Berehet

Berehet is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Shewa Zone, Berehet is bordered on the south by the Germama River which separates it from Menjarna Shenkora, on the west by Hagere Mariamna Kesem, on the north by Asagirt, and on the east by the Afar Region. The major town in Berehet is Metiteh Bila.

Berehet is the location of the Battle of Bereket, fought 19 November 1855. In this battle, the last Shewan nobles to resist Emperor Tewodros II were defeated by his general Ras Ingida, and seeing that further defiance was futile they surrendered the young heir to the Shewan throne, Menelik.^[1]

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 34,810, an increase of 13.07% over the 1994 census, of whom 17,669 are men and 17,141 women; 3,978 or 11.43% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 791.44 square kilometers, Berehet has a population density of 43.98, which is less than the Zone average of 115.3 persons per square kilometer. A total of 7,658 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.55 persons to a household, and 7,221 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 79.62% reporting that as their religion, while 20.19% of the population said they were Muslim.^[2]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 30,786 in 5,741 households, of whom 15,789 were men and 14,997 were women; 1,328 or 4.31% of its population were urban dwellers. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Berehet were the Amhara (80.26%), and the Argobba (19.47%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.27% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 99.75%. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 79.21% reporting that as their religion, while 20.75% were Muslim.^[3]

Notes

1. Sven Rubenson, King of Kings: Tewodros of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1966), p. 53
2. Census 2007 Tables: Amhara Region, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4.
3. 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)

Coordinates: 9°20′N 39°30′E / 9.333°N 39.500°E