Amhara

Amhara
Symbols
flag
Basic data
Country	Ethiopia
Capital	Bahir Dar
surface	156,960 km²
Residents	20,401,000 (2015)
density	130 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	ET-AM
politics
Head of government	Lake Ayalew (acting)
Political party	National Democratic Movement of the Amhars

Coordinates: 11 ° 30 '  N , 37 ° 30'  E

Amhara ( Amharic አማራ amara , English Amhara National Regional State ) is an administrative region of Ethiopia .

It forms its historical heartland with the medieval capital Gondar and the Antsokia valley . With the new administrative structure of Ethiopia according to ethnic criteria, Amhara was created in 1995 as a federal state with the Amhars as the titular nation . It includes most of the former Godscham and Begemder provinces as well as parts of Wollo . The region had just under 20.4 million inhabitants in 2015.

history

Since the 18th century Amhara has formed an independent partial kingdom, which in the 19th century produced the emperor Theodor II . This united in the war against Shewa and Tigray Amhara with the rest of Ethiopia. The Habesha people of the Amhars are the largest among the Christian peoples of Ethiopia, their language is Amharic . Until the fall of Haile Selassie in 1974, Amharen formed the traditionally ruling elite. Amharic is therefore often incorrectly equated with “Ethiopian”.

On June 22, 2019, the President of the Executive Committee Ambachew Mekonnnen and the Ethiopian Chief of Staff Seare Mekonnen were killed in an attempted coup.

government

President of the Executive Committee

• Addisu Legesse ( National Democratic Movement of the Amhars , ANDM): 1992 - October 2000
• Yoseph Reta (* 1956) (ANDM): October 2000 to October 5, 2005
• Ayalew Gobeze (ANDM): October 5, 2005 to December 19, 2013
• Gedu Andargachew (ANDM): December 19, 2013 to March 8, 2018
• Ambachew Mekonnen (ANDM) / (ADP): March 8, 2018 to June 22, 2019
• Lake Ayalew (ADP): since June 22, 2019 (provisional)

Note: The ANDM changed its name to the Democratic Party of the Amhars (ADP) in autumn 2018 .

politics

The socialist National Democratic Movement of the Amhars (which initially called itself the Democratic Movement of the Ethiopian People and was oriented towards the whole of Ethiopia) allied itself in 1989 with the People's Liberation Front of Tigray (TPLF) to form the Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian Peoples (EPRDF) and led the overthrow in 1991 of the communist government of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Amhara. Since then, it has been the most influential party in Amhara as part of the EPRDF ruling all of Ethiopia. There is also the All-Amhara People's Organization as the opposition party of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces and the Coalition for Unity and Democracy , which won 106 of the 294 seats in the regional parliament of the Amhara region in the 2005 elections . In the elections of 2010 and 2015, the National Democratic Movement of the Amharen won all seats. As in other regions of Ethiopia, opposition parties were not permitted or had boycotted the elections due to massive impediments to their work.

The Democratic Movement of the Argobba Nationality represents - as part of the EPRDF - the interests of the Argobba in Amhara.

population

1994

At the time of the 1994 census, the Amhara region had 13,834,056 residents. 1,265,315 (9.1%) of the population lived in urban settlements. 91.19% (12,615,160) were Amharen, 4.98% (689,373) belonged to three different groups of the Agau (374,132 Agew / Awi, 172,291 Kemant and 143,241 Agew / Kamyr), 3.00% (417,419) Oromo , 0.32% (44,609) Tigray and 0.27% (37,626) Argobba . 81.4% were Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and 18.4% Muslim.

2007

According to the 2007 census, of 17,221,976 inhabitants 91.47% (15,752,992) were Amharen, 4.85% (834,531) Agau (595,878 Agew / Awi and 238,653 Agew / Kamyr), 2.62% (451,362) Oromo , 0 , 41% (70,012) Argobba ; and 0.22% (37,397) Tigray . 82.5% were Ethiopian Orthodox and 17.2% Muslim. The annual population growth rate was 1.7% between 1994 and 2007, the lowest in Ethiopia. 12.6% of the population lived in urban areas. The most populous cities in the Amhara region in 2007 were the most Tana location Today's Capital Region Bahir Dar (155,428 inhabitants), Gondar (207,044 inhabitants), Dese (120,095 inhabitants), Debre Birhan (65,231 inhabitants) and Debre Markos (62,497 inhabitants) and Kombolcha ( 58,667 inhabitants). Lalibela , famous for its rock-hewn churches, is also located in Amhara .

Administrative structure

Like the other regions (states) of Ethiopia, Amhara is divided into zones .

• Agew Awi
• Debub Gondar (South Gondar )
• Debub Wollo (South Wollo)
• Mirab Gojjam (West Godscham)
• Misraq Gojjam (East Godscham)
• Oromo
• Semien Gondar (North Gondar )
• Semien Shewa (North Shewa)
• Semien Wollo (North Wollo)
• Wag Hemra
• Bahir Dar (special zone of the regional capital)
• Argobba (special word for the Argobba people , not assigned to any zone)

Web links

Commons : Amhara  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Amhara  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Africa Guide: Amhara (English)
• Map of the region at UN-OCHA ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 360 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48743081 Ethiopia Amhara coup ringleader killed. BBC , June 25, 2019, accessed the same day. (English)
2. ↑ Ethiopia: Regions, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Retrieved December 1, 2017 . 
3. ↑ tagesschau.de: Dead in attempted coup in Ethiopia. Retrieved June 25, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Ben Cahoon: Ethiopian Regional States. In: www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved June 25, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban: Ethiopia's ruling Amhara bloc announces name, logo overhaul. Africanews, October 1, 2018, accessed June 25, 2019. (English)
6. ^ African Elections Database : Results of the elections in the Amhara region , accessed June 15, 2010
7. ^ Administrator: National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. In: www.electionethiopia.org. Retrieved August 24, 2016 . 
8. ↑ Central Statistics Agency (Ethiopia): The 1994 Population and Housing census of Amhara Region Volume I: Part I. (No longer available online.) In: www.csa.gov.et. Pp. 10, 101, 178 , archived from the original on August 24, 2016 ; accessed on August 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Central Statistics Agency (Ethiopia): Population and Housing Census Report - Amhara Region - 2007. PartI - Population Size and Characteristics. (No longer available online.) In: www.csa.gov.et. Pp. 11-17, 138, 190 , archived from the original on August 24, 2016 ; accessed on August 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.