Desert region in Harar province, SE Ethiopia,
that borders on Somalia. It is a desert
plateau, rising to 1,000 m/3,280 ft,
inhabited mainly by Somali nomads practising
arid farming. A claim to the area was made by
Somalia in the 1960s, resulting in the
guerrilla fighting that has continued
intermittently. It is one of five new
autonomous provinces created in Ethiopia
1987.