I was in the mood for some googling today and wanted to see what Wikipedia had to say about my town of Bonga and Zone of Kafa and Region of SNNPR, (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region) So admittedly, this is straight from Wikipedia but I thought it’d still be interesting to share with you guys a bit of history about my town! Enjoy!
Bonga:
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Bonga |
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Bonga Location within Ethiopia |
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Coordinates: 7°16′N 36°14′E |
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Country |
Ethiopia |
| Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples | |
| Keficho Shekicho | |
| Elevation | 1,714 m (5,623 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
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• Total |
19,664 |
| EAT (UTC+3) | |
Bonga is a town in southwestern Ethiopia. Located southwest of Jimma in the Keficho Shekicho Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region upon a hill in the upper Barta valley, it has a latitude and longitude of 7°16′N 36°14′ECoordinates: 7°16′N 36°14′E with an elevation of 1,714 meters above sea level. Bonga is the administrative center of the Keficho Shekicho Zone, with a major market on Saturday and lesser ones on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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[edit]Overview
The neighboring area is known for hot springs, caves and waterfalls. There are fourteenth century ruins associated with the former Kingdom of Kaffa.[1] As part of the extensive road-building program started before the Italian invasion, the Ethiopian Transport Company built a large steel bridge at Bonga.[2] The all weather road from Jimma south to Bonga was completed around 1962. The road to Mizan Teferi and Tepi was improved in 1966 by the Highway Authority. The Apostolic Prefecture of Jimma–Bonga is based in this town.[3]
According to the SNNPR’s Bureau of Finance and Economic Development, as of 2003 Bonga’s amenities include digital telephone access, postal service, 24-hour electrical service, a bank and a hospital.[4] The high school draws students from a broad area. The city is a center for the buying ofhoney and cardamom.
[edit]History
The first European recorded to have visited the capital of the former Kingdom of Kaffa was Antoine Thomson d’Abbadie, who resided for 11 days in the marketplace reserved for Christian traders in 1843. The royal residence at Bonga was not as elegant as those in Gomma, Gera, and Limmu-Ennarea. Capuchin monks founded a mission there in 1845 and discovered some medieval churches which remained as evidence of the early infiltration of Christian influence before the invasion of the Oromo.[3]
When Paul Soleillet visited Bonga in the 1880s, he described its trade as primarily slaves, coffee, civet cat oil, coriander and ivory, the turnover amounting between 200,000 and 300,000 dollars a year.[5] Following the conquest of Kaffa by the generals of Menelik II in 1897, Bonga was deserted; governor Ras Wolde Giyorgis made neighboring Anderaccha his capital.[3]
Bonga was occupied 13 December 1936 by the Italians under General Malta, who died there the next year on 30 May. He and his successor Colonel Corrado refounded Bonga as a local administrative and commercial center for the production of coffee, hides, wax, maize, tea, etc. By 1938, there were about 3,000 inhabitants in the town, of whom about 200 were Italians, and it was equipped with a post office, telegraph, hospital, pharmacy, and spacci. There were few remains of early constructions, but the new settlement was well built from brick and tufa, covered by clay tiles or corrugated iron. Generals Bortello and Tosti, commanders of the Italian forces south of the Didessa River acknowledged their weak position and along with 2,850 troops on 28 June 1941 surrendered to Lt. Col. McNab of the King’s African Rifles.[3]
Telephone service reached Bonga between 1954 and 1967. Around 1970, there lived in Bonga one Idebe Godo who was the chief priest of a spirit possession cult. The high priesthood was hereditary to the family of the former high priests to the King of Kaffa.
[edit]Demographics
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Bonga has an estimated total population of 19,664 of whom 9,088 are men and 10,576 are women.[6] The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 10,851 of whom 5,032 were men and 5,819 women.
Next up….the zone in which I live: Kafa, which Wikipedia calls Keficho Skekicho Zone for some reason:
Keficho Shekicho Zone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Keficho Shekicho is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). While in their latest population estimates the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) includes it as a single Zone, the list of second administrative level bodies maintained by the United Nations Geographic Information Working Group divides it into two: Kaffa and Sheka.[1] A 1997 Situation Report by the United Nations Development Programme/Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia states that originally Kaffa and Sheka were separate zones, but were combined in early 1996.[2]
Keficho Shekicho is bordered on the south by Debub Omo, on the southwest by Bench Maji, on the west and north by the Oromia Region, and on the east by Semien Omo. The administrative center of Keficho Shekicho is Bonga; other towns include Tepi.
