Hagere Selam

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Hagere Selam
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pushpin_label_position = top
pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Ethiopia
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples'
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Sidama
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population_total = 8491
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timezone = EAT
utc_offset = +3
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latd=6 |latm=29 |latNS=N
longd=38 |longm=31 |longEW=E
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elevation_m = 2759
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footnotes = Hagere Selam (Amharic, "Land of peace") is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Sidama Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (or "kilil"), this town has a latitude and longitude of coord|6|29|N|38|31|E and an elevation between 2759 and 2829 meters above sea level.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Hagere Selam has an estimated total population of 8,491 of whom 4,176 were males and 4,315 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 4686 of whom 2,312 were males and 2,374 were females. It is the largest settlement in Hula woreda.

History

Hagere Selam was reportedly founded in 1907 by Dejazmach Balcha Safo, to serve as the capital of Sidamo Province. [Charles W. McCellan, "Coffee in centre-periphery relations: Gedeo in the early twentieth century" in "The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia", edited by Donald L. Donham and Wendy James (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 178.] His court was described by John Boyes: "The apartment was large and handsomely appointed, the floor covered with Turkish carpets, and the ceiling composed of reed work of various colours in a circular design. Above the throne was a canopy, lined with red and draped with red curtains. The general kept his court with something like royal state." [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/A/ORTAF.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 28 November 2007)]

Dejazmach Balcha soon left to govern Harar for three years, returning to Hagere Selam in 1916. Ras Desta Damtew in the 1930s moved the provincial capital to Irgalem after he became governor, because Irgalem was more conveniently situated on a motorable road.

Hagere Selam was occupied 11 December 1936 by a column of the Italian Laghi Division which advanced south from Aleta Wendo. The Italians renamed the town Hula, in order to avoid Amharic names. Within a few years the "Guidi" described the town as an important market for coffee, hides, and cattle. Amenities included the "Vice residenza", telegraph, infirmary, restaurant, and "spacci". Of the four churches in Hagere Selam, Kidane Mihret was the principal one. The Italians started construction of a mosque at this time. The town was retaken by elements of the British 11th (African) Division on 18 May 1941.

A station of the Norwegian Evangelical Mission NLM at Hagere Selam, founded in 1953, claimed around 1962 to be the Norwegian missionary station with the highest altitude.

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