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Irgalem (also spelled Yrgalam, Yrgalem and Yrga Alem; alternate names include Abosto, Dalle) is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located 260 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and 40 kilometers south of Awasa in the Sidama Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (or kilil), the town has a latitude and longitude of 6°45′N, 38°25′E and an elevation of 1776 meters.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia published in 2005, Iragalem has an estimated total population of 43,815 of whom 21,840 were males and 21,975 females.^[1] According to the 1994 national census, the town had a population of 24,183. It is the largest settlement in Dale woreda.

Irgalem was occupied by the Italians 1 December 1936 during their campaign against the remaining Ethiopian Army of Sidamo under Ras Desta Damtew.^[2] The town was capital of Sidamo Province until that province was abolished with the adoption of the 1995 Constitution.

Around 1957 there was no telephone landline connecting Irgalem; telecommunications were provided by a radio station. The next year, the town was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. Installation of the landline between Irgalem and Addis Ababa was completed in late 1960. By that time a branch of the electric authority EELPA had started operation at Irgalem.^[3]

The Mekane Yesus Church held its Eighth General Assembly at Irgalem in 1973. The Assembly passed a resolution requesting land reform in Ethiopia - a reform which was in fact put into action a couple of years later, as a result of the Ethiopian Revolution.^[3]

1. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4.
2. ^ Anthony Mockler, Haile Selassie's War (New York: Olive Branch, 2003), p. 172.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 28 November 2007)