Yirgalem ( am, ይርጋለም, ''Yïrgaläm'') locally known as Diko Dalle alternate names include Yirgalem, Abosto, Dalle) is a town in southern

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 ...

. Surrounded by Lakes Woyima and Gidawo, it is located 260 kilometers south of

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 ...

and 40 kilometers south of

Awasa Hawassa ( am, አዋሳ; ʾäwasa, also spelled Awassa or Awasa) known historically as Adare is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Awasa, Lake Awassa in the Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Great Rift Valley. It is south of Addis Ababa via ...

in the Sidama Zone of the

Sidama Region The Sidama Region (Sidama: Sidaamu Qoqqowo; ) is a regional state in southern Ethiopia. It was formed on 18 June 2020 from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and transformation of the Sidama Zone after a 98.52% vote ...

. The town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1776 meters. It is the largest settlement in Dale woreda. Postal service is provided by a main branch; electricity and telephone service are also available.

History

Yirgalem was occupied by the Italians 1 December 1936 during their campaign against the remaining Ethiopian Army of Sidamo under

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 ...

Desta Damtew ''Ras'' Desta Damtew (Amharic: ደስታ ዳምጠው ; ''c.'' 1892 – 24 February 1937) was an Ethiopian noble, an army commander, and a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Biography Born in the village of Maskan (in the contempora ...

. The town was capital of

Sidamo Province Sidamo Province (Amharic: ሲዳሞ) was a province in the southern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Irgalem, and after 1978 at Awasa. It was named after an ethnic group native to Ethiopia, called the Sidama, who are located in the south ...

until after the 1975 takeover by the Derge regime, when it was moved to

Awassa Hawassa ( am, አዋሳ; ʾäwasa, also spelled Awassa or Awasa) known historically as Adare is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Awasa, Lake Awassa in the Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Great Rift Valley. It is south of Addis Ababa via ...

. Around 1957 there was no telephone landline connecting Irgalem; telecommunications were provided by a radio station. The next year, the town was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. Installation of the landline between Irgalem and

was completed in late 1960. By that time a branch of the Ethiopian Electric Light and Power Authority

had started operation at Irgalem."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 24 May 2012) 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 ...

held its Eighth General Assembly at Irgalem in 1973. The Assembly passed a resolution requesting

land reform in Ethiopia The problem of land reform in Ethiopia has hampered that country's economic development throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. Attempts to modernize land ownership by giving title either to the peasants who till the soil, or to large-scale fa ...

- a reform which was in fact put into action a couple of years later, as a result of the

Ethiopian Revolution 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 ...

. A large integrated agro-industrial park is being built in the town and construction began on March 14. The park is expected to create 134,000 jobs for the region.

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 ...

of Ethiopia published in 2005, Yirgalem has an estimated total population of 43,815 of whom 21,840 are men and 21,975 women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
Table B.4. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 24,183 of whom 12,092 were men and 12,091 were women.

Notes

{{Cities of Ethiopia Populated places in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region Cities and towns in Ethiopia Ethiopia