East Shewa () is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Shewa is located at centre of oromia Oromia, connecting the western regions to the eastern ones. This zone is bordered on the south by the West Arsi Zone, on the southwest by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, on the west by Southwest Shewa Zone and Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, on the northwest by North Shewa, on the north by the Amhara Region, on the northeast by the Afar Region, and on the southeast by Arsi; its westernmost reach is defined by the course of the Bilate River. Towns and cities in East Shewa include Dukam, Galan, Tullu Dimt, Basaqa and Aqaqi, Bishoftu, Metehara, Batu Dambal and the capital Adama. With the intent to rehabilitate degraded forests, the Zonal Agriculture and Rural Development Office announced 2 October 2006 that it had planted over 36.3 million seedlings in 10 of the Zone's 12 woredas, covering 4,000 hectares of land. Demographics Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 3,356,342, of whom 1,696,350 are men and 1,659,992 women; with an area of 8,370.90 square kilometers, East Shewa has a population density of 162.03. While 340,225 or 25.08% are urban inhabitants, a further 664 or 0.05% are pastoralists. A total of 309,726 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.38 persons to a household, and 296,342 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (84.06%), the Amhara (5.39%) and Gurage (3.82%); all other ethnic groups made up 6.73% of the population. Oromo was spoken as a first language by 79.15%, Amharic was spoken by 14.29% and Gurage by 2.64% of the population; the remaining 3.92% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 39.33% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 31.18% of the population were Muslim, 23.4% of the population professed Protestantism and 5.08% practiced traditional beliefs. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 1,668,184 in 343,656 households, of whom 837,614 were men and 830,670 women; 444,376 or 26.64% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The five largest ethnic groups reported in East Shewa were the Oromo (80.59%), the Amhara (5.77%), the Soddo Gurage (2.21%), the Kambaata (2%),