Kelafo

Kelafo Au Calif
Town
Kelafo Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 5°35′20″N 44°12′20″E
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Somali
Zone	Gode
Elevation	233 m (764 ft)
Population  (2005)
• Total	14,242
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

Kelafo (Somali: Qalaafe; Somali pronunciation: [qalaːfe], Amharic: ቀላፎ, romanized: Qällafo) is a town in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Gode Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 05°35′20″N 44°12′20″E and an elevation of 233 meters above sea level.

The regional successor to the Muslim states of Ifat and Adal, the Ajuran Sultanate,[1] governed its territories from Qalafo along the upper Shabelle River in eastern Ogaden until its decline in the 17th century.[2]

The UN-OCHA-Ethiopia website provides details of the health clinic in Kelafo, which was built in 1991 with funds and equipment provided by the Australian government.[3] Kelafo is served by an airport (ICAO code HAKL), and a bridge across the Shebelle River which was scoured in the May 1995 floods.[4]

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 14,242, of whom 7,522 are men and 6,720 are women.[5] The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 9,551 of whom 4,970 were men and 4,581 women. The largest two ethnic groups reported in this town were the Somali (96.85%), and the Amhara (1%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.15% of the population.[6] It is the largest town in Kelafo woreda.

Notes

1. Njoku, Raphael Chijioke (2013-02-20). The History of Somalia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-313-37858-4. The Ajuuraan state is regarded as the successor to its more influential and resilient predecessors such as the Adal and Ifat
2. Cassanelli, Lee V. (1975). "Migrations, Islam, and politics in Somali Benaadir, 1500-1843". In Marcus, Harold G.; Schoonmaker, Kathleen M. (eds.). Proceedings of the First United States Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Michigan State University, 2-5 May, 1973. African Studies Center, Michigan State University. pp. 101–115.
3. Frederic Vigneau, "Field Report of Gode and Kalafo zones" Archived 2010-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, UN-OCHA website, August 1994 (accessed 26 February 2009)
4. "Update on Response to Floods of Gode Zone", UN-EUE June 1995 (accessed 26 February 2009) Archived October 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
5. CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4 Archived November 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
6. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Archived November 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Tables 2.4, 2.14 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.