Qwara ( am, ቋራ) is one of the

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 ...

. Qwara is named after the former province of Qwara, which was in the same area. Located at the westernmost point 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 ...

, Qwara is bordered on the south by 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 ...

, on the west by Sudan, on the north by

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 ...

, on the east 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 ...

and

Alefa Alefa (Amharic: ዐለፋ) is one of the ''woredas'' in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Alefa is bordered on the southwest by the Agew Awi Zone, on the west by Qwara, on the north by Takusa, on the east by Lake Tan ...

, and on the southeast by

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 ...

; part of its boundary with the Benishangul-Gumaz Region is defined by the

Dinder River The Dinder River ( ar, نهر الدندر Nahr-ud-dindir, also spelled Dindar; ) is a tributary of the Blue Nile. It flows through Ethiopia and Sudan for . Course The Dinder River rises in the Ethiopian Highlands, west of Lake Tana in the Ethio ...

. The administrative center of this woreda is Gelegu; other settlements include Tewodros Ketema.

History

After the

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝባዊ አብዮታዊ ፓርቲ, Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā Həzbāwī Abyotawi Party), informally known as Ihapa, is the first modern political party in Ethiopia, esta ...

(EPRP) was defeated for control of northern Ethiopia, one wing of the EPRP moved to Qwara where it continued to fight against both the Derg and the

TPLF 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 ...

. Qwara 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 Metema, 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 total family members. Qwara was selected again in the fourth round of this resettlement program in 2006 and, along with

Lay Armachiho Lay Armachiho ( am, ላይ አርማጭሆ, lāy ārmāčihō, lit=Upper Armachiho) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. This woreda is named after "Armachiho", a province in northwestern Ethiopia along the border with Sudan and south of the ...

and

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 ...

in the Amhara Region, and

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 ...

in the Tigrai Region, became the new homes of 8,671 families. This was reportedly accompanied with almost 68 million Birr in infrastructure development.

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 94,106, an increase of 164.34% over the 1994 census, of whom 50,021 are men and 44,085 women; 4,731 or 5.03% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 7,707.19 square kilometers, Qwara has a population density of 12.21, which is less than the Zone average of 63.76 persons per square kilometer. A total of 22,565 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.17 persons to a household, and 21,345 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 93.2% reporting that as their religion, while 6.7% of the population said they were Muslim. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 35,600, of whom 18,553 were men and 17,047 women; 289 or 0.81% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Qwara were the Amhara (81.35%), the Agaw Awi (10%), the Gumuz (6.69%), and 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 ...

(0.71%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.25% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 82.31%, 9.98% Gumuz, and 6.7% 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 1.01% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practiced

, with 92.32% reporting that as their religion, while 7.58% of the population said they were Muslim.''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:Qwara (Woreda) Districts of Amhara Region