Nefas Mewcha

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Nefas Mewcha
Town
Nefas Mewcha is located in Ethiopia
Nefas Mewcha
Nefas Mewcha
Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 11°44′N 38°28′E / 11.733°N 38.467°E / 11.733; 38.467
CountryEthiopia
RegionAmhara
ZoneDebub Gondar
Elevation
3,150 m (10,330 ft)
Population
 (2005)
 • Total18,691
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)

Nefas Mewcha is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of

 WikiMiniAtlas
11°44′N 38°28′E / 11.733°N 38.467°E / 11.733; 38.467Coordinates: 11°44′N 38°28′E / 11.733°N 38.467°E / 11.733; 38.467 and an elevation of 3150 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Lay Gayint woreda.

Nefas Mewcha lies on the main Debre Tabor - Weldiya highway (also known as the Chinese road), providing it with an all-year link to the Zonal capital of Weldiya.[1]

History[]

One of the earliest mentions of Nefas Mewcha is in the Royal chronicle of Emperor Susenyos, where the Emperor stopped during his campaign against the rebel Yona'el in 1620.[2]

The Scots explorer James Bruce, who visited Ethiopia in the early 1770s, described Nefas Mewcha as "in the farthest limits" of the province of Begemder at the time, with the ruling the territories "behind this".[3] In the last years of his reign, emperor Iyoas I fought a against the governor of Begemder, , who had killed his uncle Birale in an earlier battle. Ya Mariam Bariaw was defeated, and severely wounded; he fled to the nearby Wollo, who handed Ya Mariam Bariaw back to the half-Oromo Emperor for punishment.[4]

By 1964, Nefas Mewcha was the administrative center of Gayint awraja.[5]

Amnesty International reported that between 12-21 August 2021, during Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) terrorist occupation of the Amharan town of Nefas Mewcha. The terrorists from Tigray commited heinous crimes against humanity against women including mass rape, gang rape, physical and verbal assaults, on top of looting medical facilities and private property.[6]

Demographics[]

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Nefas Mewcha has an estimated total population of 18,691, of whom 9,009 are men and 9,682 were women.[7] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 10,808, of whom 4,780 were men and 6,068 were women.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Hans Spiess, "Field Trip Report to South Gonder, North Welo and Oromiya Zones of Region 3 (Amhara) and the Southern Zone of Region 1 (Tigray)" Archived 2005-01-21 at the Wayback Machine UNDP-EUE Report (accessed 15 December 2009)
  2. ^ G.W.B. Huntingford, The historical geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704, (Oxford University Press: 1989), p. 174
  3. ^ Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1805 edition), vol. 4 p. 176
  4. ^ Bruce, Travels, vol. 4 pp. 177f
  5. ^ "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2011-05-28 at the Wayback Machine The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 18 December 2009)
  6. ^ "Ethiopia: Survivors of TPLF attack in Amhara describe gang rape, looting and physical assaults". Amnesty International. 2021-11-09. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  7. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
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