Description

GEO1_ET identifies the household's region within Ethiopia from 1994 to present. Regions are the first level administrative units of the country. GEO1_ET is spatially harmonized to account for political boundary changes across census years. Some detail is lost in harmonization; see the comparability discussion. A GIS map (in shapefile format), corresponding to GEO1_ET can be downloaded from the GIS Boundary files page in the IPUMS International web site.

The full set of geography variables for Ethiopia can be found in the IPUMS International Geography variables list. For cross-national geographic analysis on the first and second major administrative level refer to GEOLEV1, and GEOLEV2. More information on IPUMS-International geography can be found here.

Comparability — General

The 1984 Ethiopian sample is not part of GEO1_ET. The 1984 census predates the creation of modern day Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 following which the geography of Ethiopia has changed considerably. Also, the boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been a source of dispute since Eritrea became independent in 1993.

The 2007 Ethiopian sample had a Special region as one of its regions. According to the 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia, the special region comprised national parks, forests, and boarding schools including university dorms with greater than 100 persons. There are person counts for the special region but the region is not mappable.

Where boundaries changed over time, units were harmonized to create units with boundaries that remain stable over time.

Boundary changes:

• A 2004 referendum altered the boundary between the Oromia and Somali regions.

Universe

Availability

• Ethiopia: 1994, 2007