Filtu is a town in southern Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. Located in the Liben Zone

Liben Zone

Liben is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Liben is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the northeast by Afder, and on the southeast by Somalia. Towns in Liben include Softu and Dolo....

 of the Somali Region

Somali Region

Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

, it has a latitude and longitude of 4°58′N 40°23′E with an elevation of 1,150 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Liben

Liben, Somali (woreda)

Liben is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia...

 woreda

Woreda

Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...

.

During the Italian occupation

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...

, a road 115 kilometers in length to Negele Boran

Negele Boran

Negele Borana is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Guji Zone of the Oromia Region on the road connecting Addis Ababa to Dolo Odo, it has a latitude and longitude of with an altitude of about 1,475 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Liben woreda...

 was maintained but not paved.

History

British forces advancing from Dolo

Dolo, Ethiopia

Dolo is a town in southeastern Ethiopia, within 30 kilometers of the Ethiopia-Somalia border. Located in the Liben Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of...

 freed the town from the Italians in March 1941.

In October 1964, Filtu was the scene for one of the perennial conflicts between the Boran and Guji Oromo

Guji Oromo

The Guji Oromo are an ethnic Oromo group living in southern Ethiopia. They are part nomadic and part agrarian. According to a population projection from 2007, the total population of the Guji Oromo is above 5 million....

 and their traditional rivals the Somali. The two Oromo clans attacked the Somali north of the Ganale Dorya

Ganale Dorya River

The Ganale Dorya River is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Dawa flows south and east to join with the Dawa at the border with Somalia to become the Jubba. Tributaries include the Welmel, Weyib , Dumale, Doya, Hawas and the Hambala...

, stealing or killing much of their livestock and forcing half of them to flee across the river, along with their fellow Muslims the Rayitu, to seek sanctuary around Filtu. The local authorities confined these refugees to a "protected hamlet" and ignored their pleas for help to return to their homes. As their plight worsened, the camp inhabitants started drifting south to Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 for weapons and training. One group of 40 men, who left for Somalia three months after arriving at Filtu, led by Waqo Gutu

Waqo Gutu

General Waqo Gutu was an Ethiopian rebel figure, leader of the United Liberation Forces of Oromia since the 1960s in the Bale Province in southern Ethiopia. The General had been elected chairman of ULFO in 2000...

, returned the next year to play an important role in the Bale revolt.

During the Ogaden War

Ogaden War

The Ogaden War was a conventional conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1977 and 1978 over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. In a notable illustration of the nature of Cold War alliances, the Soviet Union switched from supplying aid to Somalia to supporting Ethiopia, which had previously been...

, the Somali Army had penetrated into southern Sidamo

Sidamo Province

Sidamo was a province in the southern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Irgalem, and after 1978 at Awasa. It was named after an ethnic group native to Ethiopia, called the Sidamo, or more particularly, Sidama, who are located in the south-central part of that country...

 as far as Filtu, which they captured by the end of July 1977, but did not push any deeper. The Ethiopian Fourth Division recaptured Filtu 8 March 1978.

Due to disagreements between the local Somali and Oromo groups as well as within those ethnicities, no decision could be made about locating the administrative center for Liben Zone, as well as delaying the formation of a working zonal administration. Therefore, Filtu was appointed to function as interim administrative center for the Zone by the Transitional Government of Ethiopia

Transitional Government of Ethiopia

The Transitional government of Ethiopia was established immediately after the fall of the Dergue regime. It was led by Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. Zenawi remains the prime minister of Ethiopia to this day....

 during the 1990s.

Ethnic disputes in the years up to (and including) 2002 led to refugees settling around Filtu. Over 800 households came to settle themselves in three camps around this town: two of the camps include people from the Bale Zone

Bale Zone

Bale is one of the 17 zones in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Bale is named for the former kingdom of Bale, which was in approximately the same area...

 in Oromia

Oromia Region

Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...

, and one housed people claiming to come from Liben

Liben, Oromia (woreda)

Liben is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Guji Zone, Liben is bordered on the south by the Dawa River which separates it from the Borena Zone, on the west by Odo Shakiso, on the northwest by Adolana Wadera, on the north by the Ganale Dorya River which separates...

 woreda in Borena Zone

Borena Zone

Borena is one of the 17 zones of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Borena is named after a tribe of the Oromo people. Borena is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, on the north by Guji and on the east by the Somali Region. The...

 in Oromia. These refugees include 220 Degodia households who reported they came from an area south of the Negele Boran-Filtu road and north of the Dawa River

Dawa River

The Dawa River is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Dawa flows south and east to join with the Ganale Dorya at the border with Somalia to become the Jubba. The river forms part of the Ethiopia–Kenya border and part of the Ethiopia–Somalia...

, and 243 Wara Dubie and 289 Garre

Garre

The Garre are a Somali pastoralist clan who live in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. They are sub-clan of the Digil clan. Almost all speak the Garre language, though it may be secondary to the Maay speaking sub-clan of Darrawe who speak Maay as their first language. Their urban centers include...

 families who came from Dallo Mana, located on the Welmel River

Welmel River

The Welmel is a river of eastern Ethiopia. It is a tributary of the Ganale Dorya River.- See also :* List of Ethiopian rivers...

, about 100 kilometers north of Negele Boran.

The Somali People's Democratic Party

Somali People's Democratic Party

The Somali People's Democratic Party is a political party in Ethiopia, officially representing the Somali people. It is allied with, but not a member of, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front ....

 observed its eleventh anniversary of its founding in Filtu in July 2009, where numerous improvements to the infrastructure of the Liben Zone

Liben Zone

Liben is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Liben is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the northeast by Afder, and on the southeast by Somalia. Towns in Liben include Softu and Dolo....

 were announced.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency

Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)

The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...

 of Ethiopia published in 2005, Filtu has an estimated total population of 4,746 of whom 3,496 are men and 8,242 women. The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 5,518 of whom 3,135 were men and 2,383 women. The largest ethnic group reported in this town was the Somali

Somali people

Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

 (98.26%).

Ecology

Filtu is a historical location of habitat for the endangered African Wild Dog

African Wild Dog

Lycaon pictus is a large canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf...

, Lycaon pictus, whose local survival is in question due to the ongoing encroachment on habitat by the expanding human population

Overpopulation

Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...

.