Jimma town is located in Oromia National Regional State, in Jimma zone, Jimma

Woreda at a distance 325 Km

from Addis Ababa. Its astronomical location is 7 4 North Latitude and 36 5 East
Longitude.
Foundation
Jimma town was founded in 1837.
Jimma is one of the reform towns in the region and has a city administration,
municipality and 13 kebelles.
The town has a structure plan prepared in 2009.

Jimma (Oromo: Jimma, Amharic: ),

?

also

spelled Jima,

is

the

largest

city

in

south-

western Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded byJimma Zone. It has
a latitude and longitude of 740N 3650E. The town was the capital of Kaffa Province until the
province was dissolved. Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administratively as a
special Zone.
Herbert S. Lewis states that in the early 1960s it was "the greatest market in all of south-western
Ethiopia. On a good day in the dry season it attracts up to thirty thousand people." [1]
What is now Jimma's northern suburb of Jiren was the capital of a large Oromo kingdom until the
late 19th century. Originally named Hirmata, the city owed its importance in the 19th century to being
located on the caravan route between Shewa and theKingdom of Kaffa, as well as being only six
miles from the palace of the king of Jimma.
According to Donald Levine, in the early 19th century the market attracted thousands of people from
neighboring regions: "Amhara from Gojjam and Shoa, Oromo from all the Gibe Kingdoms and
numerous representatives of the Lacustrine and Omotic groups, including Timbaro, Qabena, Kefa,
Janjero, Welamo, Konta and several others". [2]
The present town was developed on the Awetu River by the Italian colonial regime in the 1930s. At
that time, with the goal of weakening the native Ethiopian Church, the Italians intended to make
Jimma an important center of Islamic learning, and founded an academy to teach fiqh.[3] In the East
African fighting of World War II after their main force was defeated, the Italian garrison at Jimma was
one of the last to surrender, holding out til July 1941.
Jimma was the scene of a violent encounter which started in April 1975 between radical college
students (known as zemacha) sent to organize local peasants, who had benefited from land reform,
and local police, who had sided with local landowners. Students and peasant followers had

imprisoned local small landowners, rich peasants and members of the local police force; this action
led to further unrest, causing the Derg (the ruling junta) to send a special delegation to Jimma, which
sided with the local police. In the end, 24 students were killed, more arrested, and the
local zemacha camps closed.[4]
Days before the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in May 1991, the city was captured by the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.
On 13 December 2006, the Ethiopian government announced that it had secured a loan of US$98
million from the African Development Bank to pave the 227 kilometers of highway between Jimma
and Mizan Teferi to the southwest. The loan would cover 64% of the 1270.97 million Birr budgeted
for this project.[5]
Jimma has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) under the Kppen climate classification. It features a
long annual wet season from March to October.
Temperatures at Jimma are in a comfortable range, with the daily mean staying between 20C and
25C year-round.

Demographics[edit]
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone
has a total population of 120,960, of whom 60,824 are men and 60,136 women. With an area of
50.52 square kilometers, Jimma has a population density of 2,394.30 all are urban inhabitants. A
total of 32,191 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 3.76 persons to
a household, and 30,016 housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Jimma were
the Oromo (46.71%), the Amhara (17.14%) and the Dawro (10.05%); all other ethnic groups made
up 26.1% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 41.58% and 39.96%
spoke Afan Oromo; the remaining 18.46% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority
of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 46.84% of the population
reporting they observed this belief, while 39.03% of the population were Muslim, and 13.06%
were Protestant.[7]
The national 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 88,867, of whom 43,874 were
men and 44,993 were women.
Some buildings survive from the time of the Jimma Kingdom, including the Palace of Abba Jifar. The
city is home to a museum, Jimma University, several markets, and anairport (ICAO code
HAJM, IATA JIM). Also of note is the Jimma Research Center, founded in 1968, which is run by
the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. The Center specializes in agricultural research,
including serving as the national center for research to improve the yield of coffee and spices.[8]

