Banja ( Amharic: ባንጃ) was one of the 105

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 ...

s in the

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 Re ...

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 ...

. It was named after a significant mountain located in the woreda, Mount Banja, where Fasil crushed a revolt of the Agaw in the late 18th century. Part of the

Agew Awi Zone Agew Awi ( am, አገው አዊ) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Awi sub-group of the Agaw people, some of whom live in this Zone. Agew Awi Zone is bordered on the west by Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by ...

, Banja was bordered on the south by

Ankesha Ankasha Guagusa (Amharic: አንከሻ ጓጉሳ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. The woreda is named after a former confederation of the Agew, which James Bruce describes was formed of Dengui, Sakala, Dengila and Geesh. ...

, on the west by

Guangua Guangua (Amharic: ጓንጓ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Agew Awi Zone, Guangua is bordered on the south and west by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by Dangila, on the northwest by Faggeta Lekoma ...

, on the north by Faggeta Lekoma, and on the east by the

Mirab Gojjam Zone West Gojjam (Amharic: ምዕራብ ጎጃም) or Mirab Gojjam is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the former province of Gojjam. West Gojjam is bordered on the south by the Abay River which separates it from the Oromia ...

. Towns in Banja included Injibara, Kessa, Kosober and Tilili. Other high points included Mount Faddi. Bodies of water in this woreda included the Zengena crater lake. Banja was separated for

Banja Shekudad Banja Shekudad is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is named after a significant mountain located in the woreda, Mount Banja, where Fasil crushed a revolt of the Agaw in the late 18th century. Part of the Agew Awi Zone, Banja Shekudad is b ...

and

Guagusa Shekudad Guagusa Shekudad is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Agew Awi Zone, Guagusa Shekudad is bordered on the west by Ankasha Guagusa, on the north by Banja Shekudad, and on the east and south by the Mirab Gojjam Zone. T ...

woredas. The woreda administration announced that by 22 March 2009, Banja had achieved 100% coverage of sanitation facilities, an increase from 0.03% in the 1990s, and 61% as recently as 2005. Through an innovative program which focussed on education of every resident of the woreda, the local Health Desk was able to convince the inhabitants of all 26

kebele A ward ( am, ቀበሌ; om, Araddaa; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. It is part of a district, itself usually part of a zone, which in turn are grouped into ...

s to construct enough latrines to ensure each household was no further than 6 meters from a latrine, as well as building one common latrine in every village. In addition, there are now public latrines for passers-by and boys who stay and sleep in the field herding cattle and sheep. However, only 28% of inhabitants currently have access to safe water.

Demographics

Based on figures published 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 growt ...

in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 208,428, of whom 105,491 are men and 102,937 are women; 17,074 or 8.19% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 11.4%. With an estimated area of 832.51 square kilometers, Banja has an estimated population density of 250.4 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 155.7. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 151,950 in 28,557 households, of whom 75,645 were men and 76,305 were women; 9,866 or 6.49% of its population were urban dwellers. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Banja were the Amhara (56.58%), and the Awi (43.27%) one of the Agaw peoples; all other ethnic groups made up 0.15% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 66.19%, and 33.77% spoke

Awngi The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya (an inappropriate ethnonym), is a Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia. Most speakers of the language live in the Agew ...

; the remaining 0.36% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants 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 Chri ...

, with 99.87% reporting that as their religion.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Amhara Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
, Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.10, 2.13, 2.17, Annex II.2 (accessed 9 April 2009)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banja (Woreda) Districts of Amhara Region