August, 3, 2020
The Ethiopian region formerly referred to as the Sidama Zone, a part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR), has become a new regional state.
In the 2019 Sidama Referendum, 98.52% of the Sidama Zone's 3.2 million people voted for increased autonomy. Now it's official—as of June 18, 2020, Sidama is an independent region, albeit one of the smallest Ethiopian regional states.
The Ethiopian government, despite its concerns that the change would spur campaigns for statehood in other regions, ruled to respect the outcome of the vote and allowed the Sidama to become a self-governing regional state.
We've updated our map quizzes to reflect the change in Sidama's status. If the Ethiopian government was right, and Sidama inspires other regions to seek independence, Seterra will be tracking the situation, ever ready to revise our quizzes, as maps change around the world.