Shire (, ; , ), also known as Inda Selassie (, meaning "House of the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
"), is a city and separate
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 ...
in the
Tigray Region
The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is ...
of
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 ...
. The city is the administrative center of the
Semien Mi'irabawi Zone
The North Western Zone ( ti, ዞባ ሰሜን ምዕራብ) is a zone in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the east by the Central Zone, the south by the Amhara Region, the west by the Western Zone and on the north by Eritrea. The Zon ...
. It was part of
Tahtay Koraro
Tahtai Koraro (, "Lower Koraro") is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Mi'irabawi Zone, Tahtai Koraro is bordered on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela, on the north by La'ilai Adyabo, and on the southeast by Medebai Zana. Th ...
district.
History
Origin
An early mention of Shire is in one of the three surviving charters of Emperor
Dawit I
Dawit I ( gez, ዳዊት) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1382 to 6 October 1413, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the younger son of Newaya Krestos.
Reign
Taddesse Tamrat discusses a tradition that early in his reign, Dawit campaign ...
(r. 1382-1412).
20th century
As part of the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
, Italian units under General
Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
advanced out of
Axum on 29 February 1936 to attack the Ethiopian army under ''Ras''
Imru Haile Selassie
Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie, CBE (Amharic: ዕምሩ ኀይለ ሥላሴ; 23 November 1892 – 15 August 1980) was an Ethiopian noble, soldier, and diplomat. He served as acting Prime Minister for three days in 1960 during a coup d'état ...
deployed around Shire in an action known as the
Battle of Shire
The Battle of Shire (Italian: ''Battaglia dello Shirè'') was a battle fought on the northern front of what was known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal of Ita ...
. Despite determined Ethiopian resistance, by 3 March the Italians had resumed their advance and shortly afterwards crossed the
Tekezé River
The Tekezé or Täkkäze River ( amh, ተከዜ, ti, ተከዘ; originally meaning "river" in Ge’ez, ), also spelled Takkaze, is a major river of Ethiopia. For part of its course it forms a section of the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Erit ...
.
After the restoration of the monarchy in 1941, Shire served as the capital of the Shire sub-region until the administrative reorganization of the nation following the adoption of the
1995 Ethiopian Constitution.
Shire once again became a battlefield during the
Ethiopian Civil War
The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991.
The Derg overthre ...
. The first clash of 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) with government forces occurred on 5 August 1975, after Mehari Tekle ("Mussie"), a member of the TPLF leadership, was arrested in Addi Daero by government militiamen and taken to prison in Shire. Before he could be transported to a more secure facility in
Mek'ele
Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopia ...
or
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 ...
, a squad of eleven men burst into the prison, wounding one policeman and scattering the rest, freeing their comrade and 60 other prisoners, and spiriting him away to safety.
During the latter part of the war, following the massive Ethiopian army defeat at the
Battle of Afabet
The Battle of Afabet was fought from 17 March through 20 March 1988 in and around the town of Afabet, as part of the Eritrean War of Independence.
Background
The Nadew Command was one of four commands, or army corps, of the Ethiopian Second ...
in March 1988, the TPLF launched a series of offensives, in which they destroyed government forces stationed at
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
,
Adwa
Adwa ( ti, ዓድዋ; amh, ዐድዋ; also spelled Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian ...
,
Seleh Leha
Selekhlekha(ሰለኽለኻ) (also transliterated Selekhlekha) is a town in Tigray, Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Mi'irabawi (North Western) Zone of the Tigray Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2107 met ...
, and Shire. Only about 200 soldiers of the 17th Army Division were able to evacuate Shire and fall back to
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
. This led to the raising of the Third Revolutionary Army, composed of the 603rd, 604th and 605th core armies. Between 19 June and 3 July 1988 the 604th was able to regain control over 12 districts, and entered Shire with no significant resistance from TPLF forces. However, due to unrest amongst the government soldiers at Addi Hageray, which permitted the TPLF to attack and occupy that town, the 604th was unable to advance again until 28 December. This led to the Second
Battle of Shire
The Battle of Shire (Italian: ''Battaglia dello Shirè'') was a battle fought on the northern front of what was known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal of Ita ...
, which ended on 19 February 1989 as a victory for the TPLF. Although Shire had been the headquarters of the Third Revolutionary Army at the beginning of the battle, at the end the remaining units were retreating towards Enda Aba Guna. On 21 March 1989, Shire was bombed from the air by the
Ethiopian Air Force
The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during natio ...
: one person was killed.
The third edition of ''
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...
'' guide to Ethiopia notes that "war relics" could still be seen near Shire.
21st century
Since late 2019 swarms of
desert locust
The desert locust (''Schistocerca gregaria'') is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and sou ...
have damaged crops in the horn of Africa leaving up to one million people in Ethiopia in need of food aid according to the UN.
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 ...
that began in November 2020 and the
COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Ethiopia on 13 March 2020. Th ...
aggravated the food situation in Tigray Region. The situation was particularly bad in Shire, with 100,000 internally displaced people. About ten percent of the children were diagnosed (by arm measurements) as having severe acute malnutrition. The
DX Open Network, based in the UK and analysing satellite images, found that two warehouse-style structures in the UN
World Food Program
The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен ...
compound at Hitsats refugee camp had been "very specifically destroyed."
Doctors Without Borders
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
found that in the parts of Adigrat, Adwa and Axum that they had access to, in other parts of Tigray Region, the civilian casualties were "extremely high".
Climate
Shire has a
tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Aw'') with average rainfall reaching 905 mm.
Demographics
Based on the July 2021 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), this city has a total population of 95,491.
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), this town has a total population of 47,284, of whom 21,867 are men and 25,417 women. The majority of the inhabitants 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 ...
, with 85.11% reporting that as their religion, while 14.67% of the population 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 ...
.
According to the 1994 national census the town had a population of 25,269 of whom 11,360 were men and 13,909 women. In the mid 1980s, the population of the town was below 15, 000.
Transportation
The Ethiopian Roads Authority had two roads built to connect Shire to neighboring towns. In June 2009, the authority released a report on their status. The road connecting Shire with Addi Goshu, 156 kilometers in length, was 52% complete, and would be completed by November 2010. The road that would connect to Addi Abun, 92 kilometers in length, would be completed in two years. construction was underway on a road segment 71 kilometers long connecting Shire west to
Dedebit, and which will continue on to
Adi Remets then terminate at Dejena Densha. The town hosts an airport,
Shire Airport
Shire Airport, also known as Shire Inda Selassie Airport or Indaselassie Airport, is an airport serving Shire, a city in the Tigray National Regional State of Ethiopia. The airport is just south of the city.
Shire Airport was constructed by Eth ...
(
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
code SHC).
[http://www.mwud.gov.et/web/shire/home.htm]
Notes
{{Districts of the Tigray Region
Populated places in the Tigray Region