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Ginir (also transliterated Ghinnir) is a town in southeastern
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 East Bale Zone 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 ...
, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation between 1750 and 1986 meters above sea level. Ginir is the administrative center of Ginir district and
Bale Zone Bale Zone (Oromo language, Oromo: Godina ''Baalee'') is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Bale is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Guji Zone, on the west by the Shashamane, on the nort ...
. It is served by an
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
.


History

In the 19th century, Ginir was the major commercial center southwest of 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 ...
. Not only was it where
salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
was sold to traders who then supplied the districts south of
Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...
, but it was the beginning of a trade route that reached south to
Luuq Luuq (, , ) is a city in the southwestern Gedo province of Somalia. It is one of the older settlements in the area. It is the seat of the Luuq District. The town is located in a bend of the Ganana River, where the watercourse flows down from n ...
(in modern-day
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
) and beyond to
Bardera Bardere (, , ) also known as Bardera, is a city in Jubaland State of Somalia. It is the second most populous city in Jubaland with Kismayo being the largest and most densely populated city in the region. Bardere sits on the Jubba River around 250& ...
. When the American
Arthur Donaldson Smith Arthur Donaldson Smith (April 27, 1866–February 19, 1939) was an American explorer of East Africa. In 1894 and 1895, he led an expedition to Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana) and collected botanical, geological and zoological samples for scientifi ...
was exploring the upper reaches of the
Shebelle River The Shebelle River ( Oromo: Laga Shabeellee, , , ) also known historically as the Nile of Mogadishu, begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where ...
in October 1894, he found that the local Ethiopian governor, Ras Wolde Guebre, had made Ginir his headquarters and had installed a garrison of about 200 men. A post route by mule 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 ...
to Ginir existed in 1904, one of the few places in southern Ethiopia with that kind of service at that time. A post office was opened within the period 1923-1932; a postal cancellation is known from 1928. Despite this early economic activity, when C.W. Gwynn visited Ginir in 1908 it had declined since Donaldson Smith's time: "It should be a considerable market for salt, obtained in the district between the Wabi and
Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
, and also for ivory; but it had been used of recent years as a jumping-off place for raids against the
Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; , ) is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region. It is also natively referred to as Soomaali Galbeed (). The region forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia ...
, and traders were afraid to venture there. The main traffic is the lucrative, though illicit, trade in arms." During the previous year, governor
Dejazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( , modern transcription , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper ...
Lul Seged had clashed with the Italian garrison at Luuq and two Italian officers were killed; at the Italian government's insistence the Dejazmach had been removed from his post, but his retinue "looted the neighbourhood, and the garrison established by the new governor extorted what little was left for their immediate wants."


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, this town has an estimated total population of 21,585, of whom 10,849 are men and 10,736 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 12,068 of whom 5,884 were men and 6,184 were women.


Notes

{{Authority control Populated places in the Oromia