The four largest ethnic groups reported in West Hararghe were the Oromo (85.85%), the Amhara (11.45%), the Somali (1.17%), and the Argobba (0.81%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.72% of the population. Afan oromo was spoken as a first language by 95.35%, 3.2% Amharic, and 1.12% spoke Somali; the remaining 0.33% spoke all other primary languages reported.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 1,271,894 in 265,147 households, of whom 653,529 were men and 618,365 women; 95,864 or 7.54% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of one rural and one urban kebeles and parts of two urban ones, which were not counted; they were estimated to have 2,978 inhabitants, of whom 1,524 were men and 1,454 were women.)