Illubabor Province

This article is about the former province. For the current administrative zone, see Illubabor Zone.
Location of Illubabor within the Ethiopian Empire

Illubabor (Amharic: ኢሉባቦር) was a province in the south-western part of Ethiopia, along the border with Sudan. The name Illubabor is said to come from two Oromo words, "Illu" and "Abba Bor(a)". "Illu" is a name of a clan, and "Abba Bor" was the horse name of Chali Shone, who founded the ruling family of the area when it was conquered by Shewa; hence IlluAbabor means the Illu belonging to Ababor(a).[1]

Originally, its capital city was Gore, then around 1978 the capital was moved to Metu.[2] With the adoption of new constitution in 1995, the territory of Illubabor was divided between the Gambela, Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Regions of Ethiopia.

  1. ^ Yasin Mohammed Ruffo, "Border and Border-Crossing: The Case of Internal and External Migrants into and Out of Illubabor, 1904 - 1936"[permanent dead link], in AEGIS Cortona Summer School in African Studies, Borders and Border-Crossings in Africa, 16–22 June 2008, Cortona, Italy. (accessed 12 February 2009)
  2. ^ "States of Ethiopia". Statoids.