Weldiya or Woldia () is a town,

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 ...

, and capital of the

North Wollo Zone North Wollo (Amharic: ሰሜን ወሎ) also called Semien Wollo, is a zone in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the south by South Wollo, on the west by South Gondar, on the north by Wag Hemra, on the northeast by Tigray Region, a ...

in northern

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 ...

. Located north of

Dessie Dessiè City which is politically oppressed by the past Ethiopian government systems due to the fact that most of the population follow Islamic religion. Dessie ( am, ደሴ, Däse; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia ...

and southeast of

Lalibela Lalibela ( am, ላሊበላ) is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important site ...

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 ...

, this town has an elevation of 2112 meters above sea level. A notable landmark is a church Weldiya Gebriel.

History

19th century

When the missionary

Johann Ludwig Krapf Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first ...

passed through Weldiya in April 1842, it was the headquarters of

Dejazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, ...

Faris Aligas and his brother Birru. They were absent at the time of Krapf's visit, raiding the territories of Imam Liban of the Were Himano. As early as 1890, Weldiya was the administrative center of

Yejju Province Yejju Oromo people are a sub clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia. During the 17th century, the Yejju dynasty, more specifically, the Warra Sheik, or sons ...

. Its Tuesday market was well known for its mules."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 19 November 2007)

20th century

Weldiya was attacked in 1948 by farmers who were disgruntled after their appeals over their loss of land were ignored. They seized the prison in Weldiya and freed the prisoners. Despite this success, the revolt was eventually put down. On 16–17 November 1988 Weldiya was subjected to an aerial attack by 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 ...

, but no deaths were reported.

21st century

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 ...

aligned fighters captured Weldiya on 11 August 2021, but it was recaptured in December 2021.

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 town had a total population of 46,139, of whom 23,000 were male and 23,139 female. 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 80.49% reporting that as their religion, while 18.46% of the population said they were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. The 1994 national census reported a total population for Weldiya of 24,533 in 5,413 households, of whom 11,689 were male and 12,844 were female. The two largest ethnic groups reported in this were the Amhara (93.92%), and 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 ...

(4.32%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.76% of the population.

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 ...

was spoken as a first language by 95.2%, and 3.75% 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 ...

; the remaining 1.05% spoke all other primary languages reported. 79.75% of the population practiced

, and 19.44% of the population said they were

.This town is located on the way from Dessie to mekkele and to be connected by railroad on four directions
''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)

Education

There is a rising university, Weldiya University, and about a dozen other governmental and private primary and secondary schools.

Economy

Travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

for use in building has been worked on a minor scale nearby.

Transportation

Woldia is connected by all weather roads to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

and

Mekelle Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopi ...

by highway 2 and to

Debre Tabor Debre Tabor ( am, ደብረ ታቦር, lit. "Mount Tabor") is a town and woreda in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, about 100 kilometers southeast of Gondar and 50 kilometers east of Lake Tana, ...

by highway 22. The city will be served by two railways under construction: the

Weldiya–Mekelle Railway The Weldiya–Mekelle Railway is a standard gauge railway under construction, that will serve as a northward extension of the new Ethiopian National Railway Network and connects Mekelle to Addis Ababa and Djibouti via the Awash-Weldiya railway ...

and the Awash-Woldia Railway.

Notes

{{Districts of the Amhara Region Districts of Amhara Region