Dangila is a town in northwestern

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

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 ...

of 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 ...

, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2137 meters above sea level. It is the largest of three towns in

Dangila Dangila is a town in northwestern Ethiopia. Located in the Agew Awi Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2137 meters above sea level. It is the largest of three towns in Dangila woreda. His ...

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 ...

History

One of the earliest mentions of Dangila was when the Emperor Susenyos passed through the town in 1620. As late as the 1930s, Dangila was an important center of the

African slave trade Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of Africa in ancient times, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Indian Ocean ...

. '' Nagadras'' Habtewerq, director of customs in the town during the early 1930s, achieved a measure of success in liberating slaves despite the determined opposition of influential figures like the slaver Fitawrari Zelleqe."Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 17 December 2007) The British maintained a consulate in Dangila in the 1920s and 1930s, manned by R.E. Cheesman, who spent a considerable amount of energy mapping

Agawmeder Agawmeder (Amharic: አገው ምድር) was a historical state and region in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. Its most likely etymology is from ''Agew'' (አገው ägäw), a people living in the area, plus ''meder'' (land), thus meaning "Land o ...

and nearby

Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical province in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. Gojjam's earliest western boundary ex ...

. Dangila has played a role in

Ethiopian literature Ethiopian literature dates from Ancient Ethiopian literature (around 300 AD) up until modern Ethiopian literature. Ancient Ethiopian literature starts with Axumite texts written in the Geʽez language using the Geʽez script, indigenous to both E ...

. As a young man, Haddis Alemayehu, who was to become the foremost Amharic fiction writer, served for two years as a customs clerk at Dangila in the early 1930s. When consul Cheesman left, the consulate building was turned into a primary school, and Haddis Alemayehu became its headmaster for a year. Another author is

Abe Gubegna Abe Gubegna (Amharic: አቤ ጉበኛ; 1 July 1933 – 10 February 1980) was an Ethiopian writer. His name is sometimes spelled "Abbé" or "Abbie". He published eight novels, five plays, three collections of poetry, and translated several biograp ...

, who attended grades 1-8 at the Bitwedded Mengesha Jembere school in the 1950s.

Demographics

Based on the 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 growt ...

in 2007, Dangila had a total population of 24,827, of whom 12,389 were male and 12,438 were female. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 15,437 of whom 6,796 were male and 8,641 were female.

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Amhara Region Ethiopia Cities and towns in Ethiopia