Ketema (formerly known as Mender 7) is a town in western
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 ...
. The name comes from the
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
word ''ketema'', meaning a fortified encampment; it is also a common personal name in Ethiopia. It is one of three towns located in the
Pawe special woreda Pawe is one of the 20 woredas in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. Because it is not part of any Zone in Benishangul-Gumuz, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area. It is a mod ...
of the
Benishangul-Gumuz Region
Benishangul-Gumuz ( am, ቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ, Benšangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia to the border of Sudan. It was previously known as Region 6. The region's capital is Assosa. Following the adoption of the 1 ...
.
Overview
Ketema was founded as one of the
resettlement projects under 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 ...
in the years 1984–86, when it was known as Mender 7 (or "Left 7"), because the settlement was located on the left side of the
Beles River
Beles River (''Kusa'' in Gumuz language) is a river of western Ethiopia. A tributary of the Abay river (better known as the Blue Nile), the Beles rises in Dangur woreda to flow in a south-west direction to its confluence. Its catchment area amounts ...
).
Ketema is located near the market of
Deq, a local market which existed before the resettlement program and is frequented by the
Agew
The Agaw or Agew ( gez, አገው ''Agäw'', modern ''Agew'') are a pan-ethnic identity native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, which belong to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic la ...
and
Gumuz peoples.
Based on figures from 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 ...
in 2005, Ketema has an estimated total population of 3,262 of whom 1,540 are men and 1,722 are women.
CSA 2005 National Statistics
Table B.3 According to the 1994 national census, its total population was 1,896 of whom 891 were men and 841 were women.
Notes
{{coord, 11, 03, N, 36, 19, E, display=title, region:ET_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Populated places in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region