Dila, Ethiopia
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| Dila | |
  Dila
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples |
| Zone | Gedeo |
| Elevation | 1,570 m (5,151 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| - Total | 61,114 |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Dila is a market town in southern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Gedeo Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, and located on the main road from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, this town has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of 1570 meters above sea level.
Until the completion in the early 1970s of the tarmac road to the Kenya border, Dila had been located the southern end of the all-weather road from Addis Ababa and thus became the major transfer and marketing point for coffee grown farther south, particularly of the much-prized Yirga Cheffe varietal (see coffee varietals). It remains a major center of the coffee trade.
Dila is the site of the Dilla College of Teachers' Education, which was founded in 1996 and is part of Debub University. The college also includes a program to teach health sciences. A number of archeologically significant stelae fields are in the surrounding area, the most notable groups being those at Tutu Fella and Tutiti.
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Dila has an estimated total population of 61,114 of whom 31,329 were males and 29,785 were females.[1] The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 33,734 of whom 17,346 were males and 16,388 were females. It is the largest settlement in Wenago woreda.
[edit] History
Around 1930, groups of Guji Oromo migrated into the area, and by the time a German ethnological expedition arrived, they had begun the process of becoming settled farmers. Shortly after the capture of Shashemene in May 1941, a mobile force, consisting of one company of the Natal Mounted Rifles and the 6th KAR, with light tanks and armoured cars, moved forward towards Dila. Almost to its own surprise, this scouting operation cut off the retreat of the 21st and 24th Italian Divisions, pinning them against the east side of Lake Abaya.[2]
By 1958 Dila was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. The Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia carried out surveys for extending the railway with a 310 km line from Adama to Dila between 1960 and 1963. The government formed a Nazareth-Dilla Railway Development Corporation to support this new branch. Although the French government offered a loan to fund this new branch in 1965, and Yugoslav experts had studied and thought the project would be worthwhile, this project was never carried out.[2]
Outside Dila is Michille hill, where a peasant uprising by the Gedeo people was crushed in 1960. Gedeo elders, invited by Afanegus Eshate Gada to meet him and discuss their grievances with the feudal system they lived under, were ambushed and slaughtered by the army.[3]
On 22 July 1998 there were violent clashes near Dila. The press published conflicting statements about who the parties were and how many had been killed. Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse said that about 140 people were killed and large numbers at least temporarily displaced.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
- ^ a b c "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 26 November 2007)
- ^ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia, second edition (London: James Currey, 2001), p.218; T. Kippie Kanshie, "Five thousand years of sustainability? A case study on Gedeo land use" PhD dissertation (May 2002), p. 29
[edit] External links
| Cities of Ethiopia |
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Adama (Nazret) | Addis Ababa | Adigrat | Adwa | Ambo | Arba Minch | Asella | Awasa | Axum | Bahir Dar | Debre Berhan | Debre Marqos | Debre Tabor | Debre Zeyit | Degehabur | Dembidolo | Dessie | Dila | Dire Dawa | Gambela | Goba | Gode | Gondar | Harar | Irgalem | Jijiga | Jimma | Kebri Dahar | Kombolcha | Mek'ele | Negele Arsi | Negele Boran | Nekemte | Shashamane | Sodo | Weldiya | Wukro | Ziway |
