According to the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia’s (CSA) 2007 Census, the Gambela area has a total population of 307,096, with 159,787 males and 147,309 women; urban residents account for 77,925 people, or 25.37 percent of the population. This region has a population density of 10 people per square kilometer, with an estimated area of 29,782.82 square kilometers. There were 66,467 households tallied in the region, resulting in an average of 4.6 people per home in the region, with urban households averaging 3.8 and rural households 4.9. The Gambela region is primarily populated by Nilotic ethnic minority groups (Nuer 64.66 percent , Anuak 29.6 percent , Mezhenger 5 percent ). As of 2005, the following values were recorded for Gambela’s common indices of level of living: Adult literacy is 57.5 percent for males and 22.8 percent for women, while the regional infant mortality rate is 92 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is higher than the national average of 77, with at least half of these deaths occurring in the first month of life. Gambela is thought to contain significant oil reserves. The Ethiopian government and Malaysia’s Petronas struck an agreement in June 2003 for the collaborative exploration and development of oil resources in the Gambella region. China’s was then given a contract by Petronas for seismic data acquisition.