Jimma is one of the zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Jimma is named for the
former Kingdom of Jimma, which was absorbed into the former province of Kaffa in 1932. Jimma is
bordered on the south by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, the northwest
by Illubabor, on the north by Misraq Welega, and on the northeast by Mirab Shewa; part of the
boundary with Misraq Shewa is defined by the Gibe River. The highest point in this zone is Mount
Maigudo (2,386 m). Towns and cities in Jimma include Agaro, Genet and Saqqa. The town
of Jimma was separated from Jimma Zone and is a special zone now.
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 26,743 tons of coffee were produced in this zone
in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority.
This represents 23.2% of the Region's output and 11.8% of Ethiopia's total output, and makes Jimma
one of the three top producers of these goods, along with the Sidama and Gedeo Zones.[1]
Historically, Jimma has been considered one of the food-exporting areas of Ethiopia, but beginning
in 1997 poor crops harvests and the appearance of crop diseases such asGrey leaf spot, caused by
the fungus Cercospora zeaemaydis (not previously common in Ethiopia) led to a deterioration in
conditions. By 1999, signs of the seriousness of the situation included empty household granaries,
people begging and committing crimes in the hope they will be fed in jail, sending children to live
with relatives or friends, and reduced student enrollment in schools. [2]

Demographics[edit]
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 2,486,155, an
increase of 26.76% over the 1994 census, of whom 1,250,527 are men and 1,235,628 women; with
an area of 15,568.58 square kilometers, Jimma has a population density of 159.69. While 137,668 or
11.31% are urban inhabitants, a further 858 or 0.03% are pastoralists. A total of 521,506 households
were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.77 persons to a household, and 500,374
housing units. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Jimma were the Oromo (87.6%),
the Amhara (4.05%) and the Yem (3.12%); all other ethnic groups made up 5.23% of the
population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 90.43% and 5.33% spoke Amharic; the
remaining 4.24% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants
were Muslim, with 85.65% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 11.18%
of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and 2.97% professedProtestantism.[3]
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 1,961,262 in 432,101
households, of whom 979,708 were men and 981,554 women; 190,395 or 9.71% of its population
were urban dwellers at the time. The five largest ethnic groups reported in Jimma were

the Oromo (81.57%),

the Yem (5.28%),

the Amhara (4.95%),

the Kullo (2.9%),

and

the Kafficho (1.78%); all other ethnic groups made up 3.52% of the population. [4] (Based on research
performed in the early 1990s, as many as 500,000 inhabitants may be members of the Yem.
[5]

) Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 85.96%, 7.86% Amharic, 1.95% spokeKullo, 1.45%

spoke Yemsa, and 1.19% spoke Kafa; the remaining 1.59% spoke all other primary languages
reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 82.57% of the population having reported
they practiced that belief, while 15.78% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox
Christianity, and 1.47% were Protestant.[4]
According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 9% of the inhabitants of Jimma have
access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 77.0 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers
(compared to the national average of 30 kilometers), [6] the average rural household has 0.9 hectare
of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the
Oromia Region)[7] and the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 15.1% of the population is in non-farm
related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 24%.
Concerning education, 57% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 12% in
secondary schools. Concerning health, 29% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and 63% to Tsetse
fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 298. [

The Kingdom of Jimma was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the
19th century. It shared its western border with Limmu-Ennarea, its eastern border with
the Sidamo Kingdom of Janjero, and was separated from the Kingdom of Kaffa to the south by
the Gojeb River. Jimma was considered the most powerful militarily of the Gibe kingdoms. Dawro,
an Ometo dialect, was the native language; it later slowly gave way to Oromo

History[edit]
The origins of Jimma are obscure, although prior to the Oromo migrations, the territory this kingdom
came to occupy had been part of the Kingdom of Kaffa. According to legend, a number of Oromo
groups (variously given from five to 10) were led to Jimma by a great sorceress and Queen named
Makhore, who carried a boku(usually connected with the abba boku, or headman of the
Oromo Gadaa system)[1] which when placed on the ground would cause the earth to tremble and
men to fear. It is said that with this boku, she drove the Kaffa people living in the area across the
Gojeb River. While this suggests that the Oromo invaders drove the original inhabitants from the
area, Herbert S. Lewis notes that Oromo society was inclusionist, and the only ethnic differences
they made are reflected in the history of various kinship groups. [2]
Eventually, the Oromo grew unhappy with Makhore's rule, and through a ruse, deprived her of
her virginity, and destroyed her power. The various groups then pursued their own courses, loosely

