Ketema (formerly known as Mender 7) is a town in western

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 ...

. The name comes from the

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 ...

word ''ketema'', meaning a fortified encampment; it is also a common personal name in Ethiopia. It is one of three towns located in the

Pawe special woreda Pawe is one of the 20 woredas in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of 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 ...

of the

Benishangul-Gumuz Region Benishangul-Gumuz () is a regional state 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 Er ...

Overview

Ketema was founded as one of the resettlement projects under the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

in the years 1984–86, when it was known as Mender 7 (or "Left 7"), because the settlement was located on the left side of the

Beles River The Beles (''Kusa'' in Gumuz language) is a river of western Ethiopia. The Beles, a tributary of the Abay River (Blue Nile), originates in Dangur woreda and flows southwest to its confluence. Its catchment area amounts to about 14,200 square kilo ...

). Ketema is located near the market of Deq, a local market which existed before the resettlement program and is frequented by the

Agew The Agaw or Agew (, modern ''Agew'') are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic bran ...

and Gumuz peoples. 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, Ketema has an estimated total population of 3,262 of whom 1,540 are men and 1,722 are women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
Table B.3 According to the 1994 national census, its total population was 1,896 of whom 891 were men and 841 were women.

Notes

{{coord, 11, 03, N, 36, 19, E, display=title, region:ET_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region