Jaldessa is a village in eastern 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...

. Located in the Shinile Zone

Shinile Zone

Shinile is one of nine Zones of the Ethiopian Somali Region. Shinile is named for its largest town, Shinile.Located at the northwestern point of the Somali Region, and stretching across the savanna north of the Amhar mountains, Shinile is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region, on the west by...

 of the Somali Region

Somali Region

Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

, this settlement has a latitude and longitude of 9°43′N 42°08′E.

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...

 has not published an estimate for the population of this village. It is located in Shinile

Shinile (woreda)

Shinile is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Shinile Zone, Shinile is bordered on the south by Dire Dawa, on the west by Erer, on the north and east by Ayesha, and on the southeast by Dembel. Towns in Shinile include Adigale, Harewa, Milo, and Shinile; villages...

 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...

.

History

During the 19th century, Jaldessa was an important station on the trade route between Harar

Harar

Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...

 and the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 coast. W.C. Barker, writing in 1842, mentions it as a stopping place in the territory of the Nole Oromo, on the caravan route between Zeila

Zeila

Zeila, also known as Zaila , is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of Somalia.Located near the Djibouti border, the town sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea. It is known for its offshore islands, coral reef and mangroves. Landward, the terrain is...

 and Harar

Harar

Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...

. The party of Italian explorer Count Pietro Porro was ambushed and slaughtered at Jaldessa in April 1886, which provided Menelik II of Shewa

Shewa

Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...

 with an excuse to attack Harar. Between the Shewan victory at Chelenqo

Battle of Chelenqo

The Battle of Chelenqo was an engagement fought on 6 January 1887 between the army of Shewa under Negus Menelik II and Emir 'Abd Allah II of Harar...

 and the foundation of Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia . This chartered city is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura....

, Jaldessa was the seat of the local Ethiopian governor. The foundation of that city, as well as the creation of the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway diminished the importance of Jaldessa.

Early in the Ogaden War

Ogaden War

The Ogaden War was a conventional conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1977 and 1978 over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. In a notable illustration of the nature of Cold War alliances, the Soviet Union switched from supplying aid to Somalia to supporting Ethiopia, which had previously been...

, Jaldessa was captured by Somali

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 units as they closed in on Dire Dawa; it was recaptured 4 February 1978 by the Ethiopian Ninth Division with Cuban tank and artillery shock troops.

In 2008, the United States of America selected Jaldessa as one of seven locations where servicemen of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa worked with Ethiopian veterinarians to vaccinate more than 20,000 animals: cattle were inoculated against blackleg

Blackleg

Blackleg may refer to:* Strikebreaker* Card sharp* Appalousa tribe* Operation Blackleg, dive operation on warship HMS Coventry * Blackleg , in sheep and cattle* Scurvy, deficiency in primates & some other animals...

 and anthrax

Anthrax

Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...

, while sheep and goats were inoculated against contagious caprine pleuro-pneumonia

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia , is a contagious bacterial disease that afflicts the lungs of cattle, buffalo, zebu, and yaks....

 and peste des petits ruminants.