Meket

Meket is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia.^[1] It is named after a former district located approximately in this area.^[2] Located on the western side of the Semien Wollo Zone, Meket is bordered on the south by Wadla, on the west by the Debub Gondar Zone, on the north by Bugna, and on the east by Guba Lafto. The administrative center of Meket is Filakit Gereger; other settlements include Agrit and Debre Zebit.

Overview

This woreda extends from the divide between the Tekezé and Bashilo watersheds northwards, with elevations ranging from about 1200 at the northwesternmost point to over 3000 meters above sea level along the eastern part of its southern border.^[1] Rivers include the Checheho which has its source in this woreda. Filakit Gereger lies on the main Debre Tabor - Nefas Mewcha highway (also known as the Chinese road), and except for those of the eastern lowland woredas it is the only woreda capital with an all-year link to the Zonal capital of Weldiya.^[3]

Meket, as well as the other seven rural woredas of this Zone, has been grouped amongst the 48 woredas identified as the most drought prone and food insecure in the Amhara Region.^[4] To combat increasing droughts and improve crop yields, two irrigation projects have been undertaken in this woreda by the Commission for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Rehabilitation in the Amhara Region, affecting 75 hectares and benefiting 270 households.^[5]

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 226,644, an increase of 17.02% over the 1994 census, of whom 114,398 are men and 112,246 women; 11,750 or 5.18% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 1,909.25 square kilometers, Meket has a population density of 118.71, which is less than the Zone average of 123.25 persons per square kilometer. A total of 50,478 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.49 persons to a household, and 49,078 housing units.^[6]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 193,683 in 44,142 households, of whom 98,249 were men and 95,434 were women; 4,761 or 2.46% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Meket was the Amhara (99.95%). Amharic was spoken as a first language by 99.77%. The majority of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity with 94.69% professing this belief, while 5.3% of the population said they were Muslim.^[7]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Svein Ege identifies this woreda with one otherwise known as Saron Meda. "North Wälo 1:100,000. Topographic and administrative map of North Wälo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia". Trondheim, NTNU, 2002
2. ^ Mentioned in the Royal Chronicle of Bakaffa, who gave it over to his Oromo soldiers to be plundered, while returning from a campaign in 1726. (James Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1805 edition), vol. 4 p. 88)
3. ^ 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)" UNDP-EUE Report (accessed 22 January 2009)
4. ^ Seid Yassin, "Small-Scale Irrigation and Household Food Security: A Case Study of Three Irrigation Schemes in Gubalafto Woreda of North Wollo Zone, Amhara Region", Master's Thesis, Graduate School of the University of Addis Ababa (June 2002), p. 35
5. ^ Seid Yassin, "Small-Scale Irrigation", p. 42
6. ^ Census 2007 Tables: Amhara Region, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4.
7. ^ 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: 12°00′N 38°45′E / 12°N 38.75°E / 12; 38.75