Abala is a town in northeastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. The administrative center of Zone 2

Administrative Zone 2 (Afar)

Administrative Zone 2 is one of five Zones of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. This zone is bordered on the south by Administrative Zone 4, on the southwest by Administrative Zone 1, on the west by the Amhara Region, and on the northeast by Eritrea. The administrative center of Zone 2 is Abala...

 of the Afar Region

Afar Region

Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, and is the homeland of the Afar people. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Asseb highway is under construction....

, this town has a latitude and longitude of 13°22′N 39°45′E with an elevation of 1482 meters above sea level.

Abala is an important trading center in the area for goats, with its market day on Thursday, and supplied by pastoralists from as far away as Afdera

Afdera

Afdera is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the saline Lake Afdera, located in the southern part of the Afar Depression...

, Erebti

Erebti

Erebti is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the Erebti River, a stream that flows east from the Ethiopian highlands into the Afar Depression, part of which lies in the eastern part of this woreda...

 and Teru

Teru

Teru is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Administrative Zone 4, Teru is bordered on the south by Aura, on the southwest by Gulina, on the west by Yalo, and on the north and east by the Administrative Zone 2...

 woredas.

History

Werner Munzinger

Werner Munzinger

Werner Munzinger was a Swiss administrator and explorer of the Horn of Africa.-Biography:...

 visited Abala in June 1867 (which he calls Ala), and mentions that it was the home of Hodeli, a chief of the Dumhoeta Afar

Afar people

The Afar , also known as the Danakil, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the southern point of Eritrea.-Early history:...

, as well as the location of a weekly market on Saturday primarily in salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

.

Records at the Nordic Africa Institute website mention the existence of an English mission school, and a church dedicated to Saint Michael.

In July 2010, the Ethiopian Roads Authority awarded the contract to construct a 63 kilometer gravel road from Abala to Shaigubi to Sur Construction, which is owned by the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray. The contract was worth 707 million Birr

Ethiopian birr

The birr is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. Before 1976, dollar was the official English translation of birr. Today, it is officially birr in English as well....

. The contract for a second road 109 kilometers in length, from Shaigubi through Male to Dalol, was awarded to Defence Construction and Engineering Enterprise, a division of the Ministry of Defense

Ministry of Defense (Ethiopia)

The Ministry of National Defense of Ethiopia is a cabinet level office in charge of defense related matters of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia...

, and was worth 185 million Birr. These two roads would enable Salnik Coal Mining Plc, an Indian company, to extract potash

Potash

Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...

 from its concession at Dallol

Dallol, Ethiopia

Dallol was a settlement in northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region in the Afar Depression, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of about 130 meters below sea level...

 in the Afar Depression

Afar Depression

The Afar Triangle is a geological depression that is caused by the Afar Triple Junction which is part of the Great Rift Valley. It overlaps Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia. The Afar Triangle includes the Danakil Depression and the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal...

.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency

Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)

The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...

 in 2005, Abala has an estimated total population of 4,820, of whom 2,518 are men and 2,302 are women. The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 3,300 of whom 1,613 were men and 1,687 were women. It is the largest settlement in Abala

Abala (woreda)

Abala is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Administrative Zone 2, Abala is located at the base of the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands, and bordered on the south by Megale, on the west by the Tigray Region, on the north by Berhale, on the northeast by...

 woreda

Woreda

Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...

.