bound into a confederation that held councils at Hulle, where laws were passed under the abba
boku; at this point, Jimma was commonly referred to as Jimma Kaka.
At first, the Badi of Saqqa were the predominant clan (which led to the alternate name of Jimma
Badi), but late in the 18th century another group, the Diggo of Mana, began to extend their domain,
conquering the Lalo clan who lived around Jiren, and gaining access to the market and trade center
at Hirmata (later called Jimma). Mohammed Hassen believes that the Badi lost their predominant
position in part due to raids by king Abba Bagido of Limmu-Ennarea, but also due to constant
infighting.[3] It was during the reign of Abba Jifar I that the kingdom of Jimma coalesced, and after this
time Jimma was frequently referred to as Jimma Abba Jifar. King Abba Jifar also converted to Islam,
and began the long process of also converting his entire kingdom to that religion. [4]
Under King Abba Gomol, the ancient Kingdom of Garo was conquered and annexed into Jimma.
King Gomol settled wealthy men from his kingdom in the former state. He also brought important
men from Garo to live at Jiren, thus integrating the two polities. [5]
It

was

shortly

after

his

son Abba

Jifar

II assumed

the

throne

that

the

power

of

the neguses of Shewa began to reach into the Gibe region for the first time in centuries. As Lewis
notes, "Borrelli, Franzoj and other travellers accorded him little hope of retaining his kingdom for
long."[6] However, heeding the wise advice of his mother Gumiti, he submitted to Menelik II, and
agreed to pay tribute to the negus, and counseled his neighboring kings to do the same. However,
none followed his example, and King Abba Jifar instead found himself enthusiastically helping the
Shewan king conquer his neighbors: Kullo in 1889, Walamo in 1894, and Kaffa in 1897. In 1928, the
tribute of Jimma amounted to MTT87,000 and an additional MTT15,000 for the army.[7]
Following the death of Abba Jifar II, Emperor Haile Selassie seized the opportunity to finally annex
Jimma. As Harold Marcus observes, the kingdom's "autonomy had been undermined by the
declining world economy, the deteriorating health of its ruler, the road that slowly advanced from
Addis Abeba, the advent of air power, and the transcendent needs of modern, centralized
power."[8] On 5 May 1932, the official newspaper Berhanena Selam editorialized that the kingdom
was in danger because her king, Abba Jifar, was old and ill and his grandson and heir no longer
properly obeyed the central government and was using the kingdom's revenues to build up an army.
Seven days later, on 12 May, 400 soldiers and a team of administrators descended upon Jimma and
brought the kingdom to an end. [8] During the reorganization of the provinces in 1942, the last
administrative traces of the kingdom vanished into Kaffa Province.

Administration[edit]
The Kingdom of Jimma had its own administration, which was centered at the royal palace. An
officer referred to as the azazi ("the orderer") served there as the head. His function at the court was
essentially that of a majordomo, exclusively overseeing domestic palace affairs. The azazi

maintained a number of treasuries, and dispensed funds to cover court-related expenses. The
palace also housed professional soldiers, whom the azazi had the power to assign infrastructural
maintenance chores to. Other officers oversaw other day-to-day activities at the palace, including
artisanal labor and royal court guest hospitality.[9]
Like the other Gibe kingdoms, Jimma's ruler King Abba Jifar also owned many slaves. They served
as officials in the royal palace, where they attended to the needs of the King's wives and supervised
the abbatoir and meal preparation, among other activities. [9][10] The slaves also acted as jailers,
market judges, and stewards of the King's territories. Additionally, they sometimes served as
governors of a province, though this position was usually given to wealthy nagadras (chief of trade
and markets).[10]
At noon, the King, his retinue, court officials and guests dined together at the mana sank'a ("house of
the table"). It consisted of a great hall with several large round wooden tables. The King and 20 to 30
other individuals sat around the main table, with the remaining tables ranked in importance
according to how close they were positioned to the King. During the evening, the King typically dined
alone with one of his wives, and often summoned instrumentalists or Arab merchants with a
gramophone for musical accompaniment

