Erer is a town in central
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. Located in the
Sitti Zone
Sitti Zone (), formerly known as Shinile, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, zone in Somali Region of Ethiopia.
Located at the northwestern point of the Somali Region and stretching across the savanna north of the Ahmar Mountains, Sitti is borde ...
of the
Somali Region
The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...
, it is located 51km east of
Shinile. It is the administrative center of
Erer Woreda
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''.
These districts are f ...
.
Overview
Erer has had telephone service at least as early as 1967. Records at the Nordic Africa Institute website provide details of a primary school in Bentu Liben during the year 1968. Erer is served by a
station on the
Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway.
W.C. Barker recorded in 1842 that Erer was a usual stopping-point for caravans moving between
Djibouti
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
and
Dire dawa
Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...
, citing the words of an acquaintance who described the location as "a place at the foot of the
Oromo people
The Oromo people (, pron. ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group native to the Oromia region of Ethiopia and parts of Northern Kenya. They speak the Oromo language (also called ''Afaan Oromoo''), which is part of the Cushitic language ...
hills, where there is a wadi with excellent water." As to the inhabitants, Barker notes that north of Erer dwelled the
Gurgura
The Gurgure, Gorgorah or Gurgura (, ''Gorgorah'' ) is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family.I. M. Lewis (1959)
Overview
As a Dir sub-clan, the Gurgura have immediate lineal ties with the Akisho, Gadabuursi, Issa, ...
, "who are
Mahomedans", and subject to the
Issa Somali; to the south were the
Argobba; and to the east were the Nole and Ala
Oromo, "occupying the N
rthand the S
uthside of the road to Harrar."
Demographics
Based on figures from the
Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia published in 2007, Erer has an estimated total population of 7,490 of whom 3,797 are men and 3,693 women. The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 5,027 of whom 2,509 were men and 2,518 women. The four largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the
Somali (38.07%), the
Oromo (33.1%), the
Amhara (21.24%), and the
Gurage (4.97%); all other ethnic groups made up the remaining 2.71% of the residents.
''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1''
Tables 2.4, 2.14 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.
See also
* Railway stations in Ethiopia
References
{{reflist
5 Essa and afar conflict history
External links
MSN Map
Populated places in the Somali Region