Alitena ( Ge'ez: ዓሊተና) is a town in northern Ethiopia, located in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of 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 ...

. Alitena was the administrative center of Irob

woreda 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 ...

until Dawhan was made the new center in 2003.

History

19th Century

Alitena has been an important Roman Catholic center in northern Ethiopia as early as 1845, when disciples of

Justin de Jacobis Giustino Sebastiano Pasquale de Jacobis, CM (9 October 1800 – 31 July 1860) was an Italian Catholic bishop and member of the Congregation of the Mission who became a Vicar Apostolic in Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Titular Bishop of Nilopolis. ...

converted some of the local residents from the

Ethiopian Church 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 ...

. At Easter 1847 the Catholic missionaries de Jacobis and

Guglielmo Massaia Guglielmo Massaia (9 June 1809 - 6 August 1889), born Lorenzo Massaia, was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who was also a missionary and Capuchin friar. His baptismal name was Lorenzo; he took Guglielmo as religious name. His ...

, together with two Ethiopian priests recently ordained by them, celebrated mass there in 1847. Although lacking churches, de Jacobis was fond of the people there, and considered Alitena as a possible place of refuge if there should be persecutions against the Catholics. Since 1934 the

Lazarist , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

Mission in Tigray had its main center at Alitena.

20th Century

Alitena is connected to

Zalambessa Zalambessa (Tigrigna: ዛላምበሳ) is a town located in Tigray, Ethiopia. Zalambessa is part of the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the Tigray Region. It is about 42 kilometers north of Adigrat. The Serha-Zalambesa border crossing is located in ...

by a 35 kilometer road which was constructed under the inspiration and leadership of the local

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priests, and opened 5 December 1974.

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 ...

, this town has a total population of 4,905, of whom 2,431 are men and 2,474 are women. A total of 975 households were counted in this town, resulting in an average of 5.03 persons to a household, and 927 housing units.''Census 2007 Tables: Tigray Region''
, Tables 2.2, 2.5 The 1994 census reported the town had a total population of 857, of whom 447 were men and 410 were women.

Notes

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