Shire, Ethiopia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Shire
other_name = Inda Selassie
native_name =
nickname =
settlement_type =
motto =


imagesize =
image_caption =


flag_size =
image_

seal_size =
image_shield =
shield_size =
city_logo =
citylogo_size =


mapsize =
map_caption =


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
image_dot_

dot_mapsize =
dot_map_caption =
dot_x = |dot_y =
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = bottom
pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia
pushpin_mapsize =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Ethiopia
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Tigray
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Mi'irabawi (Western)
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name4 =
government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
leader_title2 =
leader_name2 =
leader_title3 =
leader_name3 =
leader_title4 =
leader_name4 =
established_title =
established_date =
established_title2 =
established_date2 =
established_title3 =
established_date3 =
area_magnitude =
unit_pref =
area_footnotes =
area_total_km2 =
area_land_km2 =
area_water_km2 =
area_total_sq_mi =
area_land_sq_mi =
area_water_sq_mi =
area_water_percent =
area_urban_km2 =
area_urban_sq_mi =
area_metro_km2 =
area_metro_sq_mi =
population_as_of = 2005
population_footnotes =
population_note =
population_total = 43,967
population_density_km2 =
population_density_sq_mi =
population_metro =
population_density_metro_km2 =
population_density_metro_sq_mi =
population_urban =
population_density_urban_km2 =
population_density_urban_sq_mi =
population_blank1_title =
population_blank1 =
population_density_blank1_km2 =
population_density_blank1_sq_mi =
timezone = EAT
utc_offset = +3
timezone_DST =
utc_offset_DST =
latd=14 |latm=6 |latNS=N
longd=38 |longm=17 |longEW=E
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m =
elevation_ft = 1953
postal_code_type =
postal_code =
area_code =
blank_name =
blank_info =
blank1_name =
blank1_info =
website =
footnotes = Shire (ሽሬ), also known as Inda Selassie (እንዳ ሥላሴ, Tigrinya "House of the Trinity"), is a town in northern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Mirabawi Zone [At least in 1998, per [http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/tigray01.html EUE: Tigray Evacuees, 12/98] ] of the Tigray region, this town has a latitude and longitude of coord|14|6|N|38|17|E with an altitude of 1953 meters above sea level.

The town possesses an airport, Shire Airport (IATA code SHC).

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Shire has an estimated total population of 43,967 of whom 21,333 were males and 22,634 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] According to the 1994 national census the town had a population of 25,269 of whom 11,360 were males and 13,909 females. It is the largest town in Tahtay Koraro woreda.

History

This town had been the capital of the Shire sub-region until the administrative reorganization of the nation after the adoption of the 1995 Ethiopian Constitution. Shire was a battlefield in both the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in the 1930s and during the Ethiopian Civil War, until the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front ejected the government forces in March 1988. The third edition of "Lonely Planet" guide to Ethiopia notes that "war relics" could still be seen near Shire. [Matt Philips and Jean-Bernard Carillet, "Ethiopia and Eritrea", third edition (n.p.: Lonely Planet, 2006), p. 131]

The first clash of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) with government forces occurred in late July 1975, when Mehari Tekle, a member of the leadership, was arrested and taken to prison in Shire. In the first offensive action of the TPLF, a squad of eleven men burst into the prison, killed two policemen, and freed him. [ [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/i/ORTIND.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 27 November 2007)]

Notes