Funyan Bira () is a town in

East Hararghe Zone East Hararghe () is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Hararghe Zone is bordered on the southwest by Bale Zone, Bale, on the west by West Hararghe Zone, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somal ...

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 ...

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 ...

, on a high plateau at the southern base of Mount Kondudo, which gives the town a climate similar to

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

. It is the administrative center of Gursum District Fugnan Bira has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1980 and 2049 meters above sea level.

History

In the early 1930s, at Funyan Bira was an agency of Said Bazarah, an export-import firm founded in 1887. During a period of unrest in the area around May 1942, Funyan Bira was also pillaged and burnt. The market was sacked next year during fighting between the

Jaarso The Jaarso, Giarso or Jarso (, , ) is northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family They largely live in Ethiopia, in the Oromo Region and the Somali Region, especially in and around the cities of Chinaksen, Harar and Jigjiga ...

sub-clan of the Oromo and Ethiopian government troops.

Overview

The town and its vicinity has suffered from

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

over the last 30 years. The approximately 9,000 hectares of quasi pristine forest on Mount Medero were reduced to a few remnant patches over a period of just five years from 1992 to 1993. With no active intervention most of its poorer residents will face unprecedented challenges in meeting their basic requirements. The recent recovery of one of just two

feral horse A feral horse is a free-roaming horse of domesticated stock. As such, a feral horse is not a wild animal in the sense of an animal without domesticated ancestors. However, some populations of feral horses are managed as wildlife, and thes ...

population in Africa on Mt.

Kundudo Kundudo (also spelt as Kondudo or Qundudo) is a flat-top mountain (or '' amba'') in the Misraq Hararghe Zone of the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Part of the range that bears its name, its summit lies east of the walled city of Harar, with a hei ...

and, possibly the publication of the findings of a set of Italian missions in the area, the last of which (published November 2008) evaluates the significance of rock paintings on Mount Stinico, the "nose" overlooking the town, and proposes tourism as a possible source of revenue in the area. The same research-action team, led by Prof. M. Viganò is proposing a series of reafforestations. The

Oromo language Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia; and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia an ...

''Funyaan Bira'' means ''near a nose'', referring to the town's proximity to the last part of a mountain chain. The town has also variously been known as (or spelled) Fugnanbira, Fiambiro, Flambiro, Fiyambiro, Funyambira, Finianbira, Fugnan Hujuba, Fugnan Ugiuba, Funyan Jeba, F. Jebe, Borsom, and Funyaabirra.

Demographics

Based on figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...

in 2005, Funyan Bira has an estimated total population of 15,478 of whom 7,676 are men and 7,802 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 8,657 of whom 4,163 were men and 4,494 women. Muuse celi subclan of the Celiarab the

Arap The Arap or Arab (, , Full Name: ''Muḥammad ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad bin al-Ḥusayn al-Hāshimīy'') clan is a major Northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq clan family. The Arap predominantly live on the middle and southwest side ...

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Oromia