Filakit Geregera (also known as Filakit) is a town in northern
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
Semien Wollo Zone
North Wollo (Amharic: ሰሜን ወሎ) also called Semien Wollo, is a zone in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the south by South Wollo, on the west by South Gondar, on the north by Wag Hemra, on the northeast by Tigray Region, a ...
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 ...
, it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2865 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center of
Meket
Meket (Amharic: መቄት) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia.Svein Ege identifies this woreda with one otherwise known as Saron Meda"North Wälo 1:100,000. Topographic and administrative map of North Wälo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia". Tro ...
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 ...
.
Filakit Geregera town has two kebeles, Kebele 01 (Filakit) and Kebele 02 (Geregera) which are serving mainly as government administrative and business towns respectively.
History
One of the earliest mentions of Gereger is in the ''Royal Chronicle'' of
Susenyos, where the Emperor stopped during his campaign against the rebel Yona'el in 1620. The Emperor
Yohannes I
Yohannes I (), also known as Yohannes the Righteous (Ge'ez: ጻድቁ ዮሐንስ), throne name A'ilaf Sagad (Ge'ez: አእላፍ ሰገድ; 1640 – 19 July 1682) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1667 to 1682, and a member of the Solomonic dynas ...
also alighted in this town while returning to
Aringo, which he reached 11 December 1677.
During the later 18th century, Filakit Gereger served as the capital of
Begemder
Begemder (; also known as Gondar or Gonder) was a province in northwest Ethiopia. The alternative names come from its capital during the 20th century, Gondar.
Etymology
A plausible source for the name ''Bega'' is that the word means "dry" in t ...
, and was where ''
Ras''
Ali
Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
died in 1788.
By 1964, Gereger was the administrative center of Shedeho Mekiet woreda.
Demographics
Based on figures from 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 2005, Filakit Gereger has an estimated total population of 5,517 of whom 2,623 are men and 2,894 are women.
CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.3 The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 3,194 of whom 1,380 were men and 1,814 were women
Notes
Populated places in the Amhara Region
{{Amhara-geo-stub