Alamata ( Tigrinya: ኣላማጣ ) is a town 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 ...

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 ...

. Located in the Debubawi (Southern)

zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

of Tigray it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of above sea level and is located along

Ethiopian Highway 2 The A2 Highway is a trunk road in Ethiopia. It connects the capital Addis Ababa with Mekelle, as well as with Wukro, Adigrat, Axum, Shire and Humera. Ethiopian the A2 has a length of . Route Towns and cities along the A2 include, from north ...

. It is surrounded by

Alamata Alamata (Tigrinya: ኣላማጣ ) is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi (Southern) zone of Tigray it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of above sea level and is located along Ethiopian Highway 2. ...

woreda.

History

19th century

On 14 December 1895, Emperor Menilek's passed through Alamata on their way northwards against the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

. '' Arbegnoch'' under British leadership, liberated the town from Italian control during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on 5 May 1941; it was at the southern edge of the

Woyane rebellion The Woyane rebellion () was an uprising in Tigray Province, Ethiopia against the centralization process from the government of Emperor Haile Selassie which took place in May–November 1943. The rebels called themselves the ''Woyane'', a name bo ...

of 1943."Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 6 September 2007) On 14 December 1895, Emperor Menilek's passed through Alamata on their way northwards against the Italians.

20th century

Arbegnoch under British leadership, liberated the town from Italian control during the Second World War on 5 May 1941; it was at the southern edge of the Woyane rebellion of 1943. The first reports of crop failure in Wollo, were made in October 1971 by the chief municipal officer of Alamata; this report was handled very indifferently by his superiors who did not respond until July 1972, when they asked for a revised report. Alamata was garrisoned by the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

during the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

. The

Tigray People's Liberation Front The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...

captured the town in 1988.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census, Alamata has a total population of 33,214, of whom 16,140 are men and 17,074 women. 82.35% of the population said they were

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

, and 16.96% 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 ...

. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 26,179 of whom 12,094 were males and 14,085 were females.

Geography

Location

Alamata is located in the southern zone of Tigray. It is situated north of

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

and about south of the Tigray Regional capital city,

Mekelle Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajj ...

Topography

Topographically, Alamata is divided into western highland and eastern lowland. The western part (Tsetsera and Merewa) is categorized under the northern highlands of

, having an altitude range of . It is characterized by steep slopes, gorges and undulating terrain having scattered flat lands used for grazing livestock and farming. It covers 25% of the woreda. The topography of the area dominated by steep slopes has induced erosion. The eastern lowland with its eight tabias is generally plain in topography with an altitude ranging from . The plain landscape of this area makes the area suitable for agriculture and it covers 75% of the woreda. Alamata is located in the endoreic basin of the Afar Triangle. The streams near Alamata do not reach the ocean. Natural feature of Alamata

Economy

Agriculture

A mixed farming system with the predominant of crop production is practiced in the district. The major food crops grown in the area are cereals (sorghum, teff, and maize), pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and root crops.

Electricity

A high voltage transmission line was constructed to transport electricity from Alamata to Legetafo in central Ethiopia.

Transportation

The

Weldiya–Mekelle Railway The Weldiya–Mekelle Railway is a standard gauge railway under construction, that will serve as a northward extension of the new Ethiopian National Railway Network and connects Mekelle to Addis Ababa and Djibouti via the Awash-Weldiya railway ...

will have a station in Alamata.

Notes

Populated places in the Tigray Region {{Tigray-geo-stub