Shiraro, Ethiopia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Shiraro
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pushpin_label_position = bottom
pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Ethiopia
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Tigray
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Mi'irabawi (Western)
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population_total = 14,666
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timezone = EAT
utc_offset = +3
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latd=14 |latm=24 |latNS=N
longd=37 |longm=56 |longEW=E
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elevation_m = 1246
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footnotes = Shiraro is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Mi'irabawi Zone of the Tigray Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of coord|14|24|N|37|56|E with an elevation of 1246 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Tahtay Adiyabo.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 14,666, of whom 7,288 were males and 7,378 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] According to the 1994 national census, its total population was 8,415 of whom 3,881 were males and 4,534 were females. An observer wrote in 1999 that because Shiraro is located "close to the traditional Kunama homelands, long-term Tigrayan oppression of the Kunama people is a hot topic. The Front is trying to persuade the population that if they are justified in fighting for freedom from Amhara domination, then they should be critical of their own history of discrimination against the Kunama." [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/s/ORTSHE.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 12 December 2007)]

History

Along with Zana, Shiraro was an early hotbed of TPLF support, with various local groups supporting the TPLF organized as early as 1978 and 1980. Over the duration of the Ethiopian Civil War, the Derg was never able to exert more than temporary control over Shiraro despite its relative accessibility. The army's impending arrival would lead to all but the old and sick rapidly moving to the countryside, and the army's departure would bring their return. When the Derg evacuated the town for the last time in 1985, allegedly the soldiers left land mines and hidden bombs which injured some people who had returned from hiding in the countryside.

Shiraro experienced shelling on 21 October 1998, during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Its inhabitants and refugees from the surrounding area who had sought safety in the town, fled to a camp near Zeban Gedena, about 15 kilometers to the southeast. [ [http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/tigray01.html EUE: Tigray Evacuees, 12/98] ]

References