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Jijiga (, , Jijiga) is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 75 km (37 mi) west of the border with Somaliland, the city has an elevation of 1,634 metres above sea level.Asiwaju, "Partitioned Africans: Ethnic Relations Across Africa's International", (1985), p. 173 Jigjiga is traditionally the seat of the Bartire Garad Wiil-Waal of the Jidwaaq Absame. The Jijiga Airport is named after him.
In 1887, the Ethiopian Empire under Menelik II invaded and conquered the ancient city of Harar and soon after announced a programme of ambitious expansion and colonialism to the European powers. This marked the start of a tentative yet violent invasion into the Ogaden region. During the Abyssinian invasion of Harar, much of the population and the cities Islamic scholars were massacred. As a consequence of this some scholars moved to the town of Jigjiga, and from a Somali perspective Jigjiga then replaced Harar as a center for Islamic learning.Abdurahman M. Abdullahi (Baadiyow) (2015). 9781912234035, Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd. . ISBN 9781912234035 As Emperor Menelik II continued his campaign of indiscriminate raiding and attacks against the Somalis of the Ogaden region between 1890 and 1899, Somali clans residing in the plains of Jigjiga were in particular targeted. The escalating frequency and violence of the raids resulted in Somalis consolidating behind the Dervish movement under the lead of Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan. (1987). 9780865315556, Avalon Publishing. ISBN 9780865315556
As the Ethiopian Empire began expanding into Somali territories at the start of the 1890s, the town of Jigjiga came under intermittent military occupation until 1900. An imperial garrison was established at Jijiga in 1891, which later became a base for Ethiopian military campaigns into the Somali-inhabited lowlands. British hunter Colonel Swayne, who passed through Jijiga in February 1893, where he described seeing stockaded fort with a garrison.H. G. C. Swayne, "A Trip to Harar and Imé", Geographical Journal, 2 (September 1893), p. 251 During 1895, it was observed that the fort set up in the town was often abandoned by the Abyssinians, who usually occupied it to carry out raids on the Somalis of the Ogaden. Abdullah Tahir was appointed governor of Jigjiga in 1896, this would be the emergence of Jigjiga's urban development. In this period Abyssinian settlers began arriving in the town from nearby garrisons.
During early 1900, Abyssinian troops began a permanent occupation of the town with the construction of a military fort in the outskirts. Subsequently, the anti-colonial Dervish Movement led by Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan had its first major battle when it attacked the Ethiopian forces occupying Jigjiga several to free livestock that had been looted from the local population during Abyssinian raids. Sayid Mohameds Dervish attack greatly shook the Ethiopians, and resulted in them coordinating large scale joint military operations with the British Empire against the Somalis fighters. Governor Tahir set up a native security forces to protect the town which consisted mainly of Somalis and Harari people as the Dervish fighters had begun its activities in the region. The Ethiopian control in the Ogaden at the start of the 20th century was tenuous as administrators and military personnel only resided in Jijiga and Harar.
After reportedly adopting the Islamic faith, uncrowned Emperor Lij Iyasu had a close relationship with the Muslim Somalis. In Jigjiga he built several and sent military aid to the Somali Dervish movement. During the summer of 1916, Lysau travelled to Jigjiga to organize an army of Somali fighters to follow him in a jihad against the Christians. When he left for Jigjiga, the imperial elite revolted against him. After Lij Lyasu's overthrowal and the subsequent tensions in the town, the Somali population abandoned Jigjiga, leaving behind only Amhara settlers, who were mostly soldiers. Due to widespread Somali hostility in the Ogaden, the town marked the effective boundary of imperial presence in the region. Succeeding governors such as Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam, had the town methodically organized in a square grid of streets, built a fort, dug several wells, encouraged agriculture, and set a fixed land tax. Actions which Richard Pankhurst claims won the hearts of the Ogaden Somalis.Richard Pankhurst, Economic History of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie University, 1968), p. 621 During the 1920s and 1930s, Somalis began returning to the town.
During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Jijiga served for some time as Dejazmach Nasibu Emmanual's headquarters and a supply center for the Ethiopian army. An Italian force under Colonel Navarra occupied the city on the evening of 5 May 1936. "Local History in Ethiopia The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 31 May 2008) Two days later, while inspecting a ruined Ethiopian Orthodox church in the city, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani fell into a concealed hole, which he was afterwards convinced was a mantrap; Anthony Mockler suggests this mishap contributed to his murderously paranoid mindset which led to the atrocities that followed the attempt on Graziani's life 19 February 1937.Anthony Mockler, Haile Selassie's War (New York: Olive Branch, 2003), p. 144 During Italian rule of the city, mosques were built by the new rulers Under the rule of the Ethiopian Empire, the construction of mosques had been stifled. Under Italian rule, Islam was given official recognition by the new ruling administration and mosques were constructed in Jigjiga. Arabic was also introduced in the schools set up for Italian East Africa's Muslim subjects.
The Regional government held a conference in this city to promote peace and development between 10 and 13 March 1996, which was attended by 535 from the local woredas, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Ethiopia, Tamirat Layne, the Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, the presidents of the Tigray Region and states and representatives from Amhara Region and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Regions. Report on the Peace and Development Conference Jigjiga, 10-13 March 1996 UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia report, April 1996 (accessed 26 December 2008) On 28 May 2007, during the celebration of Ginbot 20 (celebrating the downfall of the Derg), Jijiga and Degehabur were the scenes of attacks on civilians and government officials. At least 16 people were killed and 67 injured, including Abdulahi Hassan Mohammed, president of the Somali Region, who was speaking at the ceremony. The Ethiopian government blamed the attack on the Ogaden National Liberation Front. Many killed in Ethiopia attacks (al Jazeera) 29 May 2008, following a heavy downpour the Jijiga River broke its banks and flooded several in the town and the vicinity. The flooding killed 29 people and displaced 350 households., UN-OCHA website (accessed 19 March 2009) On 27 September of that year, a bomb exploded outside a hotel in Jijiga killing four and wounding 20. Local police apprehended a suspect whom they claimed was a member of Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya. "2008 Human Rights Reports: Ethiopia", Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US State Department (accessed 8 July 2009)
The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997. This census reported this town had a total population of 65,795 of whom 33,266 were male and 32,529 female. The predominant religion in this city Jijiga is Islam. As of 1997, the ethnic composition of the town was 61.58% Somalis, 23.25% Amhara people, 7.32% Oromo people and 4.37% Gurage people, and 1.48% Tigrayans; all other ethnic groups made up 1.99% of the population. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1] Tables 2.4, 2.14 (accessed 10 January 2009). This city is the largest in the whole Somali region.
There are two rainy seasons: the main meher rains occur from July to September, and the short belg rains in April and June. The dry season, known as bega, is cooler by morning than the wet seasons due to lower cloud cover, but equally hot by afternoon though less humid.
In his memoirs of his homeland, Nega Mezlekia describes Jijiga as sitting "on the edge of a vast, unmitigated valley on the bottom of Mount Kramanda the beginning of the mighty Ethiopian highlands, with vast lush greenery in sight, rolling hills and plains dotted with many farms in all directions the soaring Eastern Ethiopian Highlands slowly climbing west, the very common tall grassland tree used as shelter by the wandering hyena, and the inevitable sacred tree in every compound, trees in this area of the Somali region reach great heights with the help of generous rainfall year-round, the native Somalis in the area would use this area as a dry season grazing land for all the noble tribes of the land. The city is surrounded by rocky tall green mountains on all sides save the north all the way past nearby Harar all the way to Addis, which is open as far as the eye can see."Nega Mezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Childhood (New York: Picador, 2000), p. 5.
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