Shakiso
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Shakiso is a town in
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 ...
. Located in the Guji 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 of 1758 meters above sea level. Two of the major mines of Ethiopia are located near Shakiso: the Lega Dembi
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
and the Kenticha
tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ta and atomic number 73. It is named after Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductility, ductile, lustre (mineralogy), lustrous, blue-gray transition ...
mines. The
Lega Dembi Mine The Lega Dembi Mine is the largest gold mine in Ethiopia and is near Shakiso in Oromia Region. Lega Dembi has a yearly production of around 4,500 kg of gold and silver, and is owned by MIDROC. Pollution from the mine has resulted in environ ...
was acquired by MIDROC gold, which between 1998 and 2008 extracted 34 metric tons from the mines, earning 466 million dollars. However, MIDROC has announced in 2009 that the deposits at Lega Dembi are almost exhausted. Shakiso 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 HASK,
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 ...
SKR).


History

The Swedish
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
report encountering a customs post at Shakiso when moving at the southern front in early 1936. There were two substantial waterholes there, although the water was somewhat salty. The customs staff had four small buildings on the top of a hill near the main road. Their primary task was to collect salt tax from caravans, which amounted to ten or eleven
Maria Theresa Thaler The Maria Theresa thaler (MTT) is a silver bullion coin and a type of Conventionsthaler that has been used in world trade continuously since it was first minted in 1741. It is named after Maria Theresa who ruled Austria, Hungary, Croatia and ...
s per month 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 ...
. Following the savage suppression of their revolt in 1960, numerous members of the
Gedeo people The Gedeo are an ethnic group in southern Ethiopia. The Gedeo Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR) is named for this people. They speak the Gedeo language, which is one of the Cushitic languages. Overview ...
were forcibly evicted from their homes, and over the following years some migrated to Shakiso to settle. However, the unrest of the early years of the
Ethiopian Revolution The Ethiopian Revolution () was a period of civil, police and military upheaval in Ethiopia to protest against the weakened Haile Selassie government. It is generally thought to have begun on 12 January 1974 when Ethiopian soldiers began a rebel ...
forced many of these migrants to leave Shakiso for their homeland.
Tahir Shah Tahir Shah (, ; ''né'' Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد طاهر الهاشمي); born 16 November 1966) is a British author, journalist and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. Family Tahir Shah was born into the '' saadat'' ...
describes Shakiso in his 2002 book, ''In Search of King Solomon's Mines'', as "a frontier town" which isn't mentioned in travel books "nor was it on my map." The main street featured shops "selling Western contraband—Walkmans and televisions, Swiss Army knives,
Russian vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is made by distilling ...
, lacy underwear, Marlboro cigarettes and CDs." These goods were offered to miners with ample disposable income from working both the official gold mine at Lega Dembi, as well as countless illegal gold mines in the Adola greenstone belt. Land clashes in June 2006 between the rival Guji and
Borena Oromo The Boorana (also known as Borana) are one of the two major subgroups of the Oromo people. A Cushitic ethnic group, they primarily inhabit the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia and the former Eastern Province in northern Kenya, speci ...
clans left about 100 people dead in and around the towns of Shakiso,
Arero Arero is a woreda in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Borena Zone, Arero is bordered on the southwest by Dire, on the west by Yabelo, on the north by Bule Hora, on the northeast by the Guji Zone, on the east by the Somali Region, and on the ...
and
Yabelo Yabelo () is a town in southern Ethiopia. An alternative name for this town is Obda, which is also the name of a nearby mountain.Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...
, more than 20,000 people had fled from the environs of Shakiso. By March, 2009,
drinkable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also called ...
projects with a budget of 38 million Birr were underway at Shakiso and Adola Wayou, which were expected to benefit 72,000 residents.


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, Shakiso has an estimated total population of 28,260, of whom 15,463 are men and 12,797 are women. It is the larger of the two towns in Odo Shakiso
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 ...
. The 1994 census reported Wacca had a total population of 15,757 of whom 8,386 were men and 7,371 were women. The five largest ethnic groups reported for this town were the
Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...
(43.52%), the Amhara (33.33%), the Soddo
Gurage Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mounta ...
(4.12%), the Gedeo (3.95%), and the Welayta (3.62%); all other ethnic groups made up 11.46% of the population.
Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
is spoken as a first language by 63.61%, 25.72%
Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...
, and 2.86% spoke Gedeo; the remaining 7.81% spoke all other primary languages reported.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromiya Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
Tables 2.5, 2.13, 2.17 (accessed 30 December 2008).


Notes

{{reflist, 30em Populated places in the Oromia