Jimma Arjo

Jimma Arjo is one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It shares the name of one of the subgroups of the Oromo people, the Jimma Arjo. Part of the Misraq Welega Zone, Jimma Arjo is bordered on the southwest by the Didessa River which separates it from the Illubabor Zone, on the northwest by Diga Leka, on the northeast by Guto Wayu, and on the southeast by Nunu Kumba. The administrative center of this woreda is Arjo.

Overview

Except for the Didessa River valley, this woreda is considered highland. Other rivers include the Chancho and Horo Rivers. Local landmarks include the Gambela Cave. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 59.8% is arable or cultivable, 9.6% pasture, 8.4% forest, and the remaining 22.2% is considered swampy, mountainous or otherwise unusable.Coffee is an important cash crop of this woreda, and over 50 square kilometers are planted in this crop.

Industry in the woreda includes 27 grain mills. There were 13 Farmers Associations with 10,567 members and 9 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 7634 members. Jimma Arjo has 8 kilometers of dry weather road and 30 all-weather road, for an average of road density of 51.2 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 17.5% of the total population has access to drinking water.

Jimma

Jimma (Oromo: Jimma, Amharic: ጅማ^?), also spelled Jima, is the largest city in south-western Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of 7°40′N 36°50′E / 7.667°N 36.833°E / 7.667; 36.833. The town was the capital of Kaffa Province until the province was dissolved. Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administratively as a special Zone.

Herbert S. Lewis states that in the early 1960s it was "the greatest market in all of south-western Ethiopia. On a good day in the dry season it attracts up to thirty thousand people."

History

What is now Jimma's northern suburb of Jiren was the capital of a large Oromo kingdom until the late 19th century. Originally named Hirmata, the city owed its importance in the 19th century to being located on the caravan route between Shewa and the Kingdom of Kaffa, as well as being only six miles from the palace of the king of Jimma.

According to Donald Levine, in the early 19th century the market attracted thousands of people from neighboring regions: "Amhara from Gojjam and Shoa, Oromo from all the Gibe Kingdoms and numerous representatives of the Lacustrine and Omotic groups, including Timbaro, Qabena, Kefa, Janjero, Welamo, Konta and several others".