Gelemso
| Gelemso | |
|---|---|
 Gelemso
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| Coordinates: 8°49′N 40°31′E / 8.817°N 40.517°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Oromia |
| Zone | Mirab (West) Hararghe |
| Population (2015 census) | |
| • Total | 24,200 |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Gelemso (Ge'ez ገለምሶ ) is a town in eastern Ethiopia, in the western periphery of the highly networked mountain chain referred to by the natives as Fugug but by geographers as the Ahmar Mountains. The administrative center of Habro woreda in the Mirab (West) Hararghe Zone of the Oromia Regional State, it has a latitude and longitude of 8°49′N 40°31′E / 8.817°N 40.517°ECoordinates: 8°49′N 40°31′E / 8.817°N 40.517°E.
Gelemso is the origin of a variety of khat called by the same name (Gelemso). It is also a scene of an Amharic novel known as Akel Dama (the Bloody Land), written by Theodros Mulatu in 1991.
Oral history says the name Gelemso came from the Oromo phrase Galma Usso, meaning the Hall of Usso or House of Usso, a mosque named for a man who came to preach Islam to the Ittu Oromos in the 13th century, called by his followers Aw Seid, and by the Oromos with his given name Usso after he was made ilma gossa or the adopted son of the Warra Qallu clan of the Ittu Oromo . As galma usually refers to the worship house under the traditional (Waqefanna ) religion of the Oromos, we may wonder why the mosque was called so. The Oromo elders explain the case as follows.
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