Ferfer

Fer-fer is a town in the Ethiopian Somali Regional State, on the border with the Somali Hiran region (Beledweyne District).[1] The town straddles the disputed 1950's-era Provisional Administrative Line (as depicted on virtually all worldwide maps, atlases, and geographic websites) that separates the Ogaden region of Ethiopia from Somalia, and has a latitude and longitude of 05°05′N 45°08′E with an elevation of 230 meters above sea level.

This article is about the town. For firfir, a type of food, see fit-fit.

Ferfer Feer-feer
Ferfer Location in Ethiopia
Coordinates: 05°05′N 45°05′E
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Somali Region
Elevation	177 m (581 ft)
Population  (2005)
• Total	133,521 (est)
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

During the first three months of 1964, heavy fighting took place between Ethiopia and Somalia at several border points in the Ogaden, one of which was Ferfer.[2] Ferfer was among the locations within Ethiopia that were still under Somali control after Somalia's defeat in the Ogaden War of 1977/78.[3]

The Ethiopian army maintains an important base in Ferfer.[4] In June 2008, the border town was briefly seized by the Somali al-Shabaab.[5]

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Ferfer has an estimated total population of 4,411 of whom 2,418 are men and 1,993 are women. CSA 2005 National Statistics Archived November 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Table B.4</ref> The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 2,956 of whom 1,597 were men and 1,359 women. All of the inhabitants of this town belonged to the Somali people.[6] It is the largest settlement in the Ferferworeda.

Notes

1. Administrative map of Beledweyne District
2. "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 23 January 2008)
3. Gebru Tareke, "The Ethiopia-Somalia War of 1977 Revisited," International Journal of African Historical Studies' Hawadle clan is a Majority clan in Both sides Somalia and Ethiopia ', 2000 (33), p. 660
4. Ethiopian troops occupy strategic crossroad in central Somalia Archived 2010-12-09 at the Wayback Machine. Garowe Online, February 1, 2009 (accessed March 7, 2010)
5. Alisha Ryu: Peace Accord Brings More Violence to Somalia. VOA News, June 13, 2008 (accessed November 20, 2008)
6. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Archived November 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine 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.