Asella, Life at the Edge of the Great Rift Valley

Abstract

The Town of Asella The Great Rift Valley runs over 6,000 km from the north of Syria to Mozambique. The width of the valley varies from 30 km to 100 km. Over the last 35 million years the continental drift has formed deep ravines like the Red Sea and high mountain ranges like the Ethiopian Highlands. Along the Rift Valley, there are many active volcanoes. Among them is the famous Erta Ale in Ethiopia, one of the six volcanoes worldwide with a permanently active lava lake. The Ethiopian Highlands are divided by the Rift Valley into a north-western and southeastern part. Some locations on the slopes of the Great Rift Valley offer a breath-taking farreaching view over the escarpment. One of these locations is Asella. The town lies at an elevation of 2,400 m above sea level at the base of the Mount Chilalo, which is 4,036 m high and towers over Lake Ziway, one of the great freshwater lakes of the Rift Valley. The multi-ethnic state of Ethiopia is subdivided into nine regional states, six of which are Ethiopia. Asella is located south-east from Addis Ababa. (Source: OCHA/ ReliefWeb). Nazret is the capital of the Oromia region. In the Oromo language it is called Adama