Chinaksen ( om, Cinaaksan, lit. "near the hole") is a town located in Chinaksen woreda,

East Hararghe Zone East Hararghe ( om, Harargee Bahaa) is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Hararghe Zone is bordered on the southwest by Bale, on the west by West Hararghe Zone, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somali Region. ...

of the eastern

Oromia Region 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 ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. This city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1816 meters above sea level. Chinaksan is a historical settlement with stone walls built at the foot of an oval hill; on the hill are ruins of fortifications of Adalite origins during the

Adal Sultanate The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din ...

period. The writer

Nega Mezlekia Nega Mezlekia (Amharic: ነጋ መዝለቂያ; born 1958) is an Ethiopian writer who writes in English. His first language is the Amharic language, but since the 1980s he has lived in Canada so speaks and writes in English. Nega was born in Jijig ...

, an Amhara from Jijiga who had joined the

Western Somali Liberation Movement Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, relates how he participated in an attack on a

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

military training camp in Chinaksen. No prisoners were taken in the attack; those who surrendered were shot dead."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 1 March 2009) Early in 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 ...

, Chinaksen was captured by Somali units as they advanced on Dire Dawa; it was recaptured by Ethiopian units between 5 and 9 February 1978. In late January 2009, the

Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation Ethiopian Electric Power () is an Ethiopian electrical power industry and state-owned electric producer. It is engaged in development, investment, construction, operation, and management of power plants, power generation and power transmission. Th ...

completed a electric power line from

Jijiga 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 ...

to Chinhahsan, while constructing six power distributors in the town. This provided 24-hour electric service to Chinhahsan for the first time.

Demographics

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, Chinaksen had an estimated total population of 11,558 of whom 5,981 are men and 5,577 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 According to the 1994 national census this city had a population of 56,821 people. This town is one of the two largest settlements in

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''. These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...

. The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 7,753 of whom 3,951 were men and 3,802 women. The three largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the Oromo (64.72%), Somali (20.59%), and the Amhara (10.8%); all other ethnic groups made up

References

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