Addid Ababa, Oct 10 (IANS): Nearly 97 per cent of voters in a local referendum held on September 30 have approved a proposal to create Ethiopia's 11th region, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has announced.

The NEBE disclosed out of 1,262,679 votes cast, 1,221,092 votes approved the proposal to create the new region, which will be called the Southwest region, Xinhua news agency quoted state media outlet Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) as saying in a report.

The NEBE referendum results will be tabled to Ethiopia's upper house of parliament, House of Federation (HoF) for formal endorsement, before the preparation for the formation of a new region commences.

The referendum vote on whether to create a new regional state was held in five zones and one special locality, all currently located in Ethiopia's Southern region.

Ethiopia currently has 10 regions, although over the last several years several ethnic groups in the country have been campaigning to create their own regions, occasionally sparking fears of political instability in the East African country.