Metemma (
Amharic: መተማ) is a
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
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 ...
. Part of the
Semien Gondar Zone
North Gondar ( Amharic: ሰሜን ጎንደር; or Semien Gondar) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century.
Geography
North Gondar is bordered on th ...
, Metemma is bordered on the south by
Qwara, on the west by
Sudan, on the north by
Mirab Armachiho, on the northeast by
Tach Armachiho
Tach Armachiho ( am, ታች አርማጭሆ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named after "Armachiho", a province in northwestern Ethiopia along the border with Sudan and south of the Tekezé River. Part of th ...
, on the east by
Chilga
Chilga (Amharic: ጭልጋ ''č̣ilgā'') also Chelga, Ch'ilga is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is named after its chief town Chilga (also known as Ayikel), an important stopping point on the historic Gondar- Sudan trade route. Part o ...
, and on the southeast by
Takusa
Takusa (Amharic: ታኩሳ) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Takusa is bordered on the south by Alefa, on the west by Qwara, on the northwest by the Metemma, on the north by Chilga, on the northeast by Dem ...
. The administrative center is
Shehedi; other towns in Metemma include
Metemma
Metemma ( Amharic: መተማ), also known as Metemma Yohannes is a town in northwestern Ethiopia, on the border with Sudan. Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Metemma has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 68 ...
and
Shinfa.
Overview
Elevations in this woreda range between 550 and 1600 meters above sea level. Rivers include the
Atbarah, the Genda Wuha, the Guang and the Shenfa. The natural vegetation of this woreda is predominantly ''
Acacia'' trees with ''
Hyparrhenia
''Hyparrhenia'' is a genus of grasses. Many species are known commonly as thatching grass.
They are mostly native to tropical Africa; some can be found in warmer areas in temperate Eurasia, Australia, and Latin America. These are annual and pere ...
'' grasses growing beneath. Another common tree here is
Neem
''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus '' Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...
(''Azadirachta indica''), which is frequently planted along roads in the towns, and as shade trees in rural areas.
["Metema Pilot Learning Site Diagnosis and Program Design"]
IPMS Information Resources Portal - Ethiopia (July 2005), pp. 7-25 (accessed 12 March 2009) A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 23.6% is arable or cultivable, 4.13% pasture, 71% forest or shrubland, and the remaining 1.3% is considered degraded or other.
Teff
''Eragrostis tef'', also known as teff, Williams lovegrass or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known as ...
,
corn,
sorghum,
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
and
sesame are important cash crops; the town of Metemma serves as an important trade gateway between Sudan and the Amhara Region. Between November 2000 and June 2002,
SUR Construction built three road segments connecting Metemma with
Wohni by way of Shehedi, totalling in length 70 kilometers.
The economy of Metemma is predominantly agricultural. This woreda has been the major center of cotton production inside Ethiopia since the 1950s. In 2003/2004, 21.1 square kilometers were planted in cotton, yielding 168,592 qt of crop.
Gum arabic
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 ...
and
incense
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...
are important cash crops in this woreda; the principal species which produce incense is ''
Boswellia papyrifera
''Boswellia papyrifera'', also known as the Sudanese frankincense, is a species of flowering plant and frankincense that is native to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. The tree is cultivated in Ethiopia because of its valuable resin. The incense
...
'', while ''
Acacia seyal'' and ''
A. polyacantha'' are harvested for their gum. Three private companies are involved in harvesting incense, which together produce about 500 qt annually. Of the 18 rural kebeles, 12 have organized Farming Service Cooperatives with 2,995 members, and the remaining 6 are in the process of organizing cooperatives. Six cooperatives joined in 200 to form the Metemma Cooperative Union. One
micro-finance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
institution operates in this woreda, the
Amhara Credit and Saving Institution SC
Amhara may refer to:
* Amhara people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia
* Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people
* Bete Amhara, a lordship and later province of medieval Ethiopia
* Amhara Province, a historical region of Ethiopia
* Amhara Regio ...
(ACSI); established in 1998, it has one office at Shehedi and another at Shinfa. As of 2004, ACSI loaned out 5,357,540
Birr to 2,618 clients in this woreda.
[
Metemma was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2003 as an area for voluntary resettlement for farmers from overpopulated areas. Along with Qwara, the other woreda selected in Amhara that year, that year this woreda became the home for a total of 13,742 heads of households and 12,337 family members.
]
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 growt ...
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 110,252, an increase of 100.78% over the 1994 census, of whom 58,748 are men and 51,504 women; 29,698 or 26.94% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 6,969.97 square kilometers, Metemma has a population density of 15.82, which is less than the Zone average of 63.76 persons per square kilometer. A total of 29,378 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 3.75 persons to a household, and 27,935 housing units. 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 83.4% reporting that as their religion, while 16.5% of the population said they were Muslim.Census 2007 Tables: Amhara Region
, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 54,913 in 10,546 households, of whom 29,545 were men and 23,368 women; 11,051 or 20.12% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The five largest ethnic groups reported in Metemma were the
Amhara (78.87%), the
Qemant
The Qemant (also known as western Agaws) are a small ethnic group in northwestern Ethiopia specifically in Gondar, Amhara Region. The Qemant people traditionally practiced an early Pagan-Hebraic religion, however most members of the Qemant are ...
(10.27%), the
Tigrayan
Tigrayans ( ti, ተጋሩ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch.
The daily life of Tigra ...
(7.01%), the
Gumuz (2.1%), and the
Agaw Awi (1.25%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.5% of the population.
[''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 Kumer Aftit, Tumet and Shinfa[ Amharic was spoken as a first language by 89.48%, 6.76% spoke ]Tigrinya
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literatur ...
, 2.11% Gumuz, and 1.25% 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 0.4% 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 81.27% reporting that belief, while 18.61% of the population said they were Muslim.[
]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metemma (Woreda)
Districts of Amhara Region