Source
http://www.mwud.gov.et/web/jimma/home
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This study deals with the history of Jimma town from 1936 to 1974. It explores social, economic and
administrative themes, but also attempts to show the interrelationship between these themes.
Socially, the town of Jimma evolved during this period from a home-town of a relatively homogenous
society and culture to a place of residence for a diverse and increasingly cosmopolitan population.
The period of Italian occupation (1936-1941) was socially significant because it saw the first major
influx of people into the town of Jimma from beyond the borders of the former Kingdom whose name
it had inherited. The Post-Liberation period (1941-74) was characterized by the evolution of an even
more complex social fabric than before. An even greater influx of people and greater interaction
came about partly because the imperial order retained and enhanced Jimmas primacy in the region
and partly because economic developments in the region attracted thousands of job-seekers to the
town. Economically, the story of Jimma during this period was one of both continuity and change. It is
a story of continuity because Jimma, which had from the very beginning been a center of trade,
continued to be so during this period also. There was significant change, however, because unlike
the previous decades in which Jimma served as a point of exchange or transit for elite goods (like

slaves, ivory and musk) that mostly originated beyond the borders of the Oromo Kingdom, Jimma
during this period developed into the chief center for the collection, organization and export of a cash
crop (coffee) that grew in the countryside all around it. Economic change involved, therefore, both
production and exchange. Administratively, Jimma during this period developed from the center of
rule by a local dynasty that exercised authority over a small kingdom to a capital of a whole region.
The background for this was set by the ending of the autonomous political existence of the Oromo
Kingdom of Jimma and its full absorption into the political economy of the Ethiopian state on the eve
of the Italian occupation of 1936. But the decision by the Italians to make Jimma the chief center of
their activities in the whole v of southwestern Ethiopia was of even greater significance. The imperial
system of administration that was put in place after Liberation simply built on that beginning. The
social, economic and administrative history of Jimma are closely intertwined, however. The
admixture of peoples and cultures as well as the nature of the urban social institutions that evolved in
the town are closely tied to the cash crop revolution which brought streams of permanent and
temporary residents to the town; the evolution of the town into a chief administrative center as well as
the introduction of somewhat peculiar administrative and fiscal institutions came about in part due to
the location of the town in the heart of the coffee country as southwestern Ethiopia came to be
referred to. In short, both the urbanity and the urbanization of Jimma can be explained by the story of
coffee production and marketing. This thesis documents these processes extensively and accounts
for the growth of a major town in modern Ethiopia. After a brief background chapter, it deals with
three themes of social evolution, economic activities and municipal government and administration. It
argues that despite its significant growth Jimmas development was limited due to the fact that it
served merely as an outpost for an extractive system that removed resources from the region, not as
a place of investment or technology with generative impact on the surrounding countryside.

Wikipedia: Jimma is the largest city in southwestern Ethiopia. Located in the Jimma Zone of
the Oromia Region, this city has a latitude and longitude of 740N 3650E / 7.667N
36.833E / 7.667; 36.833. It was the capital of Kaffa Province until the province was
dissolved.
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated
total population of 159,009 of whom 80,897 were males and 78,112 were females.
According to the 1994 national census, it had a population of 88,867 people. The 1994
census reported this town had a total population of 88,867 of whom 43,874 were males and
44,993 were females. Herbert S. Lewis states that in the early 1960s it was "the greatest
market in all of southwestern Ethiopia. On a good day in the dry season it attracts up to
thirty
thousand
people."
History
Its northern suburb of Jiren was the capital of a large Oromo kingdom until the late
nineteenth century. Originally named Hirmata, the city owed its importance in the 19th

