Gimbi is a town in western

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 Benis ...

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

West Welega Zone West Welega Zone ( om, Wallagga Lixaa) is a zone in the western part of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. This zone is named after the former province of Welega, whose western part lay in the area West Welega now occupies. West Wellega is bordered on the ...

, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1845 and 1930 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Gimbi

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 ...

. Gimbi has had telephone service from some point between 1954 and 1967. Iron had traditionally been produced in the area. A

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n team of specialists investigated the deposits in the mid-1980s."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 15 February 2008)

History

Ethiopian Orthodox The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

church was built in Gimbi around 1895. By the 1930s, Gimbi was one of the most important markets of

Welega Province Welega (also spelled Wollega; ; am, ወለጋ) was a province in western Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Wollega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries. Welega was bordered on the ...

and a meeting point of roads. The extension of the main road to

Nekemte Nekemte, also spelled as Neqemte (, Amharic: ነቀምት), is a market town and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the East Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,088 met ...

had not yet reached as far as Gimbi by 1935. A school for the blind was opened in Gimbi by the Western Synod of the

Mekane Yesus Church The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY; also called Mekane Yesus Church) is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia. It is the largest individual member church of the Lutheran World Federation. It is a Lutheran denomination with some ...

in 1971. However, by 1981 all Evangelical churches in the neighboring region were closed, except the one in the town itself. Seventh Day Adventist Churches, and Schools, have been serving the city. The Seventh Day Adventist Hospital was the first hospital in Gimbie and was founded in 1947. More recently a government hospital called Gimbie Public Hospital was established. The operational budget of this hospital is government subsidized. The Oromia TV sub-station and the Gimbi Campus of

Wollega University Wollega University (WU), also known as Nekemte University, is a university in Nekemte, a town in the Western Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Description WU started out with 1600 students. According to the UCBP, it currently has 4,048 pupils. Wolleg ...

were opened by Regional president Abadula Gemeda 23 February 2009. In June 2022 the Oromo Liberation Front besieged the town and heavy gunfire was reported.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for Gimbi of 30,981, of whom 15,716 were men and 15,265 were women. The majority of the inhabitants observed

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, with 50.07% reporting that as their religion, while 35.33% observed

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chri ...

, and 12.99% were Muslim. 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 growt ...

in 2005, Gimbi has an estimated total population of 36,612, of whom 18,623 are men and 17,989 are women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 20,462 of whom 10,100 were men and 10,362 were women.

In popular culture

In the fictional

Harry Potter universe The Wizarding World (previously known as J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World) is a fantasy media franchise and shared fictional universe centred on the ''Harry Potter'' novel series by J. K. Rowling. A series of films have been in production sin ...

, Gimbi is the hometown of the professional

Quidditch Quidditch is a fictional sport invented by author J.K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). It is a dangerous but popular sport played by wi ...

team the Gimbi Giant-Slayers.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Oromia Region Ethiopia Cities and towns in Ethiopia