Maji (also Machi) is a town in south western

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 ...

. It is located on the

Boma Plateau The Boma Plateau is a region in the east of South Sudan, located in the Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria provinces. It is inhabited by the Anuak, Murle, and Toposa peoples. It contains wetlands important for birdlife in the region. Wildlife is thre ...

, lying in the

West Omo Zone West Omo or Mirab Omo is a Zone in the Ethiopian South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region. West Omo is located at Ethiopia's southern margin, where Maji and Surma woredas are bordering Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a coun ...

of the

South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region The Southwest Ethiopia Region, officially the Southwest Ethiopia Peoples' Regional State () is a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was split off from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) on 23 November 2021 ...

, and has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation variously given as 2,104, 2,258 and 2,430 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center for the Maji

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 ...

. Postal service in Maji started at some time between 1923 and 1932. From the 1930s the town had a customs post and a telephone station."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 14 February 2008) The town is served by Tum Airport (

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

code HAMJ).

History

Maji was founded around 1897 when Ras Welde Giyorgis stationed a garrison outpost of Ethiopian soldiers near the lands of the ''ture'', a personage Garretson describes as "the most powerful and respected religious figure in the area." Garretson explains how an administrative center for the region soon followed: "Built on a commanding hill were a fortified encampment of '' gibbi'' (the personal headquarters of the governor), a church and a market. All were carefully observed and guarded by the governor and his retinue of soldiers." Richard Pankhurst records that its governor,

Dejazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( , modern transcription , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper ...

Taye, amazed by the growing trade at Gambela to the west of him, during the 1920s attempted to develop exports of

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

, rubber, hides and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

through the port town. Prior to the Italian occupation, the British had a consulate in Maji. The town was occupied by the Italians 18 March 1937, and liberated from them by May 1941. During this period, the occupiers built roads so that vehicles could be driven to Maji and a Catholic Mission operated there which ran at least one school. An American Mission was established in 1948 near Maji, and provided education and medical care until it was closed in 1977. When the Maji Zone was created in the mid-1990s, Maji became its administrative center.

Demographics

Based on figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...

, in 2005 Maji has an estimated total population of 2,930 of whom 1,302 were males and 1,628 were females.CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 1,617 of whom 721 were males and 896 were females.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Ethiopia