Tessey

Tessey
Coordinates	15 ° 7 ′  N , 36 ° 39 ′  E Coordinates: 15 ° 7 ′  N , 36 ° 39 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Eritrea
province	Gash-Barka
Residents	12,000

Tessey ( Arabic تسني, also written Teseney , Germanized Tessenei ) is a small town in western Eritrea , about 45 kilometers from the Sudanese border and about 115 kilometers from Barentu . It is located in the Gash-Barka region , on the Gash River .

economy

The approximately 12,000 inhabitants of Tesseney mainly live from trade with their Sudanese neighbors. Cotton , sesame and sorghum are grown in the vicinity . Tessey is an important starting point for bus trips in Germany and abroad.

history

During the Second World War there was a railway line Malawiya – Tessenai , a cross-border connection to Sudan , which had been established by the British army, but was broken again after their victory over the Italian army.

In the Eritrean war of independence against Ethiopia from 1961 to 1991, Tesseney was badly damaged and liberated in 1988. Outside the city is a monument to Idris Awate , who fired the first shots in September 1961, thus starting the War of Independence. In 2001 Tessey was almost completely destroyed during the renewed border war with Ethiopia .