Dolo, Ethiopia

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Dolo is a town in southeastern Ethiopia, within 30 kilometers of the Ethiopia-Somalia border. Located in the Liben Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 04°10′N, 42°04′E. The Mena River flows to the northeast.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 30,970, of whom 16,572 were males and 14,398 were females.^[1] It is the largest settlement in Dolo Odo woreda.

[edit] History

One of the earliest recorded mentions of Dolo was during Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis's campaign against the Borana, when he reached as far as Dolo in 1896-1897 and founded military garrisons in the region.^[2] Dolo was one of the markets on the trade route that stretched from Bardera through Luuq (in modern-day Somalia) to Ginir.^[3]

Marshal Rodolfo Graziani started his attack in the Second Italian-Abyssinian War on 4 October 1935 and soon occupied Dolo. he began his major large attack northwards on 10 January 1936.^[2] In March 1941, the 1st Battalion, Gold Coast Regiment caught the 20th Brigade of the Italian 101st Division at Dolo; its commander, staff and 3,000 men surrendered after negligible resistance.^[4]

Dolo was one of several border points in the Ogaden where heavy fighting between Somalia and Ethiopia occurred during the first three months of 1964. On December 1972 Tenneco Oil Co. discovered a natural gas deposit yielding 35 cubic feet of gas a day at Dolo. This led to the border area between Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya being considered "politically hot".^[2]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 28 November 2007)
3. ^ Pankhurst, Richard K. P. (1968). Economic History of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University. 
4. ^ Mockler, Anthony [1984] (2003). Haile Selassie's War. New York: Olive Branch. ISBN 1-56656-473-5.