Dangila (

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 ...

: ዳንግላ) is a town in northwestern

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

Agew Awi Zone Agew Awi () is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Awi sub-group of the Agaw people, some of whom live in this Zone. Agew Awi Zone is bordered on the west by Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by North Gondar Zone ...

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 latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2137 meters above sea level. It is the largest of three towns in

Dangila Dangila (Amharic: ዳንግላ) is a town in northwestern Ethiopia. Located in the Agew Awi Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2137 meters above sea level. It is the largest of three towns in ...

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 ...

History

One of the earliest mentions of Dangila was when the Emperor

Susenyos Susenyos I ( ; –1575 – 17 September 1632), also known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1607 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne names were Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad III. He was the son of '' ...

passed through the town in 1620. As late as the 1930s, Dangila was an important center of the

African slave trade Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were once commonplace in parts of Africa, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient and medieval world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Red Sea s ...

. '' Nagadras'' Habtewerq, director of customs in the town during the early 1930s, achieved a measure of success in liberating slaves despite the determined opposition of influential figures like the slaver Fitawrari Zelleqe."Local History in Ethiopia"
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 17 December 2007) The British maintained a consulate in Dangila in the 1920s and 1930s, manned by R.E. Cheesman, who spent a considerable amount of energy mapping

Agawmeder Agawmeder (Amharic: አገው ምድር) was a historical region in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. Its most likely etymology is from ''Agew'' (አገው ägäw), a people living in the area, plus ''meder'' (land), thus meaning "Land of the Agaw ...

and nearby

Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical provincial kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Markos. During the 18th century, G ...

. Dangila has played a role in

Ethiopian literature Ethiopian literature dates from Ancient Ethiopian literature (around 300 AD) up until modern Ethiopian literature. Ancient Ethiopian literature starts with Axumite texts written in the Geʽez language using the Geʽez script, indigenous to both Et ...

. As a young man,

Haddis Alemayehu Haddis Alemayehu (; 15 October 1910 – 6 December 2003) was an Ethiopian novelist. His Amharic novel '' Love to the Grave'' (Amharic: ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር; ''Fəqər əskä Mäqabər'', 1968) is considered a classic of modern Eth ...

, who was to become the foremost

fiction writer, served for two years as a customs clerk at Dangila in the early 1930s. When consul Cheesman left, the consulate building was turned into a primary school, and Haddis Alemayehu became its headmaster for a year. Another author is

Abe Gubegna Abe Gubegna (Amharic: አቤ ጉበኛ; 1 July 1933 – 10 February 1980) was an Ethiopian novelist, playwright and poet. He published eight novels, five plays, three collections of poetry, and translated several biographies of world leaders as we ...

, who attended grades 1-8 at the Bitwedded Mengesha Jembere school in the 1950s.

Demographics

Based on the national census conducted by the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency, also known as the Ethiopian Statistical Service (ESS; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ስታቲስቲክስ አገልግሎት), is an Ethiopian government agency designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that ...

in 2007, Dangila had a total population of 24,827, of whom 12,389 were male and 12,438 were female. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 15,437 of whom 6,796 were male and 8,641 were female.

Notable residents

Maru Teferi Maru Abinet Teferi (; ; born 17 August 1992), also known as Teferi Marhu, is an Israeli marathon and half marathon runner, and an Olympian. He won a silver medal in men's marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a silver medal in m ...

(born 1992), Israeli Olympic marathoner

Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Amhara Region Cities and towns in Ethiopia