Fiq, (Amharic: ፊቅ) (, ; ), is a town in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Erer Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1229 meters above sea level."Local History in Ethiopia" The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 19 December 2007)
History The Guida dell'Africa Orientale Italiana described Fiq in 1938 as a place where the Somali would gather during certain months. Travel by motorcar between Fiq and Babille was possible by a track. Administrative buildings present at the time included a post office, telegraph office and an infirmary.
Early in the Ogaden War, Fiq was captured by Somali units; following the fall of Jijiga they used the town as a base for the southern jaw of a pincher attack with the goal of capturing Harar, which raged for four months from September 1977 to January 1978. Despite unexpectedly heavy resistance from the Somali, the Ethiopian Eighth division, supported by a Cuban artillery battalion, entered Fiq on 8 March 1978.Gebru Tareke, "The Ethiopia-Somalia War of 1977 Revisited," International Journal of African Historical Studies, 2000 (33), pp. 652, 660
Demographics Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 192,911, of whom 960,932 were men and 950,979 were women.CSA 2005 National Statistics , Table B.4 The 1997 national census reported a total population for this town of 168,656, of whom 84,580 were men and 84,076 were women. The predominant ethnic group reported in Fiq was the Somali (100% of the population).1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 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. It is the largest town in Fiq woreda.
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