Shewa, formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at its center.

The Gurage are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mountainous region in Central Ethiopia Regional State, about 125 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa, bordering the Awash River in the north, the Gibe River, a tributary of the Omo River, to the southwest, and Hora-Dambal in the east.