Gidan ( Amharic: ጊዳን) is a

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 ...

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 Re ...

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 Semien Wollo Zone, Gidan is bordered on the south by

Guba Lafto Guba Lafto (Amharic: ጉባ ላፍቶ) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Wollo Zone, Guba Lafto is bordered on the south by the Debub Wollo Zone, on the west by Delanta and Wadla, on the northwest by Meket, ...

, on the southwest by Meket, on the west by

Lasta Lasta (Amharic: ላስታ ''lāstā'') is a historic district in northern Ethiopia. It is the district in which Lalibela is situated, the former capital of Ethiopia during the Zagwe dynasty and home to 11 medieval rock-hewn churches. Its original ...

(formerly part of Bugna), on the north by the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray ...

, and on the east by

Kobo Kobo may refer to: Places * Kobo (woreda), a district in Ethiopia ** Kobo, Ethiopia, a town * Kōbo Dam, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan * Mount Kōbō, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan People First name * Kōbō Abe (1924–1993), pseudonym of Japanese w ...

. The administrative center of the woreda is Muja town, another small towns in Gidan include Debre Tsehay, Densa, Bekilo Mneqia, Iyella, Dildiy, Asikit, and Wonday.

Overview

The topography of this woreda is characterized by numerous escarpments and generally steep hill slopes; however every hill slope, no matter how steep, is used for cultivation."North Welo - Food Security Situation: Effects of consecutive crop losses on farm households in Selected Areas"
UNDP-EUE Field report March 1999 (accessed 15 April 2009) The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1300 to over 4100 meters above sea level; the highest point in Gidan is

Mount Abuna Yosef Abuna Yosef (Amharic language, Amharic: አቡነ ዮሴፍ) is a prominent mountain in the Lasta massif of the Ethiopian Highlands. At it is the 6th tallest mountain in Ethiopia and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, 19th highest of Africa ...

, on the border with Lasta (formerly Bugna). Rivers include the Tellare, a tributary of the Tekezé, along which Lieutenant-General Napier's men marched in 1868, after leaving the Dafat Pass. Gidan, as well as the other seven rural woredas of this Zone, has been grouped amongst the 48 woredas identified as the most drought prone and food insecure in the Amhara Region. Almost no trees can be seen in this barren landscape. Deep erosion gullies and the gravel, stone and rock covered valley bottoms attest to extensive

land degradation Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious o ...

. An inspection in 1999 by members of the UNDP-EUE concluded that these slopes and escarpment areas were being used too intensively and in a highly unsustainable way.

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 growt ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 158,428, an increase of 16.66% over the 1994 census, of whom 78,309 are men and 80,119 women; 7,720 or 4.87% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 1,089.80 square kilometers, Gidan has a population density of 145.37, which is greater than the Zone average of 123.25 persons per square kilometer. A total of 37,386 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.24 persons to a household, and 36,342 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 Chri ...

, with 99.61% reporting that as their religion. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 135,805 in 33,380 households, of whom 67,560 were men and 68,245 were women; 4,127 or 3.04% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Gidan was the Amhara (99.96%), Amharic was spoken as a first language by 99.97%, and 99.63% of the population practiced

.''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)

Notes

{{Districts of the Amhara Region Districts of Amhara Region