Mizan Teferi (also called Mizan-Aman or simply Mizan) is the largest town in

South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region The Southwest Ethiopia Region, officially the Southwest Ethiopia Peoples' Regional State () is a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was split off from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) on 23 November 2021 ...

and one of four Capital cities of the region. Mizan is also the administrative centre, of the Bench Sheko Zone in 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 ...

. Located about 160 kilometers southwest of

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrativ ...

, Mizan Tefere has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1451 meters. Mizan Teferi, together with the neighbouring town of Aman, forms a separate

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''. These districts are f ...

called Mizan Aman. This is surrounded by

Debub Bench Debub Bench is one of the woredas in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Bench people. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Debub Bench is bordered on the south by Meinit Shasha, on the west by Guraferda, on the nort ...

woreda.

Overview

Mizan Teferi 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 ...

(

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

code HAMT,

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 ...

MTF) with an unpaved runway. Until 1966, the town was connected by only a dry weather road to

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

; that year the roads to

Bonga Bonga is a town, woreda and one of the multicapital of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region in Ethiopia. Located in the Keffa Zone upon a hill in the upper Barta valley, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,714 meters a ...

and Tepi were improved by the Highway Authority."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 20 February 2008) Further proposed improvements were promised on 13 December 2006, when the Ethiopian government announced that it had secured a loan of US$98 million from the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

to pave the 227 kilometers of highway between Jimma and Mizan Teferi to the southwest. The loan would cover 64% of the 1270.97 million Birr budgeted for this project. By 1996 there was 24-hour electricity, and access to potable water. According to the SNNPR's Bureau of Finance and Economic Development, Mizan Teferi's amenities also include digital telephone access, postal service, and a bank and a hospital. Near the town is the Bebeka

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plantation. It is also the location of two institutions of higher education,

Aman Health Science College Aman may refer to: People First names * Aman Gupta (born 1982), Indian entrepreneur * Aman Hambleton (born 1992), Canadian chess grandmaster * Aman Hayer (born 1979), Bhangra musician * Aman Verma (actor) (born 1971), Indian actor Surnames ...

and

Mizan - Tepi University Mizan () is a concept in the Quran, which has been described as "the principle of the middle path" and "the overarching divine principle for organizing our universe". Azizah Y. al-Hibri argues that ''Mizan'', as the "divine scale", could be trans ...

. Records at the Nordic Africa Institute website provide details of the primary and secondary school in 1968, and a 70-bed hospital built in 1989. During the existence of the

Bench Zone Bench, The Bench, Benched, or Benching may refer to: Furniture *Bench (furniture), a long seat **Memorial bench, a bench commemorating someone who is deceased *Workbench, a table at which manual work is done *Countertop or benchtop Arts * ''The B ...

(created in the mid-1990s) Mizan Teferi was its administrative center.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, woreda of Mizan Aman has a total population of 34,080, of whom 18,138 are men and 15,942 women. The majority of the inhabitants 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 45.97% of the population reporting that belief, 33.8% were

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, 17.71% were

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, and 1.05% practiced traditional beliefs. Census 2007 Tables: Southern Peoples, Nations and Nationalities Region
, Tables 2.1, and 3.4. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 10,652 of whom 5,612 were males and 5,040 were females.

Origins of the name Mizan Teferi

The name Mizan Teferi derives from the Amharic word mizan, meaning scale or weight and reflects the town's history as a trade hub. In the early 20th century, the area served as a point where agricultural produce collected was sold to merchants. Local farmers, believing they were being shortchanged due to inaccurate weights used by buyers, sought intervention from the then-regent of Ethiopia, Lij Teferi Mekonnen. Lij Teferi, who later became Emperor Haile Selassie, responded by sending an official scale to the area to ensure fairness in trade. This scale became a central feature of the trade post, and the site was named Mizan Teferi, combining mizan (scale) with Teferi to indicate the correctness of the scale that was being used. Over time, the trade post grew into a major town, now simply shortened to Mizan.

Notes

https://www.press.et/?p=78500 {{Districts of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region Districts of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region Cities and towns in Ethiopia