Butajira ( am, ቡታጅራ) is a town 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 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 at the base of the Zebidar massif in the

Gurage Zone Gurage is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. The region is home to the Gurage people. Gurage is bordered on the southeast by Hadiya and Yem special woreda, on the west, north and east by the Oromia ...

of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), Butajira has an elevation of 2131 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by Meskan woreda. It was part of former Meskanena Mareko woreda.

Overview

Butajira was founded between 1926 when a missionary Pere Azaiz found nothing there, and 1935 when a German ethnographic expedition found a town laid out in straight lines and square shapes to serve as the administrative center of the

Gurage people The Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mountainous region in ce ...

. After ''

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 ...

was taken prisoner on 24 February 1937 in the small village of Eya he was brought to Butajira where, after a perfunctory trial, he was executed that evening. British patrols, acting as part of the East African Campaign, found that ''

arbegnoch The Arbegnoch () were Ethiopian resistance fighters in Italian East Africa from 1936 until 1941. They were known to the Italians as shifta. Organisation The Patriot movement was mostly based in the rural Shewa, Gondar and Gojjam provinces, ...

'' groups had dispersed the local Italian positions, leading to both the British and Ethiopian flags being raised over the town on 21 April 1941."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (last accessed 31 May 2008) According to the Gurage Zone government, as of 2007 Butajira is one of 12 towns with electrical power, one of 11 with telephone service, and one of nine that have postal service in the Gurage Zone.

drinkable water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

is provided by 4 boreholes. The town has a weekly market on Fridays. Notable landmarks in the town include a fountain on the south side of the town, which is fed from a sacred spring dedicated to saint

Tekle Haymanot Abune Tekle Haymanot ( Ge'ez: አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት; known in the Coptic Church as Saint Takla Haymanot of Ethiopia; 1215 – 1313) was an Ethiopian saint and monk mostly venerated as a hermit. He was the Abuna of Ethiopia who fo ...

. The zone authorities mention another local landmark is the local mosque (constructed by the financial contributions of both Muslims and Christians), which was completed in 1979 (1972 EC), and has two large praying halls, each with room for 2500 individuals: the hall on the ground floor is for women while the hall on the second floor is for men. Roughly 10 kilometers from Butajira is Butajira Crater Lake, which was created by

phreatic eruptions A phreatic eruption, also called a phreatic explosion, ultravulcanian eruption or steam-blast eruption, occurs when magma heats ground water or surface water. The extreme temperature of the magma (anywhere from ) causes near-instantaneous evapo ...

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this town has a total population of 33,406, of whom 16,923 are men and 16,483 women. The majority of the inhabitants were reported as Muslim, with 51.27% of the population reporting that belief, while 39.58% practice

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 8.72% were Protestants. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 20,509 of whom 9,827 were men and 10,682 were women. As of 2011, the

total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

was estimated to be 5.3 children per woman, and the total marital fertility rate was estimated to be 7.8 children per married woman.

Health

A 2021 study revealed high rates of under-immunization in young children, with just 22.4% of children aged 12 to 23 months being fully immunized. As of 2010, Butajira has relatively low prevalence of malaria, with less than 1% overall prevalence. Prevalence varies among villages in the area and tends to be lower with higher altitudes.

References

{{Districts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region Populated places in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region