Ginir (also transliterated Ghinnir) is a town in southeastern

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 ...

. Located in the

East Bale Zone East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

of the

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 ...

, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation between 1750 and 1986 meters above sea level. Ginir is the administrative center of

Ginir Ginir (also transliterated Ghinnir) is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the East Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation between 1750 and 1986 meters above sea level. Ginir is the ...

district and

. It is served by an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

History

In the 19th century, Ginir was the major commercial center southwest of the Awash River. Not only was it where

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

was sold to traders who then supplied the districts south of

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian language, Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous monarchy, kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The ...

, but it was the beginning of a trade route that reached south to

Luuq Luuq ( so, Luuq, ar, لوق) is a town in the southwestern Gedo province of Somalia. It is one of the older settlements in the area. It is the seat of the Luuq District. The town is located in a bend of the Juba River, where the watercourse flows ...

(in modern-day

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

) and beyond to Bardera. When the American Arthur Donaldson Smith was exploring the upper reaches of the Shebelle River in October 1894, he found that the local Ethiopian governor,

Ras Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

Wolde Guebre, had made Ginir his headquarters and had installed a garrison of about 200 men. A post route by mule from

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

to Ginir existed in 1904, one of the few places in southern Ethiopia with that kind of service at that time. A post office was opened within the period 1923-1932; a postal cancellation is known from 1928. Despite this early economic activity, when C.W. Gwynn visited Ginir in 1908 it had declined since Donaldson Smith's time: "It should be a considerable market for salt, obtained in the district between the Wabi and

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

, and also for ivory; but it had been used of recent years as a jumping-off place for raids against the

Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...

, and traders were afraid to venture there. The main traffic is the lucrative, though illicit, trade in arms." During the previous year, governor Dejazmach Lul Seged had clashed with the Italian garrison at Luuq and two Italian officers were killed; at the Italian government's insistence the Dejazmach had been removed from his post, but his retinue "looted the neighbourhood, and the garrison established by the new governor extorted what little was left for their immediate wants."

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, this town has an estimated total population of 21,585, of whom 10,849 are men and 10,736 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 12,068 of whom 5,884 were men and 6,184 were women.

Notes

{{Authority control Populated places in the Oromia Region