Āfdem
Āfdem (Amharic: አፍደም)is a town is east central Ethiopia. Located in the Shinile Zone of the Somali Region. It is located 59 km east of Shinile. It is the administrative center of Afdem woreda. It sprawls on a wide basin surrounded by granitic mountains on all sides.
Āfdem አፍደም | |
|---|---|
  Āfdem Location within Ethiopia | |
| Coordinates: 09°28′N 41°00′E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Somali |
| Zone | Shinile |
| Elevation | 1,058 m (3,471 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 4,746 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Āfdem lies at the base of its namesake Mount Afdem, a volcanic cone with a denuded caldera. Postal service for the town began at least as early as 1944; Āfdem had phone service by 1967.[1] Āfdem is served by a railway station on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway.
History
The time of the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, the steam engines were Littorina replaced locomotives, which shortened the travel time between Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa from two days to one day. The trains stopped now about noon on Awash, and the station Afdem therefore lost in importance. In 1984 the village had 805 inhabitants. Āfdem was given an important boost with the arrival of the railway. By the early 1930s, the town had an important railway station because trains traveling both directions would pass each other there. Town amenities included a telegraph station and a good restaurant with some hotel rooms. By 1962, Āfdem was located on a dry-weather that ran from Mieso to Gota.[1]
Climate
Āfdem features a somewhat rare version of a highland climate with warm, but not hot, summers and cool winters. The town is known for its pleasant climate during the summer periods. Between mid May and early September. The annual high temperature is an average of 27.7 °C and low 13.5 °C.
| Climate data for Āfdem | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 29.0 (84.2) |
29.8 (85.6) |
31.3 (88.3) |
32.2 (90.0) |
33.4 (92.1) |
34.7 (94.5) |
32.8 (91.0) |
31.4 (88.5) |
32.1 (89.8) |
31.8 (89.2) |
29.9 (85.8) |
28.9 (84.0) |
31.4 (88.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 21.7 (71.1) |
22.8 (73.0) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.3 (77.5) |
26.2 (79.2) |
27.7 (81.9) |
26.1 (79.0) |
25.1 (77.2) |
25.7 (78.3) |
24.5 (76.1) |
22.2 (72.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 14.5 (58.1) |
15.8 (60.4) |
17.6 (63.7) |
18.4 (65.1) |
19.1 (66.4) |
20.8 (69.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
18.9 (66.0) |
19.4 (66.9) |
17.3 (63.1) |
14.6 (58.3) |
13.5 (56.3) |
17.5 (63.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 21 (0.8) |
44 (1.7) |
62 (2.4) |
84 (3.3) |
57 (2.2) |
36 (1.4) |
93 (3.7) |
134 (5.3) |
69 (2.7) |
26 (1.0) |
16 (0.6) |
7 (0.3) |
649 (25.4) |
| Source: Climate data for: Āfdem[2] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia published in 2005, Āfdem has an estimated total population of 2,129 of whom 1,092 are men and 1,037 women.[3] The town's inhabitants belong to various mainly Afro-Asiatic-speaking ethnic groups, with the Issa Somali predominant.
The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 1,428 of whom 721 were men and 707 women. The three largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the Somali (69.54%), the Oromo (20.93%), and the Amhara (7.63%); all other ethnic groups made up the remaining 1.9% of the residents.[4]
References
- "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 25 February 2009)
- "Levoyageur Weather : Ethiopia". Retrieved 11 July 2012.
- CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
- 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Tables 2.4, 2.14 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.