Welega (also spelled Wollega; ; am, ወለጋ) was a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

, with its capital city at

Nekemte Nekemte, also spelled as Neqemte (, Amharic: ነቀምት), is a market town and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the East Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,088 met ...

. It was named for the

Wollega Oromo The Welega (also spelled Wallagga or Wal-arga) is a branch of the Oromo people who live in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, in the former Welega Province; a few live across the border in Sudan. They speak the Oromo language Oromo ( or ; Oromo: ''Afaa ...

, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries. Welega was bordered on the west by Sudan, on the north by the

Abbay River 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 to ...

which separated it from

Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical province in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. Gojjam's earliest western boundary ex ...

, on the east by Shewa, on the southeast by Kaffa, and on the south by Illubabor.

History

Following the liberation of Ethiopia in 1941, the following provinces were added to Welega to simplify administration: the semi-autonomous areas of

Asosa Asosa is the capital of Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia. Located in the Asosa Zone, this town has a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation of 1,570 meters. History A Belgian force from the Congo captured Asosa on 11 March 1941, dest ...

Beni Shangul is a Japanese Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initial ...

, Leqa Naqamte, and Leqa Qellam, and the province of

Sibu Sibu (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It i ...

.Paul B. Henze, ''Layers of Time'' (New York: Palgrave, 2000), pp. 237f. The boundaries of Welega remained unchanged until the adoption of new constitution in 1995, when Welega was divided, with part of its territory becoming the

and

Kamashi Zone Kamashi is a zone in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. It covers part of the southern bank of the Abay and the valley of the Didessa Rivers. The Zone is bordered on the south and east by the Oromia Region, on the west by the Asosa and ...

s 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 ...

, and the rest becoming part of the Mirab Welega, Misraq Welega and

Illubabor Zone Illubabor ( om, Illuu Abbaa Booraa) is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Illubabora is named for the former province Illubabor. It is bordered on the south by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, on the southwest by the ...

s of the

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benis ...

References

Benishangul-Gumuz Region Oromia Region Provinces of Ethiopia States and territories disestablished in 1995 {{Ethiopia-hist-stub

History

See also

References