Jimma

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Town in Oromia Region, Ethiopia

title: "Jimma" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-and-towns-in-ethiopia", "cities-and-towns-in-oromia"] description: "Town in Oromia Region, Ethiopia" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimma" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in Oromia Region, Ethiopia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameJimma
native_nameJimmaa
native_name_langom
nicknameJimmaa Abbaa Jifaar
settlement_typeCity
image_skyline{{multiple image
borderinfobox
total_width270
image_styleborder:1;
perrow1/2
image1markato area buildings in jimma-september 2022.jpg
image2Jimmamosque.jpg
image3Awetu area-september 2022.jpg
image4jimma univercity main gate-september 2022.jpg
image5Abbajifar palace from Jimma-september 2022.jpg
image_captionScenery in Jimma
pushpin_mapEthiopia#Africa
pushpin_label_positionright
pushpin_map_captionLocation within Ethiopia
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameEthiopiaEthiopia
subdivision_type1Region
subdivision_name1OromiaOromia
subdivision_type2Zone
subdivision_name2Jimma
population_as_of2007
population_footnotes
population_total207,000
population_density_km2auto
timezoneEAT
utc_offset+3
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m1780
postal_code_type
area_code47
population_est239022
pop_est_as_of2021
pop_est_footnotes
::

| official_name = Jimma | other_name = | native_name = Jimmaa | native_name_lang = om | nickname = Jimmaa Abbaa Jifaar | settlement_type = City | motto = | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 270 | image_style = border:1; | perrow = 1/2 | image1 = markato area buildings in jimma-september 2022.jpg | image2 = Jimmamosque.jpg | image3 = Awetu area-september 2022.jpg

| image4 = jimma univercity main gate-september 2022.jpg | image5 = Abbajifar palace from Jimma-september 2022.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = Scenery in Jimma | pushpin_map = Ethiopia#Africa | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia | pushpin_mapsize = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = EthiopiaEthiopia | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = OromiaOromia | subdivision_type2 = Zone | subdivision_name2 = Jimma | population_as_of = 2007 | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 207,000 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = EAT | utc_offset = +3 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 1780 | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code = 47 | website = | footnotes = | population_est = 239022 | pop_est_as_of = 2021 | pop_est_footnotes = Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administratively as a special Zone.

History

What is now Jimma's northern suburb of Jiren was the capital of the Kingdom of Jimma. Originally named Hirmata, the city owed its importance in the 19th century to being located on the caravan route between Shewa and Kaffa, as well as being only six miles from the palace of Abba Jifar II.

According to Donald Levine, in the early 19th century the market attracted thousands of people from neighboring regions: "Amhara from Gojjam and Shoa, Oromo from all the Gibe Kingdoms and numerous representatives of the Lacustrine and Omotic groups, including Timbaro, Qabena, Kefa, Janjero, Welamo, Konta and several others".

At the very beginning of the 20th century, the German explorer Oscar Neumann visited Jimma on his journey from the Somali coast through Ethiopia to the Sudan. As he observed, “Jimma is almost the richest land of Abyssinia; the inhabitants are pure, well-built Galla; they are nearly all Mohammedans, as is their king, Abba Jifar, a very clever man, who submitted to Menelik at the right time and, therefore, retained his country”

The present town was developed on the Awetu River by the Italian colonial regime in the 1930s. At that time, with the goal of weakening the native Ethiopian Church, the Italians intended to make Jimma an important center of Islamic learning, and founded an academy to teach fiqh. In the East African fighting of World War II after their main force was defeated, the Italian garrison at Jimma was one of the last to surrender, holding out til July 1941.

Following the death of Abba Jifar II of Jimma in 1932, the Kingdom of Jimma was formally absorbed into Ethiopia. During the reorganization of the provinces in 1942, Jimma vanished into Kaffa Province."

