Yirgalem (, ''Yïrgaläm'') locally known as Diko Dalle is a town in southern

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 ...

. Surrounded by Lakes Woyima and Gidawo, it is located 260 kilometers south of

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 ...

and 40 kilometers south of Hawassa in the

Sidama Region The Sidama Region (Sidama language, Sidama: ; ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in southern Ethiopia. It was formed on 18 June 2020 from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and transformation of the Sidama ...

. The town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1776 meters. It is the largest settlement in Dale woreda. Postal service is provided by a main branch; electricity and telephone service are also available.

History

Yirgalem was occupied by the Italians 1 December 1936 during their campaign against the remaining Ethiopian Army of Sidamo under Ras

Desta Damtew ''Ras'' Desta Damtew KBE (Amharic: ደስታ ዳምጠው; ''c.'' 1892 – 24 February 1937) was an Ethiopian noble, army commander and a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie I. He is known for his leadership in the Ethiopian Army during the ...

. The town was capital of

Sidamo Province Sidamo Province (Amharic: ሲዳሞ) was a province in the southern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Irgalem, and after 1978 at Awasa. It was named after an ethnic group native to southern Ethiopia, called the Sidama, who are located ...

until after the 1975 takeover by the Derge regime, when it was moved to Awassa. Around 1957 there was no telephone landline connecting Irgalem; telecommunications were provided by a radio station. The next year, the town was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. Installation of the landline between Irgalem and

was completed in late 1960. By that time a branch of the Ethiopian Electric Light and Power Authority

had started operation at Irgalem."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 24 May 2012) The Mekane Yesus Church held its Eighth General Assembly at Irgalem in 1973. The Assembly passed a resolution requesting

land reform in Ethiopia The problem of land reform in Ethiopia has hampered that country's economic development throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. Attempts to modernize land ownership by giving title either to the peasants who till the soil, or to large-scale f ...

- a reform which was in fact put into action a couple of years later, as a result 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 ...

. A large integrated agro-industrial park is being built in the town and construction began on March 14. The park is expected to create 134,000 jobs for the region.

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 ...

of Ethiopia published in 2005, Yirgalem has an estimated total population of 43,815 of whom 21,840 are men and 21,975 women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
Table B.4. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 24,183 of whom 12,092 were men and 12,091 were women.

Climate

Notes

{{Cities of Ethiopia Populated places in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region Cities and towns in Ethiopia