The Gede'o people live in the southern part of Ethiopia, in the Sidamo administrative region, at 38° longitude and 5°- 6°latitude north of the equator. The territory occupied by them extends approximately 23.000 km2. The statistics give their number at approximately 800.000, but the population is constantly increasing and in some areas the territory is densely populated. The Gede'o earn their li_ving mainly by farming on small plots of land. In some parts of the territory the soil is fertile for coffee growing, which is the primary cash crop. According to their traditions the Gede'o relate that they come from the east and specifically from the territories through which the Hawata and Gannale rivers flow. Using the Oromo language, as often happens when quoting old traditions, they say «Harun bae, Hawata bae», i.e. "(the Gede'o) came from Harii and Hawata". Another tradition, that is not confirmed by other sources, says that the Gede'o descended from the moslem warrior Ahmad Ibn Ibrahim (in amharic Grañ 'the left handed'), who in. 1529 started to invade Ethiopia dying in 1543.
