Tanqua Abergele ( ti, ጣንቋ ኣበርገለ, amh, አበርገሌ) is one of the
Districts of Ethiopia
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''.
These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...
, or ''woredas'', in the
Tigray Region
The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. Part of the
Mehakelegnaw Zone, Abergele is bordered on the south by the
Wag Hemra Zone
Wag Hemra (Amharic: ዋግ ኽምራ) is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Its name is a combination of the former province of Wag, and the dominant local ethnic group, the Kamyr (or "Hemra") Agaw. Wag Hemra is bordered on the south by ...
of
Amhara Region
The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Reg ...
, then by the
Tekezé River
The Tekezé or Täkkäze River ( amh, ተከዜ, ti, ተከዘ; originally meaning "river" in Ge’ez, ), also spelled Takkaze, is a major river of Ethiopia. For part of its course it forms a section of the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Erit ...
on the west which separates it from
North Gondar Zone
North Gondar (Amharic: ሰሜን ጎንደር; or Semien Gondar) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century.
Geography
North Gondar is bordered on the ...
of Amhara Region, on the north by
Kola Tembien
Kola Tembien (, "Lower Tembien") is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Part of the Mehakelegnaw Zone, Kola Tembien is bordered on the south by Abergele, on the west by the Tekezé River ...
, on the east by
Degua Tembien
Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien) is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the Southeastern Tigray ...
and on the southeast by the
Debub Misraqawi (South Eastern) Zone. The administrative center of this woreda is
Yechila
Yechila (also Yechilay or Chilay) is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Maekelay Zone of the Tigray Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1571 meters above sea level. It is located in the Mearey- tabia a ...
; other towns in Abergele include
Sele and Jijike. Abergele is one of the low lying districts of central
Tigray and the
Tanqua River, which originates near
Hagere Selam, flows through this woreda and joins the Geba just north of Jijike. It further feeds the Tekezé River. The
Tekezé Dam
Tekezé Dam is a double-curvature arch dam located between Amhara and Tigray region of Ethiopia. It is situated on the Tekezé River, a tributary of the Nile that flows through one of the deepest canyons in the world.
Overview
CWGS was contracted ...
is also located in this woreda.
History
It was a constituent of the old
Tembien awrajja.
Historically, Abergele seems to have formed a province since early times (perhaps the 14th century).
Abergele appears on indigenous maps of the northern
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
in the 15th Century.
It was governed by a ''shum'' in the reign of
Lebna Dengel and
Susenyos (16th-17th century). According to the chronicle of ''atse''
Yohannes I
Yohannes I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ዮሐንስ), also known as Yohannes the Righteous (Ge'ez: ጻድቁ ዮሐንስ), throne name A'ilaf Sagad (Ge'ez: አእላፍ ሰገድ; 1640 – 19 July 1682) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1667 to 1682, and ...
, the people of Abergele joined the rebellion, which was led by Fares and Zayohannes and suppressed by ''abeto'' Dalbe Iyesus in 1678.
Nowadays Abergele is bounded by
Enderta in the east,
Sekota in the south and ''qolla'' Tembien, in the northern and western directions. It assumes a unique position mainly for its trilinguistic makeup. Its inhabitants constitute the sole
Agaw enclave in Tigray, but the majority speaks
Tigrinya
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literatur ...
and some
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
as well. In terms of religion, however, they are predominantly adherents of Christianity. Very few of them practice Islam.
In 2020, woreda Abergele became inoperative and its former territory belongs to the following new woredas:
*Abergele(new, smaller, woreda)
*
Tanqua Millash
Tanqua Millash () is a district in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Central Tigray zone, Tanqua Millash is a newly created district from parts of the Tanqua Abergelle and Dogu’a Tembien distrcits in 2020. Agbe is the capital o ...
woreda
Agriculture forms the main stay of Abergele economic life. As elsewhere in most districts of Tembien, social services are hardly developed. The first schools and health centers of the calling are just emerging. This was partly attributed to the region's relative geographic remoteness from the center.
This seclusion and strategic position at the cross-roads of
Wollo
Wollo (Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed part of the present day Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions. During the Middle Ages this region was known as Bete Amhara and had Amhara kings. Bete Amhara had ...
,
Tigray, and
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
, seemed to have made it a safe abode for political dissidents for over centuries. It hoisted series of protracted armed encounters between the chiefs of these regions including that of
Yejju
Yejju Oromo people are a sub clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia.
During the 17th century, the Yejju dynasty, more specifically, the Warra Sheik, or sons o ...
.
