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Kola Tembien (, "Lower Tembien") 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 ...
in
Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
,
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 in part after the former province of
Tembien Tembien (Tigrinya language, Tigrigna: ተምቤን) is a historic region in Tigray Region and former provinces of Ethiopia. It is a mountainous area of that country. During the reforms in 1994–95, the old provinces were replaced with regions of ...
. Part of the Mehakelegnaw Zone, Kola Tembien is bordered on the south by
Abergele Abergele (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county b ...
, on the west by the
Tekezé River The Tekezé River (; , originally meaning "river" in Ge’ez; , also spelled Takkaze; ), is a major river in Ethiopia. For part of its course it forms a section of the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The river is also known as the Seti ...
which separates it from the Semien Mi'irabawi (North Western) Zone, on the north by the
Wari River The Wari is a river of northern Ethiopia and a right tributary of the Tekezé River. It rises in the Gar'alta and flows to the southwest into the Tekezé at . Tributaries of the Wari include the Assam, Chemit, Meseuma, Tsedia, Agefet and Tsaliet ...
which separates it from
Naeder Adet Naeder Adet () is a Districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Maekelay Zone, Naeder Adet is bordered on the south by the Wari River which separates it from Kola Tembien, on the west by Semien Mi'irabawi Zone, Semien Mi' ...
and Werie Lehe, on the east by Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone, and on the southeast by
Degua Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien or Dägʿa Tämben) is a districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien Province, Tembien. Nowadays, ...
. Towns in Kola Tembien include Guya and Werkamba. The town of
Abiy Addi Abiy Addi (also spelled Abi Addi; Tigrigna ዓብዪ ዓዲ "Big town") is a town in central Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Abiy Addi is at the southeastern edge of the Kola Tembien woreda, of which it is the capital. Overview The town is divided i ...
is surrounded by Kola Tembien.


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 134,336, an increase of 28.13% over the 1994 census, of whom 66,925 are men and 67,411 women; 0 or 0.00% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,538.39 square kilometers, Kola Tembien has a population density of 52.92, which is 56.29 than the Zone average of 0 persons per square kilometer. A total of greater households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 8,871 persons to a household, and 28,917 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they 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 99.86% reporting that as their religion. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 113,712, of whom 56,453 were men and 57,259 were women; 8,871 or 7.8% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Kola Tembien was the
Tigrayan The Tigrayan people (, ''Təgaru'') are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily life ...
(99.88%).
Tigrinya Tigrinya may refer to: * Tigrinya language Tigrinya, sometimes romanized as Tigrigna, is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It i ...
was spoken as a first language by 99.82%. 98.23% of the population 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 ...
, and 1.69% 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 ...
. Concerning
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, 9.15% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 14.21%; 8.64% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 0.72% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and 0.86% of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning
sanitary conditions Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems a ...
, about 86% of the urban houses and 17% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 11% of the urban and 3% of the total had toilet facilities.


History

See:
History of Tembien Tembien (Tigrinya language, Tigrigna: ተምቤን) is a historic region in Tigray Region and former provinces of Ethiopia. It is a mountainous area of that country. During the reforms in 1994–95, the old provinces were replaced with regions of ...


