Babile ( om, Baabbile; am, ባቢሌ) is a town located in East Hararghe,

Oromia Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...

. It is inhabited mostly by Oromo peoples. The town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1648 meters above sea level. It's the administrative center of Babille woreda. Babille woreda is located 700 90' North Latitude and 430 00' East Longitude. It shares boundary with other woredas of the Somali region and Fadis Woreda of Oromia regional state. The total size of the Woreda is about 1,325 km2. It is divided into 17 kebeles and 42 sub-kebeles. The average temperature is 26.5 Celsius with uneven rainfall distribution. Babille is known for its hot springs, mineral water and elephant sanctuary. Often, the inhabitants come into conflicts with the neighboring Somali communities over the control of the sanctuary.

Overview

Located on the main road between Harar and

Jigjiga Jijiga (, am, ጅጅጋ, ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 70 km (37 mi) west of the border ...

, Babille is reported to have had telephone service by 1967."Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 20 January 2008) Babille is known for its

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. Tra ...

and the

Babille Elephant Sanctuary The Babile Elephant Sanctuary is a protected area and wildlife sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia. It is located in Babille district, East Hararghe Zone of Oromia Region, which lies 560 km east of Addis Ababa and 40 km south of Harar. Geography ...

. The Dakhata Valley (also called the "Valley of Marvels"), known for its

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

s and

birdlife BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

, lies seven kilometers from the town. Also nearby is the

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

known as the

Babille Gap Babille may refer to: * Babille, Ethiopia, a town in eastern Ethiopia * Babille, Oromia (woreda), a woreda in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia * Babille, Somali (woreda), a woreda in the Somali Region of Ethiopia * E. J. Babille (1883–1970), Amer ...

, which has been used at least twice as a strongpoint held against invaders: once by the Italians in 1941 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and later by the Ethiopian army in 1977 during the

Ogaden War The Ogaden War, or the Ethio-Somali War (, am, የኢትዮጵያ ሶማሊያ ጦርነት, ye’ītiyop’iya somalīya t’orineti), was a military conflict fought between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 over the Ethiopi ...

against the Somali army.

Demographics

The total population of the woreda is about 92,702 of whom 50,059 are males and 42,643 are females with average household size of 7.5 persons. The people are dominantly agro-pastoral with 70% of the total population living on this mode of life. Of the remaining population, 15% are agricultural, 10% are pastoral, and 5% petty traders. Maize and sorghum are staple crops and livestock includes cattle, goats, sheep, and camels. Based on figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) 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 ...

in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 16,454 of whom 8,386 are men and 8,068 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 9,195 of whom 4,548 were men and 4,647 were women. It is the largest town in Babile Woreda.

References

Cities and towns in Oromia Region {{Oromia-geo-stub