Arba Minch
Encyclopedia

Arba Minch is a city in southern 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...

; less common names for this city include Ganta Garo and Minghi. Located in the Gamo Gofa Zone
Gamo Gofa Zone
Gamo Gofa is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . It is named for the Gamo and Gofa peoples, whose homelands lie in this Zone...

 of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region about 500 kilometers south of Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

, at an elevation of 1285 meters above sea level. It is the largest town in Gamo Gofa Zone as well as Arba Minch Zuria
Arba Minch Zuria
Arba Minch Zuria is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia...

 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...

 and the second town in SNNPR next to Awassa.

Overview

Arba Minch received its name for the abundant local springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

 which produce a groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...

 forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

. Besides the forty springs crossing the town is a river kulfo, affectionately referred to as "cock river", which is used by the local people for washing cloths and farming. Located at the base of the western side of the Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...

, Arba Minch consists of the uptown administrative centre
Administrative centre
An administrative centre is a term often used in several countries to refer to a county town, or other seat of regional or local government, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located....

 of Shecha and 4 kilometers away the downtown commercial and residential areas of Sikela, which are connected by a paved road. On the eastern side of Sikela is the gate to Nechisar National Park
Nechisar National Park
Nechisar National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region immediately to the east of Arba Minch, its 514 square kilometers of territory include the "Bridge of God" , and the Nechisar plains east of the lakes...

, which covers the isthmus between Lake Abaya
Lake Abaya
Lake Abaya is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. It was named Lake Margherita by the Italian explorer Vittorio Bottego, the first European commonly thought to visit the lake, to honor the wife of king Umberto I of Italy, Queen Margherita...

 to the north and Lake Chamo
Lake Chamo
Lake Chamo is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of southern Ethiopia. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at an elevation of 1,110 meters. It is just to the south of Lake Abaya and the city of Arba Minch, and east of the Guge Mountains.The lake's northern end...

 to the south. Buses and taxis connect the uptown and downtown parts; both parts have schools.

Arba Minch was connected by dry-weather roads until they were upgraded in 1966. A telephone line connecting the town to the capital, costing E$
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....

 250,000, was turned up on 15 July 1967. According to the SNNPR's Bureau of Finance and Economic Development, other amenities in Arba Minch include postal service, 24-hour electrical service, a bank and a hospital. May 2010, the Ethiopian Roads Authority awarded a contract worth 563 million E$ to the construction firm of Brehane Hagos to build a road 60 kilometers in length from this town to Belta. Arba Minch is known as a source for fruit, including mango, banana, orange, apple, guava and pineapple, and is also known for its fish farms.Indicating its richness of fish a local singer named Abile Chedo sang the song Nu Dere Gamo Gofa Oycha Arbaminche. It is the home of Arba Minch University
Arba Minch University
Arba Minch University is a research university located in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, about 500 km south of Addis Ababa. Officially inaugurated in 2004, it is one of the top widely recognized universities in Ethiopia. The university's 2004/05 academic year enrollment is over 6,600, placing it...

 and the Southwest Synod of the Mekane Yesus Church. The town also is served by an airport
Arba Minch Airport
Arba Minch Airport is an airport in Arba Minch, Ethiopia . Located at an elevation of 1187 meters above sea level, this airport has one asphalt runway 2795 meters long by 47 wide....

, (ICAO code HAAM, IATA AMH).

History

Arba Minch was founded in the 1960s and the city succeeded Chencha
Chencha
Chencha is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, 37 kilometers north of Arba Minch, Chencha has a longitude and latitude of and an elevation of 2732 meters above sea level.Based on figures from the Central...

 as the provincial capital of Gamu-Gofa
Gamu-Gofa
Gamu-Gofa was a province in the southern part of Ethiopia, named after two of the ethnic groups living within its boundaries, the Gamo and the Goffa. First incorporated into Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II in the 1880s , its capital was first at Chencha, then around 1965 the capital was moved to...

, holding this honor until the reorganisation of provinces in 1995. It retains a degree of government importance as the administrative center for its Zone.

The Norwegian Lutheran Mission
Norwegian Lutheran Mission
The Norwegian Lutheran Mission is one of several independent Lutheran organisations in Norway. They are often considered one of the most conservative Christian Evangelical organisations in Norway. They consider themselves committed to the inerrancy of the Bible as the Word of God...

 opened a station at Arba Minch in 1970, which included a trade school; the school's operation was later taken over by the Mekane Yesus Church. At the beginning of the Ethiopian Revolution public demonstrations occurred in the town, and four people were killed in clashes with the police on 28 March 1974. Following the revolution privately-held plantations were made into state farms.

The 193 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....

 Arba Minch Textile Mill was opened on 6 May 1992 in the presence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Tamirat Layne
Tamirat Layne
Tamirat Layne is an Ethiopian politician. During the 1980s, he was a leader of the Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement , one of the groups who fought against Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in the Ethiopian Civil War.When Mengistu was overthrown in 1991, Layne became one of the...

. The mill would produce polyester mixed with cotton grey fabrics.

The town's police and militia
Law enforcement in Ethiopia
Law enforcement in Ethiopia has been since a reorganization in October 2000, the responsibility of the national police which is overseen by the Federal Police Commission. This commission reports to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, which in turn is responsible to the parliament; however, this...

 were accused of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 violations in 2008 by the US State Department, who alleged that they broke into the home of an Arba Minch resident, beat him and detained him, with local authorities taking no action following complaints. In December of that year, police opened fire at a public gathering outside a church in Arba Minch, wounding three individuals. Police were reportedly attempting to disperse a crowd following a disagreement between Ethiopian Orthodox priests. The other claim is that federal police were chasing down 3 escaped prisoners that took asylum in the church hoping that the police would not open fire on them in the church. They were wrong.

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, Arba Minch has an estimated total population of 72,507 of whom 36,296 were males and were 36,211 females. The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 40,020 of whom 20,096 were males and 19,924 were females.

External links

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