Kombolcha (Amharic: ኮምቦልቻ) is a town and district in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 11°5′N 39°44′E / 11.083°N 39.733°E with an elevation between 1842 and 1915 meters above sea level. Some guide books describe Kombolcha as the twin town of Dessie which lies some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to the northwest.
Kombolcha
ኮምቦልቻ | |
|---|---|
City | |
 | |
  Kombolcha Location within Ethiopia  Kombolcha Location within the Horn of Africa  Kombolcha Location within Africa | |
| Coordinates: 11°5′12″N 39°44′12″E / 11.08667°N 39.73667°E | |
| Country |  Ethiopia |
| Region |  Amhara |
| Zone | South Wollo |
| Elevation | 1,842 m (6,043 ft) |
| Population (2007)[1] | |
| • Total | 85,367 |
| • Estimate (2021)[2] | 125,654 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
History
editOrigins
editTadesse Tamrat records that archeologists discovered "some remains of Christian settlements", dated to the late first millennium of the current era.[3]
19th century
editWhen the missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf was led as a prisoner from Adare Bille's capital to the Teledere House in April 1843 he had passed through Kombolcha, which he described as a village near the source of the Borkana River.[4]
20th century
editKombolcha was described during the Italian occupation as having postal and telephone service, a clinic, a general store, a barrack village of the A.A.S.S., as well as other improvements intended for Italians.[5]
The city was used as a base by the United Nations relief organization and other humanitarian groups during the 1984 famine. On 19 November 1989 the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) claimed to have captured Kombolcha. However, the highway from Kombolcha to Assab was not fully brought under TPLF control until the Derg was expelled from Tigray later that year.[5]
21st century
editAn accord was signed between Ethiopia Bazra Motors and Russian company Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant on 30 April 2021, to set up a UAZ cars assembly plant.[6]
During the Tigray War, Tigrayan forces said they had captured the town on 31 October 2021. The Ethiopian government accused the Tigrayan forces of killing 100 youth in the town on 1 November 2021, Tigrayan forces denied the claim.[7] The Ethiopian Government claimed that the TPLF had "ransacked and destroyed Kombolcha's infrastructure" after its capture.[8] Al Jazeera and BBC reported that WFP suspended food distribution in Dessie and Kombolcha due this mass looting of the supplies.[9][10] Most of the construction equipment of the Awash–Weldiya Railway project was looted or destroyed, and part of the infrastructure of the almost-finished railway, such as tunnels and bridges, was damaged. The disruption has thrown several thousand railway workers out of work.[11]
By 6 December 2021, the Ethiopian government announced that Dessie and Kombolcha had been liberated from the TPLF aligned fighters.[12] As of July 2022[update] the railway construction site was used instead as a camp for internally displaced persons.[needs update][13]
Demographics
editBased on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), Kombolcha woreda had a total population of 85,367, of whom 41,968 were male and 43,399 female; 58,667 or 68.72% were urban inhabitants living in town of Kombolcha, the rest of population was living in rural kebeles around Kombolcha. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 73.92% reporting that as their religion, while 23.44% of the population said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and 2.32% were Protestants.[14]
The 1994 national census reported a total population for Kombolcha of 39,466 in 8,643 households, of whom 18,995 were male and 20,471 were female. The three largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the Amhara (91.34%), Tigrayan (5.85%), and the Oromo (1.29%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.52% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 93.02%, 5.2% Tigrinya, and 1.11% spoke Oromiffa; the remaining 0.67% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 57.42% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 41.71% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.[15]
Climate
edit| Climate data for Kombolcha (extremes 1908–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.3 (90.1) |
32.9 (91.2) |
32.3 (90.1) |
32.5 (90.5) |
35.2 (95.4) |
34.5 (94.1) |
35.2 (95.4) |
32.4 (90.3) |
32.3 (90.1) |
29.4 (84.9) |
30.7 (87.3) |
29.0 (84.2) |
35.2 (95.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) |
24.6 (76.3) |
25.4 (77.7) |
26.6 (79.9) |
28.2 (82.8) |
29.9 (85.8) |
27.5 (81.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
25.4 (77.7) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.4 (74.1) |
25.8 (78.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) |
18.4 (65.1) |
19.7 (67.5) |
20.4 (68.7) |
21.7 (71.1) |
23.3 (73.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
20.6 (69.1) |
19.9 (67.8) |
18.4 (65.1) |
17.1 (62.8) |
16.6 (61.9) |
