Dembiya (

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 ...

: ደምቢያ) is a

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is named for the former province of

Dembiya Dembiya ( Amharic: ደምቢያ ''Dembīyā''; also transliterated Dembea, Dambya, Dembya, Dambiya, etc.) is a historic region of Ethiopia, intimately linked with Lake Tana. According to the account of Manuel de Almeida, Dembiya was "bounded on ...

, which was located roughly in the same location. Part of the Semien, Dembiya is bordered on the south by

Lake Tana Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...

, on the southwest by

Takusa Takusa (Amharic: ጣቁሳ) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Takusa is bordered on the south by Alefa, on the west by Qwara, on the northwest by the Metemma, on the north by Chilga, on the northeast by Demb ...

, on the west by

Chilga Chilga (Amharic language, Amharic: ጭልጋ ''č̣ilgā'') also Chelga, Ch'ilga is a Districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is named after its chief town Chilga (also known as Ayikel), an important stopping point on the hist ...

, on the north by

Lay Armachiho Lay Armachiho () is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. This woreda is named after "Armachiho", a province in northwestern Ethiopia along the border with Sudan and south of the Tekezé River. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Lay Armachiho is bord ...

, and on the east by

Gondar Zuria Gondar Zuria (Amharic: ጎንደር ዙሪያ, lit. "Greater Gondar Area") is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, ''Gondar Zuria'' is bordered on the south by the Debub Gondar Zone, on the southwest by Lake Tana, ...

. Towns in Dembiya include Aymiba, Chuahit,

Gorgora Gorgora ( Amharic: ጎርጎራ ''Gōrgōrā'', also, especially formerly, ጐርጐራ ''Gʷargʷarā'', modern pronunciation ''Gʷergʷerā'') is a town and peninsula in northwestern Ethiopia. It is located south of Gondar on the north shore o ...

and Koladiba. Rivers within this woreda include the Lesser Angereb and Derma, which flow south into Lake Tana, and the Atbarah. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 64% is arable or cultivable and another 25% under irrigation, 6% pasture, 4% forest or shrubland, and the remaining 1% is considered degraded or other. 287 square kilometers adjacent to Lake Tana is subject to regular and extensive flooding.

Local History

The location of the Battle of Gur Amba, where Ras Kassa (the later Emperor

Tewodros II Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...

) defeated

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

Goshu Zewde Goshu Zewde of Gojjam (1783 or 1788–1852), also known by his horse name Abba Kanno, was a prominent governor of Damot (historical region), Damot, Mecha (woreda), Mecha, and Yibaba during the first half of the 19th century. While his son Birru Go ...

27 November 1852, lies within the modern boundaries of this woreda. The woreda of Dembiya was heavily affected by the flash floods in Ethiopia which started 6 September and receded by 26 September 2006. The heavy rain caused Lake Tana to overflow its banks, making thousands of people homeless. "Thousands of heads of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

, whole silos of grain, and significant tracts of grazing and farmland have been washed away," according to IRIN.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 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 ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 271,053, an increase of 24.33% over the 1994 census, of whom 138,110 are men and 132,943 women; 23,354 or 8.62% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 1,261.96 square kilometers, Dembiya has a population density of 214.79, which is greater than the Zone average of 63.76 persons per square kilometer. A total of 59,382 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.56 persons to a household, and 57,668 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants practiced

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

, with 98.3% reporting that as their religion, while 1.7% of the population said they were

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

. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 218,014 in 40,680 households, of whom 111,329 were men and 106,685 women; 17,667 or 8.1% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Dembiya were the Amhara (97.35%), and the

Qemant The Qemant (also known as western Agaws) are a small Cushitic ethnic group in northwestern Ethiopia, specifically in Gondar, Amhara Region. The Qemant people traditionally practiced an early Pagan-Hebraic religion; however, most members of the Qe ...

(2.15%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.5% of the population. A notable minority in this woreda are the Weyto, who are thought to be the earliest surviving ethnic group to settle around Lake Tana; they number 480 or 0.22% of the population.

was spoken as a first language by 99.81%; the remaining 0.19% spoke all other primary languages reported. 97.98% practiced

, and 1.95% of the population said they were

.''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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dembiya (Woreda) Districts of Amhara Region