Bure (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: ቡሬ), also transliterated Burye is a town in western

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Located in the

Mirab Gojjam Zone West Gojjam ( 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 from the Orom ...

of the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

, this town has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of 2091 meters above sea level. Bure enjoys a flourishing small business and connection point of businesses between Wolega, Gondar and Shewa. An agricultural training college and Bure Baguna, a mineral water factory, are the main modern industrial opportunities in the town.

History

An early mention of Bure is Emperor Susenyos's visit in 1608, after he had celebrated Easter at Wancha near the Melka Saytant ford over the Abay River. Ras Mikael Sehul and his puppet Emperor

Tekle Haymanot Abune Tekle Haymanot ( Ge'ez: አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት; known in the Coptic Church as Saint Takla Haymanot of Ethiopia; 1215–1313) was an Ethiopian saint and monk mostly venerated as a hermit. He was the Abuna of Ethiopia who fou ...

camped at Bure in 1770 for three days after their victory at the Battle of Faggeta. The

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

(Regent) of the

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...

, '' Ras'' Ali II, was born in Bure while his father '' Dejazmach''

Alula The alula , or bastard wing, (plural ''alulae'') is a small projection on the anterior edge of the wing of modern birds and a few non-avian dinosaurs. The word is Latin and means "winglet"; it is the diminutive of ''ala'', meaning "wing". The a ...

was governor of Damot.Charles T. Beke
"Abyssinia. Being a Continuation of Routes in That Country", ''Journal of the Royal Geographical Society''
14 (1844), pp. 1–76 Bure is located at a group of

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s that were popular during the 19th century for their therapeutic properties. When Charles Beke visited Bure in 1842, he reports he found the market "to be very small. It is occasionally visited by a few Gallas from Shinasha and A'muru." Beke continues, "The Baso market is, however, now-a-days so generally frequented by the merchants, that it has drawn away from Burie the trade which I apprehend formerly existed here." By 1880, its market was mentioned as having some trade in gold."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (Retrieved 7 April 2008) In the late 1930s, during the Italian occupation, Bure was described as a large village with a market located on a ridge between the upper valleys of Fettam/Sarki and Selala. It had two churches, one dedicated to Saint John and the other to Kidane Mihret. It also reportedly had a radio telegraph station, a clinic, and the residence of the local Italian official. Because the town was an important strongpoint on the

Bahir Dar Bahir Dar () is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The city is known for its wide avenues li ...

- Debre Markos road, its capture by

Gideon Force Gideon Force was a small United Kingdom, British and African special force, a with the Sudan Defence Force, Ethiopian Army of the Ethiopian Empire, regular forces and ( for Patriots). Gideon Force fought the Italy, Italian occupation in Ethi ...

and the followers of Dejazmach Negash Bezibeh 4 March 1941 was a significant contribution to the defeat of the Italians in Ethiopia. Due to ethnic unrest in the East Welega Zone (located in the

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

) during 2001, over 10,900 Amhara sought refuge in Bure.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 23,292, of whom 11,535 are men and 11,757 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 13,437 of whom 6,069 were men and 7,368 were women. It is the largest town in Bure

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''. These districts are f ...

Notes

{{Authority control Populated places in the Amhara Region