Sekela (

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 ...

: ሰከላ) is one of the

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 ...

s in 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 ...

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 ...

. Part of the

West Gojjam Zone West Gojjam (Amharic: ምዕራብ ጎጃም) or Mirab Gojjam is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the former province of Gojjam. West Gojjam is bordered on the south by the Abay River which separates it from the Oromia ...

, Sekela is bordered on the southwest by Bure, on the west by the

Agew Awi Zone Agew Awi () is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Awi sub-group of the Agaw people, some of whom live in this Zone. Agew Awi Zone is bordered on the west by Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by North Gondar Zone ...

, on the north by

Mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

, on the northeast by

Yilmana Densa Yilmana Densa ( Amharic: ይልማና ዴንሳ "Yilma and Densa" formerly known as Adet) is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Gojjam Zone, Yilmana Densa is bordered on the south by Kuarit, on the southwest ...

, on the east by Kuarit, and on the southeast by Jabi Tehnan. The administrative center of Sekela is

Gish Abay Gish Abay is a town in west-central Ethiopia. Located in the Mirab Gojjam Zone, Mirab (West) Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, it is the administrative center of Sekela (woreda), Sekela woreda. The town is named after the nearby Mount Gish and the ...

Overview

The Lesser Abay River, commonly considered to be the uppermost reach of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

, originates in this woreda, and flows north into

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 ...

. In June 2002, heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in nine

kebele A ward (; ; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. Somali word that has meaning of collected people where water is fairly sufficient and available to prolongue thei ...

s in Sekela and neighboring woredas, which covered or completely washed away more than of land planted in crops, and destroyed about 8600 quintals of harvested crops. One person and more than a hundred animals died in this disaster.

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 138,691, an increase of 61.36% over the 1994 census, of whom 69,018 are men and 69,673 women; 6,779 or 4.89% are urban inhabitants. With an area of , Sekela has a population density of , which is greater than the zone average of 158.25. A total of 29,908 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.64 persons to a household, and 29,093 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 99.97% reporting that as their religion. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 85,950 in 17,216 households, of whom 43,616 were men and 42,334 were women; 1,959 or 2.28% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Sekela was the Amhara (99.93%).

was spoken as a first language by 99.95%. The majority of the inhabitants practiced

, with 99.96% reporting that as their religion.''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)

References

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