Bure (

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 ...

: ቡሬ), also transliterated Burye is a town 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 ...

. 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 Oromia R ...

of 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 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 Abay may refer to: People *Abay (name) Places * Abay District, East Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan * Abay District, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan **Abay (town), the province's administrative center * Abay, Almaty, Kazakhstan * Abay, Aktobe, a village ...

Ras Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

Mikael Sehul Mikael Sehul (born Blatta Mikael; 1692 – 1784) was a nobleman who ruled Ethiopia for a period of 25 years as regent of a series of weak emperors. He was also a Ras or governor of Tigray 1748–71 and again from 1772 until his death. He was a m ...

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 f ...

camped at Bure in 1770 for three days after their victory at the

Battle of Faggeta The Battle of Faggeta was fought in Ethiopia at Faggeta Lekoma on 9 December 1769. Ras Mikael Sehul, Emperor Tekle Haymanot II and Wand Bewossen fought and defeated Fasil of Damount in a large, costly battle. Tekle Haymanot Abune Tekle ...

. The

Enderase Until the end of the 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, formed the upper ...

(Regent) of the

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...

, ''

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

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, ...

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 al ...

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 produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s that were popular during the 19th century for their therapeutic properties. When

Charles Beke Charles Tilstone Beke (10 October 1800 – 31 July 1874) was an English traveller, geographer and Biblical critic. Biography Born in Stepney, London, the son of a merchant in the City of London, for a few years Beke engaged in mercantile pursuit ...

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 Kidus Yohannes 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 ( amh, ባሕር ዳር, 3=sea shore) 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 ci ...

Debre Marqos Debre Markos ( am, ደብረ ማርቆስ, Däbrä Marḳos lit: ''Mount of St. Mark'') is a city, separate woreda, and administrative seat of the East Gojjam Zone in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Etymology Originally named Manqwarar (lit: Cold Plac ...

road, its capture by

Gideon Force Gideon Force was a small British and African special force, a with the Sudan Defence Force, Ethiopian regular forces and ( for Patriots). Gideon Force fought the Italian occupation in Ethiopia, during the East African Campaign of the Secon ...

and the followers of Dejazmach

Negash Bezibeh Negash is a village in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, which straddles the Adigrat to Mekelle road north of Wukro. It is located in Wukro woreda. History Negash is considered to be the earliest Muslim settlement in Africa; a cemetery from ...

4 March 1941 was a significant contribution to the defeat of the Italians in Ethiopia. Due to ethnic unrest in the Misraq (East) Welega Zone during 2001, over 10,900 Amhara sought refuge in Bure.

Demographics

Based on figures from 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 ...

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 ( 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 ...

Notes

{{Authority control Populated places in the Amhara Region