Asella (, ) is a town in central

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Located in the

Arsi Zone Arsi () is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo people, Oromo, who inhabit in the area. Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by Ea ...

of the

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

south from

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, this town has a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation of 2,430 meters. Asella hosts an Asella Airport (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

code ALK). Asalla was the capital of

Arsi Province Arsi Province (Amharic: አርሲ) was a province of Ethiopian Empire with its capital at Asella. Historically a part of the Emirate of Harar until its invasion by Menelik and subsequent incorporation into modern Ethiopia. The province was reduc ...

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.

History

Asalla town got its start before the

Second Italian-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Italy against Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Ital ...

. 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 The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

captured Asella on 10 April 1941, after pursuing General De Simone south from

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...

and forcing their way past the

Awash River } The Awash River (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo language, Oromo: ''Awaash OR Hawaas'', Amharic: ዐዋሽ, Afar language, Afar: ''Hawaash We'ayot'', Somali language, Somali: ''Webiga Dir'', Italian language, Italian: ''Auasc'') is a major river ...

and a dug-in Italian position. Brigade headquarters were afterwards set up in the town."Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 7 December 2007) 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 Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

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. Asella has been the home of many long-distance runners, including

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie (; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former Long-distance running, long-distance track running, track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Athletics Championships, World Cha ...

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba (, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 October 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold meda ...

, and

Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu NL COL (, Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; born 21 March 1972) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. Derartu is the first Ethiopian ...

. The Arsi University was established in Asella in 2015.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for Asella of 67,269, of whom 33,826 were male and 33,443 were female. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

, with 67.42% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 22.59% of the population were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and 8.75%% of the population were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

.''2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region'', Vol. 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.5, 3.4 (accessed 13 January 2012) The official estimate of population for mid 2022 produced a total of 139,537 inhabitants, of whom 69,459 were male and 70,078 were female.Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (web), 2022: https://www.statsethiopia.gov.et/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Population-Size-by-Sex-Zone-and-Wereda-July-2022.pdf 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.

Climate

In the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, Asella is categorised as having a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(Cwb). Monthly temperature variation is low, due to its elevation and closeness to the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

. The seasons are only distinguished by the intensity of

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

, which is highest in August and lowest in December.

Notable people

* Zemzem Ahmed (Runner) *

Mohammed Aman Mohammed Aman Geleto (Amharic: መሀመድ አማን; born 10 January 1994) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. Born in Asella, he is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in M ...

(Runner) * Sisay Bezabeh (Runner) *

Abreham Cherkos Abreham Cherkos Feleke (Amharic: አብረሃም ቸርቆስ ፈለቀ; born 23 September 1989) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. A former track specialist, he now competes in road running events including the marathon. He was ...

(Runner) *

(Runner) * Lamecha Girma (Runner) * Andualem Negusse (Footballer)

Media organizations

* FBC, Fana Broadcasting Corporation S.C., Radio Station at Asella Fana FM 90.0

Notes

{{Authority control Populated places in the Oromia Cities and towns in Ethiopia