Filakit Gereger

Filakit Gereger (also known as Geregera Giyorgis) is a town in northern Ethiopia.[1] Located in the Semien Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of 11°40′N 38°48′E / 11.667°N 38.800°ECoordinates: 11°40′N 38°48′E / 11.667°N 38.800°E and an elevation of 2865 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center of Meket woreda.

History

One of the earliest mentions of Gereger is in the Royal Chronicle of Susenyos, where the Emperor stopped during his campaign against the rebel Yona'el in 1620.[2] The Emperor Yohannes I also alighted in this town while returning to Aringo, which he reached 11 December 1677.[3]

During the later 18th century, Filakit Gereger served as the capital of Begemder, and was where Ras Ali died in 1788.[4]

By 1964, Gereger was the administrative center of Shedeho Mekiet woreda.[5]

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Filakit Gereger has an estimated total population of 5,517 of whom 2,623 are men and 2,894 are women.[6] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 3,194 of whom 1,380 were men and 1,814 were women

Notes

  1. ↑ Geregera is another small town less than one kilometer away; they are frequently referred to together.
  2. ↑ G.W.B. Huntingford, The historical geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704 (Oxford: University Press, 1989), p. 174
  3. ↑ Huntingford, Historical geography, p. 196
  4. ↑ Herbert Weld Blundell, The Royal chronicle of Abyssinia, 1769-1840 (Cambridge: University Press, 1922), pp. 391f
  5. ↑ "Local History in Ethiopia" The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 18 December 2009)
  6. ↑ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.3