Aliyu Amba

Infobox Settlement
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pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Ethiopia
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name =‎ Ethiopia
subdivision_name1 = Amhara Region
subdivision_type2 = Zone
subdivision_name2 = Semien Shewa Zone
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population_as_of= 2005
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population_total = 2873 (est)
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timezone = EAT
utc_offset = +3
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latd=09|latm=32|lats=|latNS=N
longd=39|longm=48|longs=|longEW=E
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elevation_m = 1805
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Aliyu Amba is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of coord|09|32|N|39|48|E|region:ET-AM_type:city(2873)|display=inline,title with an elevation of 1805 meters above sea level.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Aliyu Amba has an estimated total population of 2,873 of whom 1,431 were males and 1,442 were females. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Table B.4] The inhabitants include members of the Argobba people. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1,582 of whom 719 were males and 863 were females. It is one of four towns in Ankober woreda.

History

Aliyu Amba owed its importance to its location on the caravan route that stretched west from Saqqa in the Gibe region to Harar in the east and Tadjoura on the Red Sea. It was the most important market of central Ethiopia in the early and middle 1800s, and its merchants were almost entirely Muslim. [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/A/ORTAK.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 7 February 2008)] The rulers of Shewa and of Harar co-operated in keeping this west-east route open. As a result the two potentates were in regular contact, and the head of the Harari community in Aliyu Amba was appointed by the Emir of Harar. [Ref Ethiopia|Abir-1968|pages= pp. 13f] This town was also an important center of the amoleh trade in the 1830s, and Mordechai Abir notes that a 10 per cent duty on all sales rendered to the Shewan government 3,000 Maria Theresa Thalers in cash and the equivalent of 2,000 in kind. [Abir, "Ethiopia", p.47 n. 2]

At the height of its importance in the late 1870s, Aliyu Amba was estimated by Antonio Cecchi to have a population of about 4,000. However, when Emperor Menelik II moved his court from neighboring Ankober to Entoto (and later Addis Ababa), the town lost importance. It was not until 1990 that a road 16 kilometers in length was built to connect Aliyu Amba with Ankober by Lutheran organizations and the Mekane Yesus Church with the help of local workers. The Mekane Yesus have also started a program dedicated to reversing the land degradation of the farmland around the town.

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