Debre Zeyit

For the town in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, see Debre Zeyit, Benishangul Gumuz.

Debre Zeyit ደብረ ዘዪት Bishoftu
Debre Zeyit Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 8°45′N 38°59′E / 8.75°N 38.983°E / 8.75; 38.983Coordinates: 8°45′N 38°59′E / 8.75°N 38.983°E / 8.75; 38.983
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Oromia
Zone	Misraq (East) Shewa
Elevation	1,920 m (6,299 ft)
Population (2008)
– Total	165,222
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Debre Zeyit (also transliterated Debre Zeit; Ge'ez ደብረ ዘይት; Amharic "Mount of Olives") is a town of Ethiopia, lying south east of Addis Ababa. Since the late 1990s it has been officially known by the Oromo name, Bishoftu,^[1] which was its name until 1955.^[2] The town is located in the Misraq Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region, and has a latitude and longitude of 8°45′N 38°59′E / 8.75°N 38.983°E / 8.75; 38.983 with an elevation of 1,920 metres (6,300 ft). It is the administrative center of Ada'a Chukala woreda.

Overview

Nearby points of interest include Mount Yerer, Green Crater Lake and Lake Hora Kiloli.

It is a resort town, known for five crater lakes: Lake Bishoftu, Lake Hora (a base for watersports, many water birds and an annual festival), Lake Bishoftu Guda, Lake Koriftu and the seasonal Lake Cheleklaka. Debre Zeyit is also home to the Ethiopian Air Force and the Harar Meda Airport (ICAO HAHM, IATA QHR), as well as a station on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway. It has had telephone service since 1954. The Gafat Armament Engineering Complex is located here. According to the Nordic Africa Institute website, other major businesses in Debre Zeyit include the Ada Flour and Pasta Factory, the Pasqua Giuseppe PLC, the Salmida Leather Products Manufacturing, Ratson (Women Youth Children Development Programme), and Winrock International Ethiopia.^[2] The Debre Zeyt Research Center, founded in 1953, is run by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, specializing in agricultural research, which includes acting as the national center for research to improve the yield of teff, lentils, chickpeas, and poultry.^[3] In 2007 Debre Zeyit became the new home of Meserete Kristos College, a Christian college owned by the Meserete Kristos Church.

History

Debre Zeyit, as a definite entity, did not come into existence until after the Second World War. Accounts of earlier travelers call the region "Adda", although one Swedish memoir from 1935 mentions a village named "Bishoftu"; the future minister Makonnen Habte-Wold was born in this village. At about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Adda, on land that had been owned partly by Emperor Haile Selassie I, the Italians started Azienda Agraria di Biscioftu dell'Opera Nazionale per i Combattenti on 15,000 hectares, intending to create a center of colonization as well as an experimental agricultural station. The first foundation stone for the houses was laid 9 December 1937, but only 21 dwellings were ready by May 1938. Various administrative and service buildings were also built.^[2]

The history of the Ethiopian airforce is tightly woven with the history of Debre Zeyit. In 1946, the beginnings of what would become the Ethiopian Air Force was moved from the Bole airport in Addis Ababa, which was needed by Ethiopian Airlines, to Bishoftu. The initial group of 19 Swedes under Count Carl Gustaf von Rosen, who were to train the pilots and support personal, arrived there after leaving Sweden between 9 January and 16 July 1946. Both Ethiopian cadets and the Swedish instructors took part in constructing the first buildings on the base. Six Saab 91 Safir training airplanes were bought in Sweden and flown to the new airbase 24 December 1946, and on 10 November 1947 a fleet of 16 Saab-built B-17s were landed at Bishoftu by Swedish pilots.^[2]

Debre Zeyit Technical High School was established in 1958 with a 5-year course for boys 12-15 years of age. An Evangelical College had been founded two years before, which was a joint undertaking of Swedish, Norwegian, and German Evangelical missions. The Evangelical College's first headmaster was Sven Rubenson. The Animal Health Assistants Training School was established in Debre Zeyit in 1963, with financial support by the United Nations Special Fund.^[2]

The artist Lemma Tesefa Kesime was born (1956) in Debre Zeyit. He studied at the Art School 1972-1974 and received his M.A. from the Soviet Union in 1983. Returning to Ethiopia, Lemma Tesefa became a teacher at the art school in Addis Ababa.^[2] Debre Zeyit was also the favored weekend retreat of Emperor Haile Selassie, who built a palace in the town, named "Fairfield" after his wartime home in exile in the town of Bath, England.

Armed forces of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front bypassed the capital and occupied Debre Zeyit in May, 1991, bringing order to the area after the collapse of the Mengistu government, taking control of what remained of the Soviet-supplied Air Force. The airbase was also used to detain several dozen senior military officers after the capture of the capital.^[4]

A bomb exploded in the town at the beginning of May 2004. It killed one person while injuring many more.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Debre Zeyit has an estimated total population of 131,159, of whom 64,642 are men and 66,517 women.^[5]

The 1994 census reported Debre Zeyit had a total population of 73,372 of whom 35,058 were men and 38,314 were women. The three largest ethnic groups reported for this town were the Amhara (42.86%), the Oromo (39.4%), and the Gurage (8.3%); all other ethnic groups made up 9.44% of the population. Amharic is spoken as a first language by 71.95%, and 20.12% spoke Oromiffa; the remaining 7.93% spoke all other primary languages reported. Concerning religious beliefs, 87.87% of the population said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 6.93% were Protestants, and 4.02% observed Roman Catholicism.^[6]

Notes

1. ^ Philip Briggs (2009). Ethiopia. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 377. ISBN 978 1 84162 284 2. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 7 December 2007)
3. ^ EARI list of research centers (accessed 30 April 2009)
4. ^ Henze, Paul B. (2000). Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia. New York: Palgrave. ISBN 0-312-22719-1. 
5. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.3
6. ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Tables 2.5, 2.14, 2.17, 2.21 (accessed 30 December 2008).

External links

• Official website
• Cities of Ethiopia: Debre Zeyit by John Taylor (Addis Tribune, 2 November 2001)