Gimbi

Gimbi is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the West Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 9°10′N 35°50′E / 9.167°N 35.833°E / 9.167; 35.833 with an elevation between 1845 and 1930 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Gimbi woreda.

Gimbi has had telephone service from some point between 1954 and 1967. Iron had traditionally been produced in the area. A North Korean team of specialists investigated the deposits in the mid-1980s.

History

An Ethiopian Orthodox church was built in Gimbi around 1895. By the 1930s, Gimbi was one of the most important markets of Welega Province and a meeting point of roads. The extension of the main road to Nekemte had not yet reached as far as Gimbi by 1935.

A school for the blind was opened in Gimbi by the Western Synod of the Mekane Yesus Church in 1971. However by 1981 all Evangelical churches in the neighboring region were closed, except the one in the town itself.

Seventh Day Adventist Churches, and Schools, have been serving the city. The Seventh Day Adventist Hospital was the first hospital in Gimbie and was founded in 1947. More recently a government hospital called Gimbie Public Hospital was established. The operational budget of this hospital is government subsidized.

Gimbi (woreda)

Gimbi is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Welega Zone, Gimbi woreda is bordered on the south by Haru, on the southwest by Yubdo, on the west by Lalo Asabi, on the north by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the east by the Misraq Welega Zone, and on the southeast by an exclave of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The administrative center for this woreda is Gimbi. Homa woreda was part of Gimbi woreda.

Coffee is an important cash crop of this woreda. Over 5,000 hectares are planted with this crop.Iron and phosphate deposits are known to be located in the neighborhood of Bikilal, a village 18 to 20 kilometers north of Gimbi, but have not yet been commercially developed.

Demographics

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 74,623 in 14,925 households, of whom 36,708 were men and 37,915 were women; none of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants observed Protestantism, with 65.37% reporting that as their religion, while 28.76% observed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 4.12% were Muslim.