Kele, Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
Kele is a town in southern Ethiopia
, and is the administrative center of the Amaro special
woreda
. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region southeast of Lake Abaya
, this town has a latitude and longitude of 06°05′N 38°02′E with an altitude of 1424 meters above sea level. The name of this town, "Kele", comes from the Oromo
word for the gate in a thorn hedge; the concept of kela as a customs post on the border of a province was taken over by the Oromo invaders from the Sidama people
s who previously dominated southern Ethiopia.
Kele is located 202 km south of Awassa and 474 km south of Addis Ababa, 60 kilometers west from the main Awassa-Moyale highway. The infrastructure of the town is poor. There is a semi-automatic telephone service, tap water, and a sub-postal office. Currently Kele is connected to the main Koka hydroelectric power line and now gets 24 hours of electricity service. Kele has few local hotels, restaurants, shops, one health center, and a couple of private rural drug stores.
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency
in 2005, Kele has an estimated total population of 5,542 of whom 2,827 are men and 2,715 are women. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 1,900 of whom 822 were men and 1,078 were women.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, and is the administrative center of the Amaro special
Amaro special woreda
Amaro is one of the 79 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. Because Amaro is not part of any Zone in the SNNPR, it is considered a special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area...
woreda
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region southeast of Lake Abaya
Lake Abaya
Lake Abaya is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. It was named Lake Margherita by the Italian explorer Vittorio Bottego, the first European commonly thought to visit the lake, to honor the wife of king Umberto I of Italy, Queen Margherita...
, this town has a latitude and longitude of 06°05′N 38°02′E with an altitude of 1424 meters above sea level. The name of this town, "Kele", comes from the Oromo
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
word for the gate in a thorn hedge; the concept of kela as a customs post on the border of a province was taken over by the Oromo invaders from the Sidama people
Sidama people
The Sidama people of southern Ethiopia are an ethnic group whose homeland is in the Sidama Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. They number 2,966,474 of whom 149,480 are urban inhabitants, the fifth most populous nation in Ethiopia...
s who previously dominated southern Ethiopia.
Kele is located 202 km south of Awassa and 474 km south of Addis Ababa, 60 kilometers west from the main Awassa-Moyale highway. The infrastructure of the town is poor. There is a semi-automatic telephone service, tap water, and a sub-postal office. Currently Kele is connected to the main Koka hydroelectric power line and now gets 24 hours of electricity service. Kele has few local hotels, restaurants, shops, one health center, and a couple of private rural drug stores.
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency
Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...
in 2005, Kele has an estimated total population of 5,542 of whom 2,827 are men and 2,715 are women. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 1,900 of whom 822 were men and 1,078 were women.