Humera (; ) is a town in the

Kafta Humera Kafta Humera () is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Located in the Western zone of Tigray, Kafta Humera is bordered on the south by Tsegede, on the west by Sudan, by the Tekezé River which separates Kafta Humera from Eritrea on the north, on ...

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 ...

in the Tigray Region 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 ...

. Located in the

Western Zone Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

the town has an elevation of above sea level. 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 ...

borders the town to the north. Humera is a very important regional agricultural center based on

intensive agriculture Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

. It is the last Ethiopian town south of the border with

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, and is considered to be a strategically important gateway to

History

20th century

Prior to the

Ethiopian revolution 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 ...

, large agricultural businesses were established to grow soybean and other crops for export. By 1971, there were 700,000 hectares being farmed. Humera is part of the

Wolqayt Welkait (also spelled Wolkait or Wolqayt; is a woreda which was historically part of the northern Amhara region of Gonder in Ethiopia. Following the fall of the communist Derg regime and ascension to power of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front ...

Tsegede Tsegede () is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named after the historic province of Tsegede. Located in the Western Zone of Tigray, Tsegede is bordered on the south and west by the Amhara Region, on the northwest by Kafta Humera, and ...

area, which historically has been part of the former province of Semien also commonly known as Gondar. 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 ...

, Teranafit and its successor, the

Ethiopian Democratic Union The Ethiopian Democratic Union or EDU, also known as Teranafit (formerly a separate group based in Shire before it merged with the EDU), was one of the political parties that formed in opposition to the Derg regime of Ethiopia. It merged with th ...

(EDU), drew much of their support from the commercial farmers of Humera and Wolqayit, and gained control of Humera in early 1977;

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 ...

forces with tanks and armored cars retook Humera on 10 June, and the officers of the EDU fled to Sudan. The Derg used Humera as a base for military campaigns against the

Tigrayan 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 ...

(TPLF) until their

Third Revolutionary Army Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

was crushed in the

Battle of Shire The Battle of Shire (Italian: ''Battaglia dello Shirè'') was a battle fought on the northern front of what was known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal of Ital ...

on 19 February 1989; this forced the government to withdraw its garrison at Humera a few days later, and by the end of the month evacuate Tigray entirely. The TPLF then took control of the area, and created a supply line out of reach of the Derg. On 26 March 1989, Humera was bombed from the air by the

Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during natio ...

. In the first few months after the beginning of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, most of the population fled south to the villages of Ba'eker (11,000), May Kedra (5,000), and Bereket (4,000). These refugees later returned to Humera.EUE: Tigray Evacuees, 12/98
/ref>

21st century

On 13 March 2008, a bomb exploded on a public bus in Humera, which killed eight people and wounded at least 27 more. The government arrested the alleged perpetrators, who testified in court they had acted on behalf of dissident groups supported by Eritrea. Their trial was still in process at the end of the year. In November 2020, the town was shelled during the

Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...

. The

Humera massacre The Humera massacre was an ethnic mass murder event carried out in November 2020 in the town of Humera () in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, next to the Sudanese border. The massacre took place during an armed conflict between th ...

of ethnic Tigrayans took place. Responsibility for the massacre was attributed by refugees to Amharan militias, including

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

, and to the

Ethiopian National Defense Force The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) ( am, የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit=FDRE Defense Force) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out t ...

(ENDF). Most inhabitants fled. Administration of the town was taken over by officials from

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 ...

. In 2021, people were found having been tortured, tied up and thrown in the Tekeze River.The Guardian, 3 August 2021
Dozens of bodies found floating in river between Ethiopia's Tigray and Sudan
/ref>

Demographics

Based on the 2007 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 town has a total population of 21,653, of whom 11,395 are men and 10,258 women; this is an increase of 14,451 over the 1994 national census. With an area of 153.03 square kilometers, Humera has a population density of 141.50. A total of 49.84% households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 6,360 persons to a household, and 3.40 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 93.18% reporting that as their religion, while 6.45% of the population 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 ...

. Ethnic demographics of Kafta Humera woreda

Geography

Humera is located in northwestern Ethiopia. By road it is northwest 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 ...

, west of

Mek'ele Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopia ...

, and east of

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

. The

runs to the west of Humera. The town is spread on the east bank of the river. Humera is located at altitude ranges from 585 m above sea level.

Climate

Humera has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BSh''). The overall climate throughout the year is mild and dry. The annual rainfall ranges between 400 and 600 mm, with most of the rain falling in the rainy season (June up to September).

Economy

The population increases dramatically during the farming season each year, when migrant workers arrive from all over the country.

Sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

, and

Arabic gum Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the ''Acacia'' tree, '' Senegalia se ...

are among the most common crops.

Transport

The town is served by

Humera Airport Humera Airport is an airport serving Humera, a town in the northwestern Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The name of the city and airport may also be transliterated as Himera or Himora. Humera Airport is located at , which is southeast of Humera () ...

. Although it wasn't operational due to a border dispute, on 26 July 2009 after three years of construction by the

Ethiopian Airports Enterprise Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

, the airport was officially reopened. A runway three kilometers long and 45 meters wide was constructed, capable of handling present-day aircraft including

Antonov 124 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukraini ...

s."Ethiopia inaugurates international airport at Humera"
,

Ethiopian News Agency The Ethiopian News Agency ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ዜና አገልግሎት ''Ye-Ityopya Zéna Agelgelot'' (IZA) or ENA) is the official news agency of the Government of Ethiopia. It is the oldest news organization in Ethiopia. IZA's inception d ...

26 July 2009 (accessed 1 November 2009) The airport was opened at the cost of 182 million birr. Ethiopian Airlines serves the airport with destinations to

and

. The opening of the airport was aimed at increasing the agricultural sector in the region as well as providing commercial air service in Humera.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite news , last=Latif Dahir , first=Abdi , date=9 December 2020 , title=Fleeing Ethiopians Tell of Ethnic Massacres in Tigray War , work=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/world/africa/ethiopia-tigray-sudan.html , url-status=live , access-date=9 December 2020 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20201209211852/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/world/africa/ethiopia-tigray-sudan.html , archive-date=9 December 2020 {{Cite news , last=Brown , first=Will , date=23 November 2020 , title=After the bombs they attacked with knives, claim Ethiopians fleeing peace prize winner's war , work=The

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

, url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/23/ethiopia-unleashes-bombing-knife-wielding-militias-civilians/ , url-status=live , access-date=24 November 2020 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20201124141619/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/23/ethiopia-unleashes-bombing-knife-wielding-militias-civilians/ , archive-date=24 November 2020 {{Cite news , last=Akinwotu , first=Emmanuel , date=2 December 2020 , title='I saw people dying on the road': Tigray's traumatised war refugees , work=

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/02/tigray-war-refugees-ethiopia-sudan , url-status=live , access-date=2 December 2020 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20201202185821/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/02/tigray-war-refugees-ethiopia-sudan , archive-date=2 December 2020 Eritrea–Ethiopia border crossings Populated places in the Tigray Region