Ethiopia is a federation subdivided into ethno-linguistically based regional states (Amharic: plural: ክልሎች kililoch; singular: ክልል kilil; Oromo: singular: Naannoo; plural: Naannolee) and chartered cities (Amharic: plural: አስተዳደር አካባቢዎች astedader akababiwoch; singular: አስተዳደር አካባቢ astedader akabibi).
As of 2026, there are twelve regional states and two chartered cities (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa). The regions are each governed by a regional council whose members are directly elected to represent woredas (districts). Each council has a president, who is elected by the council. Each region also has an executive committee, whose members are selected by the president from among the councilors and approved by the council.
Historically, Ethiopia was divided into provinces. Over time, these divisions have been reorganized to reflect the country's diverse ethnic and linguistic landscape.
The South West Ethiopia Region was created on 23 November 2021 following a successful referendum earlier that year.
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Districts (Woredas) of Ethiopia
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (Amharic: ወረዳ woreda; Oromo: woreda), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia - after zones and the regional states. Districts are typically collected together into zones, which form a region; districts which are not part of a zone are designated Special Districts and function as autonomous entities.
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Districts are governed by a council whose members are directly elected to represent each kebele in the district. Although some districts can be traced back to earliest times-for example, the Yem special woreda, the Gera and Gomma woreda which preserve the boundaries of kingdoms that were absorbed into Ethiopia- many are of more recent creation.
In Ethiopia, the woredas comprise three main organs: a council, an executive and a judicial. The Woreda Council is the highest government organ of the district, which is made up of directly elected representatives from each kebele in the woredas. The representative of the people in each kebele is accountable to their electorate.
The woreda chief administration is the district's executive organ that encompasses the district administrator, deputy administrator, and the head of the main sectoral executive offices found in the district, which are ultimately accountable to the district administrator and district council. The quasi-judicial tasks belong to the Security and Justice administration.
In addition to woredas, city administrations are considered at the same level as the woredas. A city administration has a mayor whom members of the city council elected.
"Special woredas" are a subgroup of woredas (districts) that are organized around the traditional homelands of an ethnic minority, and are outside the usual hierarchy of zones in their respective Region.
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Zones are a 2nd level subdivision of Ethiopia, below regions and above woredas, or districts. Sidama Region's state council passed decision to form four zones.
Following the reorganization in 1991, there were about 600 wereda.
Here is a simplified breakdown of the administrative hierarchy:
- Regional States
- Zones
- Districts (Woredas)
- Kebeles
Ethiopia was reorganized into 25 administrative regions and five autonomous regions in 1987. The regions were Āseb, Dirē Dawa, Eritrea, Ogadēn, and Tigray. However, this division may never have been fully implemented.
Eritrea became an independent country again on 1993-05-27.
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Amharic uses its own alphabet.
The UN LOCODE page for Ethiopia lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions.
The capitals are taken from an Ethiopian government source.
The populations were based on projections from the 1994 census.
The total population in the 2007 exceeds the sum of the state populations by 96,754.
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