Rock churches

Like several other districts in Tigray, Kola Tembien holds its share of rock-hewn or
monolithic church A monolithic church or rock-hewn church is a church made from a single block of stone. Because freestanding rocks of sufficient size are rare, such edifices are usually hewn into the ground or into the side of a hill or mountain. They can be of ...
es. These have literally been hewn from rock, mostly before the 10th C. CE. Notable landmarks in this woreda include the monastery of Abba Yohanni and the monolithic church of Gebriel Wukien, both of which are north of Abiy Addi. Six rock-hewn churches are established along the slopes of the
Degua Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien or Dägʿa Tämben) is a districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien Province, Tembien. Nowadays, ...
massif. The Mika’el Samba () rock church is completely rock hewn in
Adigrat Sandstone The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil woo ...
. There are a series of grave cells leading off the main space. As this is not a village church, people come here only rarely, and it is locked most of the time. Priests are present particularly on Mika’els day, the twelfth day of every month in the
Ethiopian calendar The Ethiopian calendar (; ; ), or Geʽez calendar (Geʽez: ; Tigrinya: , ) is the official state civil calendar of Ethiopia and serves as an unofficial customary cultural calendar in Eritrea, and among Ethiopians and Eritreans in the dia ...
. The Maryam Hibeto rock church (), located inconspicuously at the edge of the church forest and cemetery, is also completely hewn in
Adigrat Sandstone The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil woo ...
, with an arched
pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...
in front of it. The exterior of the colonnade column has a double capital. The ceiling is carved, and on either side are two elongated chambers which could have been the beginnings of an
ambulatory The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...
, or else were living quarters. The main entrance to the church is at a lower level, down a number of steps and immediately on entering, a rectangular pool of water fed by a spring to the right. The floor is not level and the columns are stumpy with the springing coming halfway up the columns and oddly cut capitals. The Welegesa church () is hewn in
Adigrat Sandstone The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil woo ...
. The entrance to the church buildings is in reality part of the rock forming two enclosures or courtyards, both hewn and open to the air. In the first courtyard there are a number of graves, and between the two, a block of stone with a cross in the window opening in the centre. The church proper, three-aisled, four bays in depth, is entered from either side through hewn passageways. The church ceiling is the same height throughout, with capitals, arches and cupolas to each bay, with a hewn
tabot ''Tabot'' (, sometimes spelled ''tabout'') is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and represents the presence of God, in Ethiopian Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox Churches. ''Tabot'' may variously refer to an inscribed altar tablet (''tsel ...
in the apse. The plan is sophisticated, with a central axis running north-south and the two open courtyards cut deep into the rock. The newly hewn Medhanie Alem rock church in Mt. Werqamba () is in a central, smaller peak (in
Adigrat Sandstone The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil woo ...
). High in the mountains northwest of
Abiy Addi Abiy Addi (also spelled Abi Addi; Tigrigna ዓብዪ ዓዲ "Big town") is a town in central Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Abiy Addi is at the southeastern edge of the Kola Tembien woreda, of which it is the capital. Overview The town is divided i ...
, the Geramba rock church () is hewn in the top of a butte of Tertiary silicified limestone, under a thin cover of
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
. The columns are rather crudely carved, although slightly cruciform in plan and with bracket capitals much modified before the springing of the rough arches. Itsiwto Maryam rock church () is completely hewn in
Adigrat Sandstone The Adigrat Sandstone formation in north Ethiopia, in a wide array of reddish colours, comprises sandstones with coarse to fine grains, and locally conglomerates, silt- and claystones. Given the many lateritic palaeosols and locally fossil woo ...
. The small church has an unusual continuous hipped ceiling to the centre aisle with carved diagonal crosses to the last section and a cross carved above the arch into the sanctuary. The ceiling is flat to the side aisles with longitudinal flat beams running lengthwise into the church, projecting and forming a continuous lintel – very similar to workmanship following the Tigrayan tradition. Access to the church is not permitted because of risk of collapse. Further up, in the
Degua Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien or Dägʿa Tämben) is a districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien Province, Tembien. Nowadays, ...
mountains at the east, there are an additional eight rock churches and natural caves with a church at its entrance.


Agriculture

A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 27,665 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.81 hectares of land. Of the 22,402 hectares of private land surveyed, 85.28% was in cultivation, 0.87% pasture, 10.78% fallow, 0.23%
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...
, and 2.84% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 78.02% was planted in cereals, 4.61% in pulses, 1.82% in oilseeds, and 0.08% in vegetables. The area planted in
gesho ''Rhamnus prinoides'', the shiny-leaf buckthorn, is an African shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Commonly referred to as "gesho" it was first scientifically described by French botanist Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789. ...
was 36 hectares; the amount of land planted in fruit trees is missing. 77.26% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 19.75% only grew crops and 2.98% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 89.01% owning their land, and 10.48% renting; the percentage reported as holding their land under other forms of tenure is missing.


Geomorphology

Kola Tembien is one of the few places in the Ethiopian highlands where
wind erosion Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit material ...
occurs. Dunes are locally formed in places with wind shade.


Reservoirs

In this district with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season. The reservoirs of the district include Addi Asme'e. Overall, these reservoirs suffer from rapid
siltation Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...
. Part of the water that could be used for irrigation is lost through
seepage In soil mechanics, seepage is the movement of water through soil. If fluid pressures in a soil deposit are uniformly increasing with depth according to u = \rho_w g z_w, where z_w is the depth below the water table, then hydrostatic conditions wi ...
; the positive side-effect is that this contributes to
groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in ...
.


2020 woreda reorganisation

As of 2020, woreda Kolla Tembien's territory belongs to the following new woredas: *Kolla Tembien (new, smaller, woreda west of Abiy Addi) *Kayeh Tehli woreda (northeast of Abiy Addi, with towns Workamba and Addeha) *
Abiy Addi Abiy Addi (also spelled Abi Addi; Tigrigna ዓብዪ ዓዲ "Big town") is a town in central Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Abiy Addi is at the southeastern edge of the Kola Tembien woreda, of which it is the capital. Overview The town is divided i ...
town


Notes

{{Districts of the Tigray Region Districts of Tigray Region