Kombolcha
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Kombolcha () is a town and
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in north-central
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
Debub Wollo Zone South Wollo (Amharic: ደቡብ ወሎ) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It acquired its name from the former province of Wollo. South Wollo is bordered on the south by North Shewa and the Oromia Region, on the west by East Gojjam, ...
of the
Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Reg ...
, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1842 and 1915 meters above sea level. Some guide books describe Kombolcha as the twin town of
Dessie Dessiè City which is politically oppressed by the past Ethiopian government systems due to the fact that most of the population follow Islamic religion. Dessie ( am, ደሴ, Däse; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia ...
which lies some to the northwest.


History


Origins

Tadesse Tamrat records that archeologists discovered "some remains of Christian settlements", dated to the late first millennium of the current era.


19th century

When the missionary
Johann Ludwig Krapf Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first ...
was led as a prisoner from Adare Bille's capital to the Teledere House in April 1843 he had passed through Kombolcha, which he described as a village near the source of the
Borkana River Borkana River is a river of central Ethiopia. A tributary of the Awash on the left side, the Borkana joins its parent stream at . Johann Ludwig Krapf records that it was called "Tshaffa" by the local Oromo people The Oromo (pron. Oromo: ''O ...
.


20th century

Kombolcha was described during the Italian occupation as having postal and telephone service, a clinic, a general store, a barrack village of the A.A.S.S., as well as other improvements intended for Italians."Local History of Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 22 April 2022)
The city was used as a base by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
relief organization and other humanitarian groups during the 1984 famine. On 19 November 1989 the
Tigrayan People's Liberation Front The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...
(TPLF) claimed to have captured Kombolcha. However, the highway from Kombolcha to
Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beaches an ...
was not fully brought under TPLF control until the
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 ...
was expelled from Tigray later that year.


21st century

An accord was signed between Ethiopia Bazra Motors and Russian company
Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant UAZ or Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: Ульяновский Автомобильный Завод, УАЗ, Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, UAZ, Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, UAZ) is an automobile manufacturer based in Ulyanovsk, Russia, ...
on 30 April 2021, to set up a
UAZ UAZ or Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: Ульяновский Автомобильный Завод, УАЗ, Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, UAZ, Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, UAZ) is an automobile manufacturer based in Ulyanovsk, Russia, ...
cars assembly plant. During the
Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...
, Tigrayan forces said they had captured the town on 31 October 2021. The Ethiopian government accused the Tigrayan forces of killing 100 youth in the town on 1 November 2021, Tigrayan forces denied the claim. The Ethiopian Government claimed that the
TPLF The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...
had "ransacked and destroyed Kombolcha's infrastructure" after its capture. Aljazera and BBC reported that WFP suspended food distribution in Dessie and Kombolcha due this mass looting of the supplies. Most of the construction equipment of the
Awash–Weldiya Railway The Awash–Weldiya Railway is a standard gauge railway under construction, that will serve as a northward extension of the new Ethiopian National Railway Network. The railroad's primary purpose is to connect the north of Ethiopia with the ...
project was looted or destroyed, and part of the infrastructure of the almost-finished railway, such as tunnels and bridges, was damaged. The disruption has thrown several thousand railway workers out of work. By 6 December 2021, the Ethiopian government announced that
Dessie Dessiè City which is politically oppressed by the past Ethiopian government systems due to the fact that most of the population follow Islamic religion. Dessie ( am, ደሴ, Däse; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia ...
and Kombolcha had been liberated from the TPLF aligned fighters. the railway construction site was used instead as a camp for
internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...
s.


Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by 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 (CSA), Kombolcha woreda had a total population of 85,367, of whom 41,968 were male and 43,399 female; 58,667 or 68.72% were urban inhabitants living in town of Kombolcha, the rest of population was living in rural
kebeles A ward ( am, ቀበሌ; om, Araddaa; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. It is part of a district, itself usually part of a zone, which in turn are grouped into ...
around Kombolcha. The majority of the inhabitants were
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, with 73.92% reporting that as their religion, while 23.44% of the population said they practiced
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 Chris ...
and 2.32% were
Protestants 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 ...
. The 1994 national census reported a total population for Kombolcha of 39,466 in 8,643 households, of whom 18,995 were male and 20,471 were female. The three largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the Amhara (91.34%),
Tigrayan Tigrayans ( ti, ተጋሩ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily life of Tigra ...
(5.85%), and the Oromo (1.29%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.52% of the population.
Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
was spoken as a first language by 93.02%, 5.2%
Tigrinya (; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions. History and literatur ...
, and 1.11% spoke
Oromiffa Oromo ( or ; Oromo: ''Afaan Oromoo''), in the linguistic literature of the early 20th century also called Galla (a name with a pejorative meaning and therefore rejected by the Oromo people), is an Afroasiatic language The Afroasiatic languag ...
; the remaining 0.67% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, with 57.42% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 41.71% of the population said they professed
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 Chris ...
.


Climate


Economy


Transportation

Kombolcha is connected with Dessie through
Ethiopian Highway 2 The A2 Highway is a trunk road in Ethiopia. It connects the capital Addis Ababa with Mekelle, as well as with Wukro, Adigrat, Axum, Shire and Humera. Ethiopian the A2 has a length of . Route Towns and cities along the A2 include, from nort ...
. This city shares Kombolcha Airport with neighboring Dessie. A station on the
Awash–Weldiya Railway The Awash–Weldiya Railway is a standard gauge railway under construction, that will serve as a northward extension of the new Ethiopian National Railway Network. The railroad's primary purpose is to connect the north of Ethiopia with the ...
is under construction. In 2013 a
dry port A dry port (sometimes referred to as an inland port) is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport, operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. In addition to their role in ...
was established near the city with handling capacity for 1888 TEU containers at a time. The dry port is owned and operated by the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Authority.


Industry

Kombolcha is also home to Kombolcha Steel products, a metalworking factory that is part of
MIDROC MIDROC-Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies is a company owned by Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi. It has operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Through its Corral Petroleum Holdings AB, MIDROC has ...
, a conglomerate owned by businessman Sheikh
Mohammed Al Amoudi Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi ( ar, محمد حسين علي العمودي; born 1946) is a Saudi billionaire businessman. He was born Ethiopia in 1946 to a Yemeni father from Hadhramaut and Ethiopian Amhara mother from Wollo. In 201 ...
. Another industry in this town is the Kombolcha Textile Factory (KTF), which announced 9 March 2009 that it was beginning a 190 million Birr modernization project to improve the quality of its projects. At the time of the announcement, the KTF exported its goods to Italy, Sweden, Belgium, and China. The $90 million Kombolcha Industrial Park was inaugurated by Prime Minister
Hailemariam Desalegn Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe ( amh, ኃይለማሪያም ደሳለኝ ቦሼ; born 19 July 1965) is an Ethiopian politician who served as prime minister of Ethiopia from 2012 to 2018. He also previously served as deputy prime minister and Minister ...
and has attracted companies from the US, South Korea, and Italy.


Education

Wollo University and Kombolcha Institute of Technology offer courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.


Notes

{{Districts of the Amhara Region Districts of Amhara Region