Asella (Oromo: Asallaa, Amharic: አሰላ) is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region 126 km (78 mi) south from Addis Ababa, this town has a latitude and longitude of 7°57′N 39°7′E, with an elevation of 2,430 meters. Asalla hosts an Asella Airport (IATA code ALK). Asalla was the capital of Arsi Province until that province was demoted to a Zone of Oromia with the adoption of the 1995 Constitution. It retains some administrative functions as the seat of the present Arsi Zone.
Aanolee massacre In Hitosa, the Aanolee massacre took place on 6 September 1886, in which Emperor Menelik II's army massacred 11,000 Arsi Oromo in one day, cutting women's breasts and men's hands.[1] In 2014, a monument has been erected to remember the victims
Coffee has been a major cash crop in Arsi as early as 1912, when two Belgian companies were granted concessions of 1,464 hectares of land for cultivating coffee in the area of the current Zone. After World War I, these companies encountered financial difficulties and merged, and harvested as much as 613 tons of coffee at their peak (1931-21). The Central Statistical Agency (CSA), reported that 2198 tons of coffee were produced in this zone in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 1.9% of the Region's output and 0.97% of Ethiopia's total output. Arsi University was established in 2014 at Asella.
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 2,637,657, of whom 1,323,424 are men and 1,314,233 women; with an area of 19,825.22 square kilometres, Arsi has a population density of 133.05. While 305,701 or 11.59% are urban inhabitants, a further 7,098 or 0.27% are pastoralists. A total of 541,959 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.87 persons to a household, and 523,342 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported were the Oromo (84.15%) and the Amhara (14.3%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.55% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 81.38% and Amharic was spoken by 17.76%; the remaining 0.86% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 58.1% of the population having reported they practised that belief, while 40.01% of the population professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and 1.43% of the population professed Protestantism.[6] The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 2,217,245 in 438,561 households, of whom 1,105,439 were men and 1,111,806 women; 216,413 or 9.76% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Arsi were the Oromo (82.93%), and the Amhara (15.38%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.69% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 80.01%, and 19.19% spoke Amharic; the remaining 0.8% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Muslim, with 59.33% of the population having reported they practised that belief, while 39.95% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 4% of the inhabitants of Arsi have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 45.0 kilometres per 1000 square kilometres (compared to the national average of 30 kilometres),[8] the average rural household has 1.2 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region)[9] and the equivalent of 1.1 heads of livestock. 16.5% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 24%. Concerning education, 84% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 22% in secondary schools. 17% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and none to Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 364