Herbert S. Lewis states that in the early 1960s it was "the greatest market in all of south-western Ethiopia. On a good day in the dry season it attracts up to thirty thousand people. Jimma was the scene of a violent encounter which started in April 1975 between radical college students (known as zemacha) sent to organize local peasants, who had benefited from land reform, and local police, who had sided with local landowners. Students and peasant followers had imprisoned local small landowners, rich peasants and members of the local police force; this action led to further unrest, causing the Derg (the ruling junta) to send a special delegation to Jimma, which sided with the local police. In the end, 24 students were killed, more arrested, and the local zemacha camps closed.

Days before the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in May 1991, the city was captured by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

On 13 December 2006, the Ethiopian government announced that it had secured a loan of US$98 million from the African Development Bank to pave the 227 kilometers of highway between Jimma and Mizan Teferi to the southwest. The loan would cover 64% of the 1270.97 million Birr budgeted for this project.

Climate

Jimma has a relatively cool tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am). It features a long annual wet season from March to October.

Afternoon temperatures at Jimma are very warm year-round, with the daily maximum usually staying between 24 and. Morning temperatures are even more consistent, being at a cool-to-pleasant 12 to virtually every day.

| location = Jimma | metric first = Yes | single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 35.0 |Feb record high C = 35.7 |Mar record high C = 37.7 |Apr record high C = 38.0 |May record high C = 34.7 |Jun record high C = 31.1 |Jul record high C = 29.0 |Aug record high C = 28.9 |Sep record high C = 31.6 |Oct record high C = 30.0 |Nov record high C = 31.0 |Dec record high C = 31.6 |year record high C = 38.0 | Jan high C = 28.7 | Feb high C = 29.7 | Mar high C = 29.8 | Apr high C = 28.8 | May high C = 27.9 | Jun high C = 26.3 | Jul high C = 24.7 | Aug high C = 25.0 | Sep high C = 26.1 | Oct high C = 27.1 | Nov high C = 27.8 | Dec high C = 28.1 |year high C = | Jan mean C = 19.0 | Feb mean C = 19.9 | Mar mean C = 21.1 | Apr mean C = 21.2 | May mean C = 20.9 | Jun mean C = 20.1 | Jul mean C = 19.2 | Aug mean C = 19.4 | Sep mean C = 19.9 | Oct mean C = 19.6 | Nov mean C = 18.3 | Dec mean C = 18.0 | year mean C = 19.7 | Jan low C = 8.4 | Feb low C = 9.9 | Mar low C = 11.8 | Apr low C = 13.1 | May low C = 13.5 | Jun low C = 13.6 | Jul low C = 13.7 | Aug low C = 13.8 | Sep low C = 13.5 | Oct low C = 11.6 | Nov low C = 9.0 | Dec low C = 7.7 |year low C = |Jan record low C = -2.3 |Feb record low C = 0.0 |Mar record low C = 0.0 |Apr record low C = 1.5 |May record low C = 4.4 |Jun record low C = 4.3 |Jul record low C = 8.4 |Aug record low C = 7.9 |Sep record low C = 6.0 |Oct record low C = 2.7 |Nov record low C = 0.0 |Dec record low C = -2.8 |year record low C = -2.8 | rain colour = green | Jan rain mm = 38.6 | Feb rain mm = 37.1 | Mar rain mm = 91.3 | Apr rain mm = 129.1 | May rain mm = 193.8 | Jun rain mm = 212.6 | Jul rain mm = 213.3 | Aug rain mm = 215.6 | Sep rain mm = 191.3 | Oct rain mm = 116.4 | Nov rain mm = 64.5 | Dec rain mm = 38.9 |year rain mm = | unit rain days = 0.1 mm | Jan rain days = 7 | Feb rain days = 9 | Mar rain days = 14 | Apr rain days = 16 | May rain days = 19 | Jun rain days = 22 | Jul rain days = 24 | Aug rain days = 25 | Sep rain days = 21 | Oct rain days = 12 | Nov rain days = 7 | Dec rain days = 5 |year rain days = | Jan humidity = 59 | Feb humidity = 62 | Mar humidity = 63 | Apr humidity = 66 | May humidity = 72 | Jun humidity = 76 | Jul humidity = 80 | Aug humidity = 80 | Sep humidity = 77 | Oct humidity = 73 | Nov humidity = 68 | Dec humidity = 64 |year humidity = 70 |Jan sun = 238.7 |Feb sun = 194.9 |Mar sun = 220.1 |Apr sun = 192.0 |May sun = 207.7 |Jun sun = 153.0 |Jul sun = 120.9 |Aug sun = 148.8 |Sep sun = 174.0 |Oct sun = 213.9 |Nov sun = 237.0 |Dec sun = 251.1 |year sun = |Jand sun = 7.7 |Febd sun = 6.9 |Mard sun = 7.1 |Aprd sun = 6.4 |Mayd sun = 6.7 |Jund sun = 5.1 |Juld sun = 3.9 |Augd sun = 4.8 |Sepd sun = 5.8 |Octd sun = 6.9 |Novd sun = 7.9 |Decd sun = 8.1 |yeard sun = 6.4 |source 1 = Ethiopian Meteorological Institute{{cite web | title = Climate of Major Cities | url = https://www.ethiomet.gov.et/climate-of-major-cities/ | publisher = National Metrology Institute of Ethiopia | access-date = May 9, 2025}}World Meteorological Organisation (rainy days){{cite web | url = http://worldweather.wmo.int/060/c00166.htm | title = World Weather Information Service – Jimma | access-date = 6 April 2019 | publisher = World Meteorological Organisation | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131023012927/http://worldweather.wmo.int/060/c00166.htm | archive-date = 23 October 2013 | url-status = live | df = dmy-all}} |source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (mean temperatures 1991–2005, humidity 1959–1982, and sun 1991–2005), | url = https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_634020_kt.pdf | title = Klimatafel von Jimma (Dschimma), Provinz Jimma / Äthiopien | work = Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world | publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst | language = de | access-date = 6 April 2019}} Meteo Climat (record highs and lows) | url = http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/index.php?page=stati&id=1840 | title = Station Jimma | publisher = Météo Climat | language = fr | access-date = 6 April 2019}}