Rock church
Abergele holds a
rock-hewn church. It was created probably before the 10th C. CE,
and is located along the slopes of the
Dogu'a Tembien
Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien) is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the Southeastern Tigray ...
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
. The Kidane Mihret rock church of Addi Nefas () is hewn from
Adigrat sandstone
The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil wood ...
.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the
Central Statistical Agency
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth ...
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 93,185, except an increase of 59.64% over the 1994 census, of whom 47,512 are men and 45,673 women; 7,035 or 7.55% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,407.88 square kilometers, Abergele has a population density of 38.70, which is less than the Zone average of 56.29 persons per square kilometer. A total of 19,775 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.71 persons to a household, and 18,767 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
, with 98.91% reporting that as their religion.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 58,373, of whom 29,541 were men and 28,832 were women; 2,334 or 4% of its population were urban dwellers. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Abergele were the
Tigrayan
Tigrayans ( ti, ተጋሩ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch.
The daily life of Tigra ...
(97.93%), and the
Agaw Kamyr (1.82%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.25% of the population.
Tigrinya
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literatur ...
was spoken as a first language by 98.17%, and 1.43% spoke
Kamyr; the remaining 0.4% spoke all other primary languages reported. 99.83% of the population practiced
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
, and 0.12% were
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
. Concerning
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
, 5.92% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 14.21%; 4.04% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; a negligible number of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and a negligible number of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning
sanitary conditions
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
, about 72% of the urban houses and 19% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; none of the urban and 1.6% of the total had toilet facilities.
Agriculture
Cropping
A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 15,123 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 1.63 hectares of land. Of the 24,690 hectares of private land surveyed, 87% was in cultivation, 0.2% pasture, 11% fallow, and 1.7% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 82% was planted in cereals, 2.3% in pulses, 3% in oilseeds, and 0.02% in vegetables. Four hectares were planted in fruit trees and 18 in
gesho
''Rhamnus prinoides'', the shiny-leaf buckthorn, is an African shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Commonly referred to as "gesho" it was first scientifically described by French botanist Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789. ...
. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 85% owning their land, and 15% renting; the percentage reported as holding their land under other forms of tenure is missing.
Livestock
![Abergele_cattle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Abergele_cattle.jpg)
In 2001, 89% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 10% only grew crops and 0.5% only raised livestock.
Mainly used for draught, among the different cattle landraces in Tigray,
Abergele is outstanding, as it holds its own landrace, the small and resistant
Abergele cattle
The Abergele cattle are the smallest breed of cattle in north Ethiopia. They are reared in the Abergele lowlands and at the southwestern lower slopes of Dogu'a Tembien district. Abergele cattle are part of the Zenga breed group. The Abergele br ...
.
Other varieties include the
Arado cattle
The red and black coated Arado cattle are small and hardy. They are the most common cattle variety in the north Ethiopian highlands. The Arado breed is part of the Zenga breed group. It is essentially reared for draught power, particularly tillag ...
, the widely dominant variety of adjacent districts. In addition, long-horned
Raya oxen are purchased from
Southern Tigray as draught animals.
Reservoirs
![Tekezze_River_in_Abergele](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Tekezze_River_in_Abergele.jpg)
In this district with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, most rivers (for instance
May Selelo
May Selelo is a river of the Nile basin. Rising in the mountains of Dogu’a Tembien in northern Ethiopia, it flows southward to empty in Giba and Tekezé River.
Characteristics
It is a confined ephemeral river, locally meandering in its na ...
and
Zikuli River
Zikuli, also called Gereb Awhi or Mennewe River, is a river of the Nile basin. Rising in the mountains of Dogu’a Tembien in northern Ethiopia, it flows southward to empty finally in Giba and Tekezé River.
Characteristics
It is a confine ...
s) run dry after the end of the rainy season. Hence, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season. Besides the larger
Tekezé Dam
Tekezé Dam is a double-curvature arch dam located between Amhara and Tigray region of Ethiopia. It is situated on the Tekezé River, a tributary of the Nile that flows through one of the deepest canyons in the world.
Overview
CWGS was contracted ...
, the reservoirs of the district include
Aqushela
Aqushela is a typical over-dimensioned reservoir located in the Tanqwa-Abergele ''woreda'' of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The earthen dam that holds the reservoir was built in 1999 by the Relief Society of Tigray.
Dam characteristics
* Dam ...
. Overall, these reservoirs suffer from rapid
siltation
Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...
. Part of the water that could be used for irrigation is lost through
seepage
Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and wat ...
; the positive side-effect is that this contributes to
groundwater recharge
Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in ...
.
Surrounding woredas
References
{{Districts of the Tigray Region
Districts of Tigray Region