Ḥărär)
|
ET-HA
|
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የኦሮሚያ ክልልyä-Oromiya kələl · Oromia
|
አዳማAdama (Ădama)
|
ET-OR
|
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ሲዳማ ክልልSīdama · Sidama
|
አዋሳHawassa (Ăwasa)
|
ET-SI
|
2021: Added to ISO 3166-2; formed from part of the Southern Nations region
|
||
የሶማሌ ክልልyä-Somale kələl · Somali
|
Dhulka Soomaalida Ogaadeenya
|
ጅጅጋJijiga (Jəjəga)
|
Jigjiga
|
ET-SO
|
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የደቡብ ብሔሮች ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልልyä-Däbub Bəḥeroč Bəḥeräsäboč-na Ḥəzboč kələl · Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples
|
ET-SN
|
2023: Divided into Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia; ISO still lists ET-SN
|
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ደቡብ ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦች ክልልYeDebub M‘irab Ītyop’iya Hizboch · Southwest Ethiopia Peoples
|
ቦንጋBonga
|
ET-SW
|
2022: Added to ISO 3166-2; formed from part of the Southern Nations region
|
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የትግራይ ክልልyä-Təgray kələl · Tigray
|
መቀሌMekelle (Mäḳäle)
|
ET-TI
|
Codes, names, centres and changes as on the Ethiopia page of this site: ISO 3166-2:ET read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026 (latest change 29 November 2022); the 2023 division of the Southern Nations region and the present centres from Wikipedia, Regions of Ethiopia, citing the Ethiopian Statistical Service. Somali names and the former centre of Afar: the 2016 edition of this list.
Zones and special districts by region, as listed in 2016
The zones and special districts of each region in Amharic, with the Somali names in the Somali region. Sidama and Southwest Ethiopia are not in this table: they became regions after the list was compiled.
የአዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር አካባቢ Addis Ababa 6
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
ዞን 1Zon 1
|
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ዞን 2Zon 2
|
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ዞን 3Zon 3
|
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ዞን 4Zon 4
|
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ዞን 5Zon 5
|
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ዞን 6Zon 6
|
የአፋር ክልል Afar 6
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
አርጎባ ልዩ ወረዳĂrgoba ləyu wŏräda
|
|
ዞን 1Zon 1
|
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ዞን 2Zon 2
|
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ዞን 3Zon 3
|
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ዞን 4Zon 4
|
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ዞን 5Zon 5
|
የአማራ ክልል Amhara 11
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
ምሥራቅ ጎጃም ዞንMəśraḳ Gojam zon
|
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ምዕራብ ጎጃም ዞንMəʿrab Gojam zon
|
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ሰሜን ሸዋ ዞንSämen Šäwa zon
|
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ሰሜን ወሎ ዞንSämen Wŏllo zon
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ሰሜን ጎንደር ዞንSämen Gondär zon
|
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ባሕር ዳር ልዩ ዞንBaḥr Dar ləyu zon
|
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አገው አዊ ዞንĂgäw Ăwi zon
|
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ኦሮሚያ ዞንOromiya zon
|
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ዋግ ኸምራ ዞንWag Ȟämra zon
|
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ደቡብ ወሎ ዞንDäbub Wŏllo zon
|
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ደቡብ ጎንደር ዞንDäbub Gondär zon
|
የቤንሻንጉል-ጉምዝ ክልል Benishangul-Gumuz 4
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
መተከል ዞንMätäkäl zon
|
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አሶሳ ዞንĂsosa zon
|
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ካማሺ ዞንKamaši zon
|
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ፓዌ ልዩ ወረዳPawe ləyu wŏräda
|
የጋምቤላ ሕዝቦች ክልል Gambela Peoples 4
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
ዞን 1Zon 1
|
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ዞን 2Zon 2
|
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ዞን 3Zon 3
|
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ዞን 4Zon 4
|
የኦሮሚያ ክልል Oromia 12
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
ምሥራቅ ሐረርጌ ዞንMəśraḳ Ḥărärge zon
|
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ምሥራቅ ሸዋ ዞንMəśraḳ Šäwa zon
|
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ምሥራቅ ወለጋ ዞንMəśraḳ Wŏlläga zon
|
