This study is a cross sec tional sample s urvey onrnt he health status of 10 villages (5 resettlement and 5rnindigenous) in Kelem Awraja, Wollega Regio n,rnSouthwestern Ethi opi a . The fi e l d study was conduc ted i nrnSeptember and October 1987 . The survey c onsisted of arns e t of qu es tionnaires on s ocio- demograph ic , he al thrnstatus, nutri tional as sessment of unde r-five c hildrenrnand stool e xamination for ova and paras ites. The soc i odemographirnc data reveal ed that the total popul at ionrncovered by the study was 3779 people , out of which 2040rnwere settlers (54%) and 1739 were indi ge no us ( 46%) . ThernIi terac y rate b e t wee n the two groups s howed norndiff erence 32 .6% a n d 33 .4 %, but much lower wh e nrncompared to the national figure which 1S 60% . The majorrnsources o f water s uppl y f o r mo r e t han 50% were fromrnunprotected spr ing s and river water for both gro ups.rnThe avai l ability of latrine s and garbage disposal pitsrnfor settlers was more t han 90%. For the indigenous grouprna bout 50% had latrines and l ess than 30% had a garbagerndisposal pit. In hea lth facilities a nd h ealth care,rnagain the settlers were i n a better position compared tornthe indig e n o us. Immuni zation coverage, ant e natalrnattendance and delivery services we r e significant l yrnhigher in t he settlers. As far as mo rbidity wasrnconcerned 25 . 2% and 19. 7% of the sett l ers andrnindigenous resp e ctively reported s i ck during the lastrnixrntwo weeks. Nutritional status in under-five childrenrnwas poor but showed no difference between the tworngroups . With regards to prevalence of intestinalrnparasites in the two groups, 69 .4% of the settlers werernfound positive whereas i n the indigenous 77.1% werernpositive. Explanations were offered for the betterrnhealth services and health status of the settlers .rnx