Asella

Asella (Oromo: Asallaa, Amharic: አሰላ) also Asallaa is a town Located in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region about 159 kilometers from Addis Ababa, this city has a latitude and longitude of 7°57′N 39°7′E, with an elevation of 2,430 meters. Asalla hosts an airport (IATA code ALK). Asalla was the capital of Arsi Province until that province was demoted to a Zone of Oromia with the adoption of the 1995 Constitution. It retains some administrative functions as the seat of the present Arsi Zone.

For the person, see Saint Asella.
Asella

Asallaa (in Oromo)
Asella
Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 7°57′N 39°7′E
CountryEthiopia
RegionOromia
ZoneArsi
Elevation
2,430 m (7,970 ft)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total110,088
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
ClimateCwb

The 2007 national census reported a total population for Asella of 67,269, of whom 33,826 were men and 33,443 were women. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 72.43% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 22.59% of the population were Muslim, and 9.75% of the population were Protestant.[1]

The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 47,391 of whom 21,993 were males and 25,398 were females.

History

Asalla town got its start before the Second Italian-Abyssinian War. The Italian occupiers wanted to make Asela into a provincial capital, but they were unable to build more than one two-story building and some warehouses of masonry. The 6th brigade and two companies of the 5th brigade of the King's African Rifles captured Asella on 10 April 1941, after pursuing General De Simone south from Dire Dawa and forcing their way past the Awash River and a dug-in Italian position. Brigade headquarters were afterwards set up in the town.[2]

In 1946 a Swedish Mission laid the foundations for a hospital and a school in Asella, which was ordered closed in 1966 when a government hospital was built. The town was subjected to a serious epidemic of dysentery during 1953, and a locust invasion in April 1961. In 1957 Asella was the southern end of the national telephone network, and by 1960 Asella had one of the ten municipal slaughter houses in Ethiopia; further, that year a branch of the Ethiopian Electric Light and Power Authority had begun operation in the town.[2]

Asella has been the home of many Oromian long-distance runners, including Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba, and Derartu Tulu. The Arsi University was established in Asella in 2015.[3]

Climate

In the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, Asella is categorised as having a subtropical highland climate (Cwb).[4] Monthly temperature variation is low, due to its elevation and closeness to the equator. The seasons are only distinguished by the intensity of rain, which is highest in August and lowest in December.

Climate data for Asella
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 22.0
(71.6)		 22.6
(72.7)		 23.3
(73.9)		 23.3
(73.9)		 23.1
(73.6)		 21.7
(71.1)		 19.7
(67.5)		 19.6
(67.3)		 19.9
(67.8)		 21.5
(70.7)		 21.2
(70.2)		 21.4
(70.5)		 21.6
(70.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14.2
(57.6)		 15.0
(59.0)		 16.1
(61.0)		 16.6
(61.9)		 16.5
(61.7)		 15.7
(60.3)		 14.7
(58.5)		 14.7
(58.5)		 14.7
(58.5)		 15.1
(59.2)		 14.1
(57.4)		 13.5
(56.3)		 15.1
(59.2)
Average low °C (°F) 6.4
(43.5)		 7.5
(45.5)		 8.9
(48.0)		 10.0
(50.0)		 10.0
(50.0)		 9.7
(49.5)		 9.8
(49.6)		 9.8
(49.6)		 9.5
(49.1)		 8.7
(47.7)		 7.0
(44.6)		 5.7
(42.3)		 8.6
(47.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 27
(1.1)		 57
(2.2)		 93
(3.7)		 105
(4.1)		 110
(4.3)		 123
(4.8)		 195
(7.7)		 205
(8.1)		 151
(5.9)		 54
(2.1)		 18
(0.7)		 9
(0.4)		 1,147
(45.1)
Source: Climate-Data.org, altitude: 2425m[4]

Notable people

Arts and Media

Notes


  1. 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1 Archived November 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Tables 2.1, 2.5, 3.4 (accessed 13 January 2012)
  2. "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 7 December 2007)
  3. "History of Arsi University". www.arsiuniversity.com. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  4. "Climate: Asella - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
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