The CSA reported that 10,352 tons of coffee were produced in Keficho Shekicho in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 10.3% of the SNNPR’s output and 4.6% of Ethiopia’s total output.[3]
[edit]Demographics
Based on figures from the CSA, in 2005 this zone has an estimated total population of 1,044,033, of which 514,498 are men and 529,535 women; 101,639 or 9.7% of its population are urban dwellers. With an estimated area of 12,739.25 square kilometers, Keficho Shekicho has an estimated population density of 81.95 people per square kilometer.[4]
In the 1994 Census, Keficho Shekicho had a population of 725,086 in 163,973 households, of whom 357,737 were men and 367,349 women; 56,090 or 7.74% of its population were urban dwellers. The five largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone were the Kafficho (71.77%), the Amhara (6.86%), the Mocha (6.36%), the Bench (5.11%), and the Oromo (4.85%); all other ethnic groups made up 5.05% of the population. Kafa is spoken as a first language by 71.34%, 7.63% speak Amharic, 6.62% Mocha, 5.13% Bench, and 4.55% speak Oromiffa; the remaining 4.73% spoke all other primary languages reported.[5]
According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 2% of the inhabitants of Keficho Shekicho have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 38.4 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers),[6] the average rural household has 0.7 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.89 for the SNNPR)[7] the equivalent of 0.4 heads of livestock. 17.1% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 32%. 72% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 13% in secondary schools. 34% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and 58% to Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 324.[8]
And finally SNNPR, the Region in which I live:
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region)
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Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region |
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— kililoch — |
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Map of Ethiopia showing Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region |
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Country |
Ethiopia | |
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Capital |
Awasa | |
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112,343.19 km2 (43,375.9 sq mi) | |
| Population (2005) | ||
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15,042,531 | |
| • Density | 133.9/km2 (346.8/sq mi) | |
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Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR) is one of the nine ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of the former Regions 7-11 following the 1994 elections.[1] Its capital is Awasa.
The SNNPR borders Kenya to the south, the Ilemi Triangle (a region claimed by Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan) to the southwest, South Sudan to the west, the Ethiopian region of Gambela to the northwest, and the Ethiopian region of Oromia to the north and east. Besides Awasa, the region’s major cities and towns include Arba Minch, Bonga, Chencha, Dila, Irgalem, Mizan Teferi, Sodo, Wendo, and Worabe.
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[edit]Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the SNNPR has an estimated total population of 15,042,531, of whom 7,482,051 were men and 7,560,480 women. 13,496,821 or 89.72% of the population are estimated to be rural inhabitants, while 1,545,710 or 10.28% are urban; this makes the SNNPR Ethiopia’s most rural region. With an estimated area of 112,343.19 square kilometers, this region has an estimated density of 133.9 people per square kilometer. For the entire region 3,087,567 households were counted, which results in an average for the Region of 4.9 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 4.2 and rural households 4.9 people. 55.5% of inhabitants were Protestants, 19.9% Orthodox Christians, 14.1% Muslim, 6.6% followers of traditional religions, 2.4% Roman Catholics and 1.5% all other religious affiliations.[2]
In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the region’s population was reported to be 10,377,028 of whom 5,161,787 were men and 5,215,241 were women. At the time of the census, the rural population of the Region accounted for 93.2% of the total population. Semien Omo, Sidama, and Gurage were the three zones with the highest population. The population is concentrated mostly in eastern, northern and central part of the SNNPR while the western and southern part of the Region is sparsely populated. 34.8% of inhabitants were Protestants, 27.6% Orthodox Christians, 16.7% Muslim, 15.4% followers of traditional religions and 3% Roman Catholics.
The SNNPR Water Resources Bureau announced that as of the fiscal year ending in 2006, they had increased the area of the Region that had access to drinkable water to 54% from 10-15% 15 years ago.[3] In August 2008, the head of public relations for the Bureau, Abdulkerim Nesru, announced that 94 million Birr had been spent to further increase the availability of drinkable water in the Region from 58% in the previous year to 63.6%. Priority was given to certain Zones, such as Sidama, Welayta and Gurage, as well as the Alaba special woreda and several resettlement areas.[4]
Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for the SNNPR as of 2005 include the following: 10.7% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 57% and for women 22.4%; and the Regional infant mortality rate is 85 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is greater than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants’ first month of life.[5]
[edit]Ethnicities
The SNNPR, being an amalgam of the main homelands of numerous ethnicities, contains over 45 indigenous ethnic groups. The 1994 census reported that the predominantly spoken languages includeSidamigna (18%), Guragigna (14.72%), Welayta (11.53%), Hadiyigna (8.53%), Keffigna (5.22%), and Kembatigna (4.35%). Other languages spoken in the State include Gamoigna, Mello, Goffa, andGedeo; because of the relatively few number of speakers of most of the languages in the region, the working language of the state is Amharic (the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia and formerly the only official language).[6]
The ethnicities native to the SNNPR, with percentages of the population as reported in the 2007 national census, include:[2]
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[edit]Agriculture
The CSA reported that for 2004-2005 100,338 tons of coffee were produced in the SNNPR, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 44.2% of the total production in Ethiopia. Farmers in the Region had an estimated total 7,938,490 head of cattle (representing 20.5% of Ethiopia’s total cattle), 3,270,200 sheep (18.8%), 2,289,970 goats (17.6%), 298,720 horses (19.7%), 63,460 mules (43.1%), 278,440 asses (11.1%), 6,586,140 poultry of all species (21.3%), and 726,960 beehives (16.7%).[7]
