Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country in the northeastern part of Africa, popularly known as the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, and Somalia to the east, Sudan to the northwest, South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 102 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent that covers a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.
West Welega is one of the Zones in the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. This zone is named after the former province of Welega, whose western part lay in the area West Welega now occupies.
Oromia is one of the nine ethnically based regional states of Ethiopia, covering 286,612 square kilometers. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benishangul-Gumuz Region to the north; South Sudan, Gambela Region, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region to the west; and Kenya to the south. The 2011 census reported Oromia Region population is 35,000,000; making it the largest state in population.
In his travel book, In Search of King Solomon's Mines, Tahir Shah described Mendi in the late 20th century as a town with "a muddy main street", lined with "buildings with corrugated iron roofs and cement walls". He stops in a bar where "kerosene and sawdust had been sprinkled on the floor to keep away the flies."[1]
In Search of King Solomon's Mines is a travel book by Anglo-Afghan author, Tahir Shah.
Tahir Shah (Persian: طاهر شاه, néSayyid Tahir Al-Hashimi ; born 16 November 1966, is a bestselling British author, explorer, journalist, and documentary-maker of Afghan, Indian, and Scottish descent. He divides his time between Morocco and the UK.
Kerosene, also known as paraffin, lamp oil, and coal oil, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in industry as well as households. Its name derives from Greek: κηρός (keros) meaning wax, and was registered as a trademark by Canadian geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a genericized trademark. It is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage. The term kerosene is common in much of Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United States, while the term paraffin is used in Chile, eastern Africa, South Africa, Norway, and in the United Kingdom. The term lamp oil, or the equivalent in the local languages, is common in the majority of Asia. Liquid paraffin is a more viscous and highly refined product which is used as a laxative. Paraffin wax is a waxy solid extracted from petroleum.
History
Dejazmach constructed a church in Mendi in 1893.[2] However, when the Dejazmach regained his rights to levy taxes over his father's former kingdom in 1907, the central government excepted the "gate" of Mendi, which was retained to the customs office in Nekemte. "This sealed the right of the centre to fiscal control over Nekemte, a right that Addis Abeba was never to abandon in the years to come."[3]
Nekemte is a market town and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the East Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of 9°5′N36°33′E and an elevation of 2,088 meters.
By the 1930s, Mendi had become an important market of coffee. It attracted the attention of a Swedish pastor who established a mission there. The missionaries were accused of wrongdoing by the local Ethiopian priest to the Italians in 1938, who eventually expelled them; the Swedish mission was not revived until 1946. Mendi hosted a conference of Ethiopian Evangelical Churches in January 1954; the mission had to confront Muslim missionaries from Sudan in the next year, who converted 1000 people in a neighboring locale.[2]
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. The genus Coffea is native to tropical Africa and Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, and Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Coffee plants are now cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas, Southeast Asia, Indian subcontinent, and Africa. The two most commonly grown are C. arabica and C. robusta. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee seeds are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted beans are ground and then brewed with near-boiling water to produce the beverage known as coffee.
Sudan or the Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea to the east, Ethiopia to the southeast, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. It has a population of 39 million people and occupies a total area of 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it the third-largest country in Africa. Sudan's predominant religion is Islam, and its official languages are Arabic and English. The capital is Khartoum, located at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile. Since 2011, Sudan is the scene of ongoing military conflict in its regions South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
John Young believes that "at least a small contingent of the OLF is able to operate in the Mendi area ... on a semi-permanent basis" since the 2005 Ethiopian general election.[4]
The Oromo Liberation Front is an organisation established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to promote self-determination for the Oromo people against perceived Abyssinian colonial rule. The proponents of the movement hold that Amhara hegemony has been oppressing and suppressing the Oromo people and their culture. The movement is the culmination of over 70 years of uncoordinated resistance by Oromos against this condition. It has been outlawed and labelled a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government. The OLF has offices in Asmara, Washington, D.C. and Berlin from where it operates Amharic and Oromo-language radio stations.
Demographics
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Mendi has an estimated total population of 70,000 of whom 30,000 are men and 40,000 are women.[5] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 70,000 of whom 30,000 were males and 40,000 were females.
Notes
↑ Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines (New York: Arcade, 2003), p. 195
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Metemma is a town in northwestern Ethiopia, on the border with Sudan. Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Metemma has a latitude and longitude of 12°58′N36°12′E with an elevation of 685 meters above sea level. Across the border is the corresponding Sudanese village of Gallabat. According to the British diplomat Hormuzd Rassam, who travelled through Metemma in November 1865 on his diplomatic mission to Emperor Tewodros II, "Metemma" comes from the Arabic for "the place of cutting, or termination -- indicating the end of the Muslim provinces", although at the time the settlement was better known as Suk ul-Gallabat.
Gambela is a city and separate woreda in Ethiopia and the capital of the Gambela Region or kilil. Located in Anuak Zone, at the confluence of the Baro River and its tributary the Jajjaba, the city has a latitude and longitude of 8°15′N34°35′E and an elevation of 526 meters. It is surrounded by Gambela Zuria.
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The Search for King Solomon's Mines is a documentary film based on the trail followed in Tahir Shah's 2002 book In Search of King Solomon's Mines. After the initial journeys through Ethiopia that resulted in Shah's book, returned to the country with a film crew commissioned by National Geographical TV and Britain's Channel 4, to bring the search for the fabled mines to television. As a travel writer, having a film crew accompany him for the first time was a new experience for Shah. His work in researching books usually involves a low key method of gaining information and making contacts.