Points of interest

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Jimmamosque.jpg" caption="[[Mosque]] in Jimma"] ::

A few buildings have survived from the time of the Jimma Kingdom, including the Palace of Abba Jifar. The city is home to a museum, Jimma University, several markets, and an airport (ICAO code HAJM, IATA JIM). Also of note is the Jimma Research Center, founded in 1968, which is run by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. The Center specializes in agricultural research, including serving as the national center for research to improve the yield of coffee and spices.

Sports

Football is the most popular sport in Jimma. The 50,000-capacity Jimma University Stadium is the largest venue by capacity in Jimma. It is used mostly for football matches.

Transport

Jimma is served by Aba Jifar (Jimma) Airport. The airport completed a renovation in 2015 in order to accommodate larger aircraft and more passengers.

Within the city limits people take bajajs (similar to “tuktuks”) or “line taxis” that are converted mini vans.

Notable residents

References

References

  1. (2007). "Population and Housing Census 2007 – Oromia Statistical".
  3. (2021). "Population Projection Towns as of July 2021".
  4. Bahru Zewde. (2001). "A History of Modern Ethiopia". James Currey.
  5. Donald N. Levine, ''Greater Ethiopia'', second edition (Chicago: University Press, 1974)
  6. "Jimma Town: Foundation and Early Growth from ca. 1830 to 1936".
  7. J. Spencer Trimingham, ''Islam in Ethiopia'' (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 137.
  8. Herbert S. Lewis, ''A Galla Monarchy: Jimma Abba Jifar, Ethiopia, 1830-1932'' (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1965), p. 56.
  9. Marina and David Ottaway, ''Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution'' (New York: Africana, 1978), p. 73f
  10. [http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/Archive/Newsletter%20Archive/Nov%20&%20Dec%202006/NovDec06P2.htm "Ethiopian Embassy Newsletter", Nov/Dec 2006, p.2]{{dead link. (November 2017)
  11. [http://www.eiar.gov.et/centers.htm EARI list of research centers] {{webarchive. link. (2009-04-23 (accessed 30 April 2009))
  12. "Jimma Airport Gets 250m Br Upgrade".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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