Chercher is a name give to the today’s region officially called West Harargie zone. Chercher is known for the beauty of diversity if its geographical make ups, cultures and natural inhabitants. Checher is the starting point for the chains of mountains that end in Ogaden. It has high lands and low lands famous for all kinds of produces ranging from grains, fruits, vegetables, different livestock, forest, mountains, rivers, plains and plateaus. Chercher highland is famous for minerals. The highest point in this Zone is Mount Arba Gugu (3574 meters).
Chercher is centered by Asssebe Teferi, the capital of the region located 325 km from Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Chercher is currently known officially as Mirab Hararghe (or “West Hararge”). It is one of the Zones in the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Mirab Hararghe takes its name from the former province of Hararghe. Mirab Harerge is bordered on the south by the Shebelle River which separates it from Bale, on the southwest by Arsi, on the northwest by the Afar Region, on the north by the Somali Region and on the east by Misraq (East) Hararghe. Towns in Mirab Hararghe include Asebe Teferi, Bedessa, Gelemso, and Mieso.
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,871,706, an increase of 47.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 958,861 are men and 912,845 women. With an area of 15,065.86 square kilometers, Mirab Hararghe has a population density of 124.23. While 160,895 or 9.36% are urban inhabitants, a further 10,567 or 0.56% are pastoralists. A total of 395,127 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.74 persons to a household, and 380,019 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (90.12%), the Amhara (7.24%) and the Somali (1.26%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.38% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 89.47%, Amharic was spoken by 8.82% and Somali by 1.2%; the remaining 0.51% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 88.05% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 11.11% of the population professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.