Батыс Эфиопияның Гамбела аймағы

Regional state in western Ethiopia

The Gambela Region (also spelled Gambella; ), officially the Gambela Peoples' Region, is a regional state in western Ethiopia, bordering South Sudan. Previously known as Region 12, its capital is Gambela. The Region is situated between the Baro and Akobo Rivers, with its western part including the Openo River.

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the Gambela region has total population of 307,096, consisting of 159,787 men and 147,309 women; urban inhabitants number 77,925 or 25.37% of the population. With an estimated area of 29,782.82 square kilometers, this region has an estimated density of 10 people per square kilometer. For the entire region, 66,467 households were counted, which results in an average for the region of 4.6 persons to household, with urban households having on average 3.8 and rural households 4.9 people. Various Nilotic ethnic majority populations mainly inhabit the Gambela region: Nuer refugees , Anuak (Anywaa), Majang and others. In 1994, the national census reported the region's population to be 181,862 in 35,940 households, of whom 92,902 were men and 88,960 women; 27,424 or 15.08% were urban inhabitants. (This total also includes an estimate for all 19 kebeles of one woreda and six kebeles in two other woredas, which were not counted; these areas were estimated to have 19,465 inhabitants, of whom 9,203 were men and 10,262 women.) The six largest ethnic groups of the region were Nuer, Anuak (Anywaa), Amhara, Oromo, Majang, Komo and other ethnic groups. Languages spoken are Nuer, Anuak, Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Majang; the remaining spoke all other primary languages reported. The projected population for 2017 was 435,999.

90% of the region's population are Protestants, 5% Orthodox, 3% Muslim, 1% practice traditional religions, and 1% are Catholic.

The CSA reported that for 2004 2005 3,734 tons of coffee were produced in Gambela, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 1.64% of the total production in Ethiopia. The CSA could not provide livestock estimates for Gambela. In a 26 May 2000 report, the FAO observed that at the time Trypanosomiasis was a major problem in cattle for this region. There had been an epidemic of this disease in the area during 1970. Gambela is believed to have major oil resources. In June 2003, the Ethiopian government signed an agreement with Petronas of Malaysia for the joint exploration and development of oil resources in Gambella region. Petronas then awarded a contract for seismic data acquisition to China's Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB) in October of that year. The Water and Mines Resources Development Bureau of Gambela announced January 2007 that it was initiating a program that would drill 13 new manually operated wells, 54 new deep water wells, and develop four springs. This would provide access to drinking water for 26,000 inhabitants, increasing coverage for the state to 42 percent from the existing 27 percent, at a cost of 6 million Birr. Construction of an asphalt road 102 kilometers in length and connecting Gambela City with Jikawo by way of Itang was begun in 2008 with a budget over 446 million Birr. As of 2015, Indian investors have acquired 6,000 square km of land in the Gambela region, following other investors, for agricultural land from the central government. This has led to conflict with regional government officials and local communities. Not all the land is actually being farmed, as per the agreement, and there are accusations of investors illegally clearing trees in the Gambella National Park in a blog.