Sekela (

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 ...

: ሰከላ) 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 Reg ...

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

West Gojjam Zone West Gojjam (Amharic language, Amharic: ምዕራብ ጎጃም) or Mirab Gojjam is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the former province of Gojjam. West Gojjam is bordered on the south by the Abay River which separates it ...

, Sekela is bordered on the southwest by Bure, on the west by 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 ...

, on the north by

Mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...

, on the northeast by

Yilmana Densa Yilmana Densa ( Amharic: ይልማና ዴንሳ "Yilma and Densa" formerly known as Adet) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Gojjam Zone, Yilmana Densa is bordered on the south by Kuarit, on the southwest by ...

, on the east by

Kuarit Quarit (Amharic: ቋሪት ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Gojjam Zone, Quarit is bordered on the southwest by Jabi Tehnan, on the west by Sekela, on the north by Yilmana Densa, on the east by the Misra ...

, and on the southeast by

Jabi Tehnan Jabi Tehnan ( Amharic: ጃቢ ጠህናን) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Gojjam Zone, Jabi Tehnan is bordered on the southeast by Dembecha, on the west by Bure, on the northwest by Sekela, on the north ...

. The administrative center of Sekela is

Gish Abay Gish Abay is a town in west-central Ethiopia. Located in the Mirab (West) Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, it is the administrative center of Sekela woreda. The town is named after the nearby Mount Gish and the Abay River (Blue Nile) whose sou ...

Overview

The

Lesser Abay River Gilgel Abay (ግልገል አባይ, Gǝlgäl Abbay), or Lesser Abay, is a river of central Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains of Gojjam, it flows northward to empty into south-western Lake Tana at . Tributaries of the Gilgel Abbay include the Ashar ...

, commonly considered to be the uppermost reach of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...

, originates in this woreda, and flows north into

Lake Tana Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wid ...

. In June 2002, heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in nine

kebele A ward ( am, ቀበሌ; om, Araddaa; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. It is part of a district, itself usually part of a zone, which in turn are grouped into ...

s in Sekela and neighboring woredas, which covered or completely washed away more than of land planted in crops, and destroyed about 8600 quintals of harvested crops. One person and more than a hundred animals died in this disaster.

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 growth ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 138,691, an increase of 61.36% over the 1994 census, of whom 69,018 are men and 69,673 women; 6,779 or 4.89% are urban inhabitants. With an area of , Sekela has a population density of , which is greater than the zone average of 158.25. A total of 29,908 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.64 persons to a household, and 29,093 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 Chris ...

, with 99.97% reporting that as their religion. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 85,950 in 17,216 households, of whom 43,616 were men and 42,334 were women; 1,959 or 2.28% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Sekela was the Amhara (99.93%).

was spoken as a first language by 99.95%. The majority of the inhabitants practiced

, with 99.96% reporting that as their religion.''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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekela (Woreda) Districts of Amhara Region