Jijiga

The name Jigjiga is said to come from the onomatopoeic word jig-jig, representing the rumbling sounds made by an earthquake, or the noise from water wells on the outskirts of the city. Jigjiga is an example of many onomatopoeic words in Somali.

The region around Jijiga is believed to be associated with the medieval Gidaya state which existed as early as thirteenth century. One of the earliest references to Jijiga comes from W.C. Barker in 1842 who mentions it as one of the mahalla or halting-places of the caravan route between Zeila and Harar within the Somali inhabited Ogaden (present day Somali Region). Jijiga was later mentioned by British traveler Richard Francis Burton in 1854, who reports that it was a centre of wells for pastoralists of the local Somali (Jidwaq) clan on the caravan route to Berbera. During the pre-colonial era the Ogaden was neither under Ethiopian rule, nor terra nullius, as it was occupied by organized Somali communities. …

The climate of Jijiga is a subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwb). extremely wet and lush during rainy season, as with the rest of the Ethiopian highlands, Seasonal differences relate only to rainfall, as temperatures year-round are cool to mild in the mornings and uniformly very warm though not hot during the afternoons. There are two rainy seasons: the main meher rains occur from July to September, and the short belg rains in April and June. The dry season, known as bega, is cooler by morning than the wet seasons due to lower cloud cover, but equally hot by afternoon though less humid.