Degehabur
|
Degehabur Dhagaxbuur (Somali) |
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Degehabur
|
|
| Coordinates: 8°13′N 43°34′E / 8.217°N 43.567°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Somali |
| Zone | Degehabur |
| Elevation | 1,044 m (3,425 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 42,815 |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Degehabur (Somali: Dhagaxbuur, Arabic: جبل صخري) is a town in the eastern part of Ethiopia known as the Ogaden. Located in the Degehabur Zone of the Somali Region on the Jerer River, it sits at 1044 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center of Degehabur woreda.
Local landmarks include the Church of St. George, and the white mosque of Degehabur, which Anthony Mockler described as "the most important in the Ogaden." The NGO Doctors without Borders operates a clinic in Degehabur. The upgrade of the 165-kilometer road between Degahabur and the Regional capital, Jijiga, to an all-weather asphalt road was announced to be almost complete 31 October 2007, with the remaining 40 kilometers awaiting completion. Construction of an 106-kilometer asphalt road between Degehabur and the town of Shekosh was underway by March 2009. Local inhabitants constitute half of the 1,100 workers employed by the project.
During the nineteenth century, Degehabur was an important stopping point for caravans crossing the Haud for Hargeisa and Berbera, but when Major H.G.C. Swayne travelled through the area in 1893, he found it abandoned and uses it as an example of the destruction caused by "the insecurity resulting from inter-tribal feuds." According to Swayne, at the time of his visit "there were formerly many square miles of jowdri cultivation, which have been abandoned within the last few years, and now there is only left an immense area of stubble and the ruins of the village. Dagahbur used to be a thriving settlement of one thousand five hundred inhabitants ... now not a hut is left." In the 1920s Degehabur started to recover. It was said that there were some two hundred villages within the distance of a day's travel and that these used the market at Degehabur. By 1931 there were motorable roads in five directions out from the town. Wealthy inhabitants had started erecting two-story buildings.
...
Wikipedia