Badessa is a town and separate Aanaa in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the West Hararghe Zone of the Oromia Region, at the base of a spur of the Chercher Mountains 40 km south of the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway and 65 km east of Awash, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1761 m above sea level.

According to the local administration, the total population was 114,000 in 2022.

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this town of 18,187, of whom 9,592 were men and 8,595 were women. The majority of the inhabitants (64.49%) said they were Muslim, while 33.08% of the population practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and 2.07% were Protestant.2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1 , Tables 2.1, 2.5, 3.4 (accessed 13 January 2012)

The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 10,813 of whom 5,459 were males and 5,354 were females. It is the largest settlement in Oda bultum woreda.

A post office was in service in Badessa before the Second Italian-Abyssinian War, operating from 1923. Telephone service arrived no later than 1967."Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 11 December 2007) Mobile telephone service was introduced to Badessa May 2009."Six towns in W. Hararge get access to mobile telephone service", Ethiopian News Agency 23 May 2009 (accessed 30 May 2009)

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