19.6 (67.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) |
10.5 (50.9) |
11.8 (53.2) |
12.6 (54.7) |
12.6 (54.7) |
13.7 (56.7) |
13.3 (55.9) |
12.9 (55.2) |
12.4 (54.3) |
9.8 (49.6) |
8.1 (46.6) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.3 (52.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 0.2 (32.4) |
1.1 (34.0) |
2.8 (37.0) |
5.4 (41.7) |
5.0 (41.0) |
5.1 (41.2) |
4.5 (40.1) |
4.5 (40.1) |
2.0 (35.6) |
0.3 (32.5) |
0.2 (32.4) |
0.0 (32.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 29 (1.1) |
39 (1.5) |
80 (3.1) |
89 (3.5) |
64 (2.5) |
32 (1.3) |
253 (10.0) |
246 (9.7) |
122 (4.8) |
32 (1.3) |
20 (0.8) |
19 (0.7) |
1,027 (40.4) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 3 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 101 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 58 | 56 | 62 | 58 | 46 | 35 | 56 | 64 | 62 | 61 | 56 | 57 | 56 |
| Source 1: Deutscher Wetterdienst[17] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[18] | |||||||||||||
Economy
editTransportation
editKombolcha is connected with Dessie through Ethiopian Highway 2. This city shares Kombolcha Airport with neighboring Dessie. A station on the Awash–Weldiya Railway is under construction. In 2013 a dry port was established near the city with handling capacity for 1888 TEU containers at a time.[19] The dry port is owned and operated by the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Authority.
Industry
editKombolcha is also home to Kombolcha Steel products, a metalworking factory that is part of MIDROC, a conglomerate owned by businessman Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi.[20] Another industry in this town is the Kombolcha Textile Factory (KTF), which announced 9 March 2009 that it was beginning a 190 million Birr modernization project to improve the quality of its projects. At the time of the announcement, the KTF exported its goods to Italy, Sweden, Belgium, and China.[21]
The $90 million Kombolcha Industrial Park was inaugurated by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and has attracted companies from the US, South Korea, and Italy.[22]
Education
editWollo University and Kombolcha Institute of Technology offer courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.[citation needed]
Notes
edit- ^ "Population and Housing Census 2007 – Amhara Statistical" (PDF). Ethiopian Statistical Agency. 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ "Population Projection Towns as of July 2021" (PDF). Ethiopian Statistics Agency. 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 37 n. 4
- ^ Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf, Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, Detailing their proceedings in the kingdom of Shoa, and journeys in other parts of Abyssinia, in the years 1839, 1840, 1841 and 1842, (London, 1843), p. 390
- ^ a b "Local History of Ethiopia" The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 22 April 2022)
- ^ "Ethiopian, Russian firms agree to establish vehicle assembly plant in Kombolcha town".
- ^ "Ethiopia says Tigray forces killed 100 youths in key town; TPLF denies claim". CNN. Reuters. November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
- ^ "TPLF "ransacked and destroyed Kombolcha's infrastructure"". Ethiopia Observer. 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Ethiopia war: UN halts food aid in two towns after warehouses looted". BBC News. 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ "UN halts food aid in two Ethiopia towns after looting". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ Pawlos Belete (8 October 2021). "Terrorist TPLF Destroys Awash-Kombolcha-Hara Gebeya Railway Project". Walta. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "Ethiopian government says it recaptured key towns from Tigrayan rebels". 6 December 2021.
- ^ Samuel Getachew (7 July 2022). "Ethiopia's civil war has doused hopes of prosperity under Abiy Ahmed's government". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Census 2007 Tables: Amhara Region Archived November 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4.
- ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Amhara Region, Vol. 1, part 1 Archived November 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.10, 2.13, 2.17, Annex II.2 (accessed 9 April 2009)
- ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Amhara Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.10, 2.13, 2.17, Annex II.2 (Retrieved 29 May 2022)
- ^ "Klimatafel von Combolcha (Kombolcha), Provinz Wollo (Welo) / Äthiopien" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Station Combolcha" (in French). Météo Climat. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "ESLSE Website". www.eslse.et. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ "Kombolcha Steel Industry Goes into Production" (Addis Tribune, last accessed 26 October 2007)
- ^ "Factory executing 190 mln birr modernizing project", Walta Information Center (accessed 13 March 2009)
- ^ "Kombolcha industrial park inaugurated". Ethiopian Investment Commission.