Bati, Ethiopia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Bati
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pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Ethiopia
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name =‎ Ethiopia
subdivision_name1 = Amhara Region
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Oromia Zone
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population_as_of= 2005
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population_total = 24,257 (est)
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timezone = EAT
utc_offset = +3
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latd=11|latm=11|lats=|latNS=N
longd=40|longm=1|longs=|longEW=E
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elevation_m = 1502
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Bati is a town in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Oromia Zone of the Amhara Region (or "killoch"), east of Dessie this town has a latitude and longitude of coord|11|11|N|40|1|E with an elevation of 1502 meters above sea level.

Telephone service reached Bati by 1956: the town had two telephones, for the police and for the residence of the Crown Prince. [ [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/B/ORTBAS.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 21 November 2007)] The town also had postal service well before that time.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Bati has an estimated total population of 24,257 of whom 12,229 were males and 11,958 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 13,965 of whom 6,471 were males and 7,494 were females. It is the largest town in the woreda of Bati.

Bati is known for its market, located between the Ethiopian highlands and the Great Rift Valley. According to Philip Briggs, this market "forms an important cultural crossroads for the Amhara, Oromo and semi-nomadic, desert-dwelling Afar people. Bati has hosted Ethiopia's largest cattle and camel market, attracting up to 20,000 people every Monday." [Philip Briggs, "Ethiopia: the Bradt Travel Guide", third edition (London: Bradt, 2002), pp. 289f]

The earliest mention of Bati is in the 1930s, but Paul B. Henze believed that the market "must antedate the town by at least 200 or 300 years." He adds, "I have been unable to find references of very early travellers to Bati, which may have had a different name in earlier times." [Henze, "Ethiopian Journeys" (2001), cited in "Local History in Ethiopia"] The town was the site of one of the refugee camps of the 1984-5 famine, which was closed at the end of 1986. ["Local History in Ethiopia"]

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