century to being located on the caravan route between Shewa and the Kingdom of Kaffa, as
well as being only six miles from the palace of the king of Jimma. According to Donald
Levine, in the early 1800s the market attracted thousands of people from neighboring
regions: "Amhara from Gojjam and Shoa, Oromo from all the Gibe Kingdoms and numerous
representatives of the Lacustrine and Omotic groups, including Timbaro, Qabena, Kefa,
Janjero,
Welamo,
Konta
and
several
others".
The present town was developed on the Awetu River by Italian colonialists in the 1930s. At
that time, with the goal of weakening the native Ethiopian Church, the Italians intended to
make Jimma an important center of Islamic learning, and founded an academy to teach
fiqh.
Jimma was the scene of a violent encounter which started in April 1975 between radical
college students (known as zemacha) sent to organize local peasants, who had benefitted
from land reform, and local police, who had sided with local landowners. Students and
peasant followers had imprisoned local small landowners, rich peasants and members of the
local police force; this action led to further unrest, causing the Derg (the ruling junta) to
send a special delegation to Jimma, which sided with the local police. In the end, 24
students were killed, more arrested, and the local zemacha camps closed. Days before the
end of the Ethiopian Civil War in May 1991, the city was captured by the Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary
Democratic
Front.
On 13 December 2006, the Ethiopian government announced that it had secured a loan of
US$ 98 million from the African Development Bank to pave the 227 kilometers of highway
between Jimma and Mizan Teferi to the southwest. The loan would cover 64% of the
1270.97 million Birr budgetted for this project.

Abba Jifar was the son of Abba Magal, who was a leader of the Diggo Oromo. He built upon the
political and military base his father had provided him, and created the Kingdom of Jimma.
Consequently, Jimma was no longer referred to as Jimma Kaka in common parlance, but as Jimma
Abba Jifar.
Herbert S. Lewis credits Abba Jifar with having initiated "many administrative and political
innovations", despite the lack of specific historical evidence. According to oral tradition, Abba Jifar
claimed the right to the extensive areas of the newly conquered land as well as virgin or unused
land, which he both kept for himself and used to reward his family, followers and favorites. He
reportedly constructed at least five palaces in different parts of Jimma. [1]
The historian Mordechai Abir notes that between the years 1839 and 1841 of his reign, Abba Jifar
fought with Abba Bagido the King of Limmu-Ennarea over the district of Badi-Folla. The area was
important for control of the caravan route between the Kingdom of Kaffa on the one hand, and the
provinces of Gojjam and Shewa on the other. While the two Kings negotiated a peace in 1841, and
sealed the treaty with the marriage of Abba Jifar's daughter to Abba Bagido's son Abba Dula, the
Jimma King eventually conquered Badi-Folla (1847) and secured control over this important caravan
route.[2]

Abba Jifar was also the first king of Jimma to embrace Islam, owing his conversion in 1830 to Abdul
Hakim,[3] a trader from Gondar. Lewis notes that as of 1960, Abdul Hakim's tomb in Jiren was still a
venerated site.[4]

Jimma, Aba Jifar Palace

Reviewed April 17, 2014
The Kingdom of Jimma was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in
the 19th century. Jimma was considered the most powerful militarily of the Gibe kingdoms. The
Kingdom of Jimma had its own administration, which was centered at the royal palace.
The Kingdom of Jimma Aba Jifar the strongest Oromo state The kingdom of Jimma Aba Jifar
was established around 1830. It was the largest and most powerful of the five kingdoms of Gibe.
The five kingdoms were Jimma, Ennarya, Gera, Guma, and Gomma. After Aba Jifar, I ruled for
25 years the next very strong ruler, Aba Jifer II came to power. Aba Jifer II ruled from 1878 to
1932. Jimma was the center market, which used to attract many merchants from the surroundings
areas and its location on trade route resulted in advancement economy and military. The Silver
Maria Theressa Dollar and bars of salt were the main circulation of currency in Jimma.
The palace of Aba Jifar II at Jiren: This impressive palace that is about 8 kms from the center of
Jimma city was built by the cost of 400 kg of Gold and 65000 Maria Theressa Dollars towards
the end of 1860s. The palace stands with colorful architectural beauty. In the compound of the
palace still stand other four buildings: the public mosque, the mosque of Abba Jifar, residential
palace of Aba Jifar, residential palace of Aba Jobir and Aba Dula (the grandson of Aba Jifar).
The Museum : The museum displays most of historical materials of King Abba Jifar, his
kingdom and cultural objects of local Oromo People. The first set of collection in this museum is
the personal household furniture of the king that includes beds of Abba Jifar, armchairs, utensils,
religious manuscripts and others.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1071622-d6554834-r201505450-Aba_Jifar_PalaceJimma_Oromiya_Region.html#