Burayu
| |
|---|---|
City | |
  Burayu Location in Ethiopia | |
| Coordinates: 9°02′07″N 38°39′39″E / 9.03528°N 38.66083°E | |
| Country |  Ethiopia |
| Region |  Oromia |
| Zone | Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne |
| Population (2007)[1] | |
• Total | 48,876 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Burayu (Oromo: Burraayyuu; Amharic: ቡራዩ) is a city and special census zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, located directly adjacent to the national capital city Addis Ababa (known as Finfinne in Oromo). With the rapid growth of the capital in recent decades and urban sprawl, the town has faced considerable economic and demographic pressures. The city's population has grown from merely 10,000 people in 1994 to an estimated 130,000 people three decades later; consisting of migrants from the rural south of Ethiopia looking for work along with former residents of Addis Ababa who sought cheaper housing in the surburbs.[2]
In 2018, a massacre occurred amid communal clashes with individuals from the Oromo and Dorze ethnicities fighting in and around Burayu, in which 55 people were killed.[2]
On 19 January 2022, during the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian religious festival Timkat, Oromia police shot into a crowd of Ethiopian Orthodox parishioners of the Saint Mary Church at Burayu. The security forces of Oromia killed two believers and several people were injured, including elderly, women and children. This incident was said to have happened because of the flag that the parishioners used, a green, yellow and red flag with the Ethiopian Orthodox logo over it.[3]
- ^ "Ethiopia: Cities & Towns". Citypopulation. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ a b Manek, Nizar; Tasfaye, Ermias (26 September 2018). "Mob killings split Ethiopians as political fault lines test Abiy's big tent". Ethiopia Insight.
- ^ "News: Oromia Police shot dead two, injure several others at Timket festival over flag controversy". Addis Standard. 22 January 2022.