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ምዕራብ ሐረርጌ ዞንMəʿrab Ḥărärge zon
|
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ምዕራብ ሸዋ ዞንMəʿrab Šäwa zon
|
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ምዕራብ ወለጋ ዞንMəʿrab Wŏlläga zon
|
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ሰሜን ሸዋ ዞንSämen Šäwa zon
|
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ባሌ ዞንBale zon
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ቦረና ዞንBoräna zon
|
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አርሲ ዞንĂrsi zon
|
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ኢሉባቦር ዞንIlubabor zon
|
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ጅማ ዞንJəmma zon
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የሶማሌ ክልል Somali 9
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
ሊበን ዞንLibän zon
|
Gobolka Liibaan
|
ሽንሌ ዞንŠənəle zon
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Gobolka Shiniile
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ቆራሄ ዞንḲorahe zon
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Gobolka Qoraxey
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አፍዴር ዞንĂfder zon
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Gobolka Afdheer
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ዋርዴር ዞንWarder zon
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Gobolka Wardheer
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ደገሃቡር ዞንDägähabur zon
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Gobolka Dhagaxbuur
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ጅጅጋ ዞንJəjəga zon
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Gobolka Jigjiga
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ጎዴ ዞንGode zon
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Gobolka Godey
|
ፊቅ ዞንFiḳ zon
|
Gobolka Fiiq
|
የደቡብ ብሔሮች ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples 14
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
ሃዲያ ዞንHadiya zon
|
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ሰሜን ኦሞ ዞንSämen Omo zon
|
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ሲዳማ ዞንSidama zon
|
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ቡርጂ ልዩ ወረዳBurji ləyu wŏräda
|
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ቤንች ማጂ ዞንBenč Maji zon
|
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አማሮ ልዩ ወረዳĂmaro ləyu wŏräda
|
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ከምባታ አላባና ጠንባሮ ዞንKämbata Ălaba-na Ṭänbaro zon
|
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ከፍቾ ሸክቾ ዞንKäfəčo Šäkəčo zon
|
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ኮንሶ ልዩ ወረዳKonso ləyu wŏräda
|
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የም ልዩ ወረዳYäm ləyu wŏräda
|
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ደራሼ ልዩ ወረዳDäraše ləyu wŏräda
|
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ደቡብ ኦሞ ዞንDäbub Omo zon
|
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ጉራጌ ዞንGurage zon
|
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ጌድኦ ዞንGedə'o zon
|
የትግራይ ክልል Tigray 4
| Amharic | Somali |
|---|---|
መካከለኛው ዞንMäkakäläññaw zon
|
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ምሥራቃዊ ዞንMəśraḳawi zon
|
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ምዕራባዊ ዞንMəʿrabawi zon
|
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ደቡባዊ ዞንDäbubawi zon
|
Amharic and Somali names: the 2016 edition of this list. Many zones have since been divided, renamed or moved to new regions; that newer second level is not part of this table.
New regions and a new capital for Afar
The first level has grown since the list was made. Sidama, listed here as a zone of the Southern Nations region, became a regional state and entered ISO 3166-2 as ET-SI in 2021; Southwest Ethiopia Peoples followed as ET-SW in 2022, governed from Bonga. In 2023 what was left of the Southern Nations region was divided into Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia, while ISO still lists ET-SN.
Afar moved its capital from Asayita to Semera, so the centre in the table is ሰመራ (Semera), while older lists name አሳይታ (Ăsayta). Oromia is given with Adama, its seat in this list; its statutory seat is Addis Ababa.
Questions about the subdivisions of Ethiopia
What is a kilil?
ክልል (kələl) is the Amharic word for one of the regional states of Ethiopia, such as የትግራይ ክልል, the Tigray region.
What is Afdheer?
Gobolka Afdheer is the Somali name of a zone of the Somali region; Amharic calls it አፍዴር ዞን (Ăfder zon).
What is the capital of the Afar region?
Semera (ሰመራ). Older lists give Asayita (አሳይታ, Ăsayta).