Dimtu () or Wolaita Dimtu () or Bilate Tena () is a city and separate district in south-central

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 has an elevation between 1,000 and 1,600 metres above sea level. It was part of the former Damot Weyde (

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 ...

) of

Wolayita Zone Wolayita or Wolaita is an administrative Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Ethiopia. Wolayita is bordered on the south by Gamo Zone, on the west by the Omo River (Ethiopia), Omo River which separates it from Dawro Zone, Dawro, on the northwest by Kem ...

, near to

Sodo Zuria Sodo Zuria (Amharic "Greater Sodo Area") is one of the woredas in the South Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. Part of the Wolayita Zone, Sodo Zuria is bordered on the southwest by Offa, on the west by Kindo Koysha, on the northwest by Damot S ...

woreda. It is now under the Diguna Fango woreda. Some writers mention the town as Bilate Tena in their books and journals. Among them, Getahun Garedew, former Head Officer in Education Bureau of

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; ) was a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of five ''kililoch'', called Regions 7 to 11, following the ...

, and State Minister of

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

since 2020, is the anterior. In the book "Local Adaptation Practices in Response to Climate Change in the

Bilate River The Bilate is a river of south-central 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, ...

Basin, Southern Ethiopia", he used these two names, Dimtu and Bilate Tena, in a similar way.

History

David Buxton stated in his book that Dimtu was the name of a market, and it was near the

. As unwritten source reveals that the name was derived from the word "Danttuwa", which in

Wolaytta language Wolaitta or Wolayttatto Doonaa is a North Omotic language of the Ometo group spoken in the Wolayita Zone and some other parts of southwestern Ethiopia. It is the native language of the Welayta people. The estimates of the population vary great ...

means ''the junction''. It was named so because the market is located, where

and the "Qocuwaa" river, which is from Dimtu town, meet. Dimtu is the oldest town in the

Wolaita Zone Wolayita or Wolaita is an administrative zone in Ethiopia. Wolayita is bordered on the south by Gamo Zone, on the west by the Omo River which separates it from Dawro, on the northwest by Kembata Zone and Tembaro Special Woreda, on the no ...

, next to

Sodo Sodo () or officially Wolaita Sodo (, ) is a city in south Ethiopia. The city is a political and administrative center of the Wolaita Zone and South Ethiopia Regional State. It has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between abov ...

, the capital of Wolaita. About 81% of town has electric coverages. The town is almost covered by asphalt roads, and is located 333 km from

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

to the

South-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

, and 68 km from

Demographics

Based on the 2018 population projection 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, Dimtu has a total population of 25,294, of whom 15,855 are men and 9,439 are women. The majority of the inhabitants were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(94.61%) and 4.10% 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 ...

, 0.0076% were

Muslims 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 ...

, and 1.28% were

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Education

The city has schools from primary (Bilate Tena Primary School) to high school (Bilate Tena Secondary and Preparatory School). The primary school is the very oldest one when compered to the secondary and preparatory school of the town. It is one of the primary school that established in 1940's after the revolution in the period of

Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

for education. By this time, it's reported that about 400 primary schools established all over the country and Bilate Tena Primary school is among them.Damtew Teferra and Philip G. Altbach, eds., ''African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook'' (Indiana University Press, 2003), pp. 316-325 Bilate Tena Secondary and Preparatory School was established in 2009 and got ready for its duty in 2010 as it was opened by Ambassador

Teshome Toga Teshome Toga Chanaka (; born 23 April 1968) is an Ethiopian politician and second Speaker of the House of Peoples' Representatives, the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Parliament, from 2005 to 2010. He was succeeded by Abadula Gemeda. Backgro ...

, who was raised in the Dimtu area. For the schools are in the border, its compound well known by its

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

environment and made a great relationship with the neighbors,

Sidama people The Sidama () are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional state in Ethiopia ...

and Oromia people as well.

Climate

The town is located

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

, and its temperature lie between 14 and 30° C in summer, and 8 and 24 °C in winter.

References

{{Commons category Wolayita Zone Districts in South Ethiopia Regional State Cities and towns in Wolayita Zone Cities and towns in Ethiopia