Irgachefe (ይርጋጨፌ ''Yïrgach’äffe'', also transliterated as Yirgachefe) is a town in central 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 ...
in
Yirgachefe District. Located in the
Gedeo Zone
Gedeo is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the Gedeo people, whose homelands lie in this zone. Gedeo is an exclave of the SNNPR consisting of a narrow strip of land along the ea ...
of the
, this town has an elevation between above sea level. It is the administrative center of
Yirgachefe 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 ...
(or district), an important
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
growing area.
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 grow ...
in 2005, Irgachefe has an estimated total population of 20,979 of whom 10,501 were men and 10,478 were women. According to the 1994 national census, this town had a total population of 11,579 of whom 5,814 were men and 5,765 were women.
Irgachefe was part of the
Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II
The Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Medi ...
. Advancing from
Yabelo, the British recaptured Irgachefe on 27 April 1941. However, the road further north was so bad that it took ten days to travel , making the transport of supplies almost impossible. As a result, two battalions returned to Yabelo with the motor transport vehicles, while one battalion continued the advance northward carrying the ammunition and food supplies by foot and mule pack.
"Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 20 November 2007)
Notes
Populated places in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
{{SouthernNationsET-geo-stub