Gimbi is a town in western 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 West Welega Zone

Mirab Welega Zone

Mirab Welega is one of the 12 Zones in the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. This zone is named after the former province of Welega, whose western part lay in the area Mirab Misraq now occupies....

 of the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

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

, it has a latitude and longitude of 9°10′N 35°50′E with an elevation between 1845 and 1930 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Gimbi

Gimbi (woreda)

Gimbi is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Welega Zone, Gimbi woreda is bordered on the south by Haru, on the southwest by Yubdo, on the west by Lalo Asabi, on the north by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the east by the Misraq Welega Zone, and on the...

 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...

.

Gimbi has had telephone service from some point between 1954 and 1967. Iron had traditionally been produced in the area. A North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

n team of specialists investigated the deposits in the mid-1980s.

History

An Ethiopian Orthodox church was built in Gimbi around 1895. By the 1930s, Gimbi was one of the most important markets of Welega Province

Welega Province

Welega was a province in the western part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Welega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries....

 and a meeting point of roads. The extension of the main road to Nekemte

Nekemte

Nekemte is a market town in western Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Welega Zone of the Oromia Region , Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,088 meters....

 had not yet reached as far as Gimbi by 1935.

A school for the blind was opened in Gimbi by the Western Synod of the Mekane Yesus Church in 1971. However by 1981 all Evangelical churches in the neighboring region were closed, except the one in the town itself.

Seventh Day Adventist Churches, and Schools, have being serving the city. The Seventh Day Adventist Hospital is the one and only inpatient hospital.

The Oromia TV sub-station and the Gimbi Campus of Wolega University were opened by Regional president Abadula Gemeda 23 February 2009.

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...

 in 2005, Gimbi has an estimated total population of 36,612, of whom 18,623 are men and 17,989 are women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 20,462 of whom 10,100 were men and 10,362 were women.

Use in popular culture

In the fictional Harry Potter universe

Harry Potter universe

The fictional universe of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of fantasy novels comprises two separate and distinct societies: the wizarding world and the Muggle world...

, Gimbi is the hometown of the professional Quidditch

Quidditch

Quidditch is a fictional sport developed by British author J. K. Rowling for the Harry Potter series of novels. It is described as an extremely rough, but very popular, semi-contact sport, played by wizards and witches around the world...

 team the Gimbi Giant-Slayers.