Debre Zeyit, Benishangul Gumuz
Debre Zeyit (also known as Wenbera) is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Debre Zeit has a latitude and longitude of 10°35′N 35°48′E with an elevation of 2097 meters above sea level.
Debre Zeyit | |
|---|---|
  Debre Zeyit Location within Ethiopia | |
| Coordinates: 10°35′N 35°48′E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Benishangul-Gumuz |
| Zone | Metekel Zone |
| Elevation | 2,097 m (6,880 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 4,179 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
The town was visited in 1900 by the American traveller Oscar T. Crosby, who mentions the presence of a market and an Ethiopian military outpost.[1] Crosby knew the settlement as Wenbera, as did the consul R E Cheesman, who stayed there for a few days in April 1927. He described the settlement as "a large village of a few hundred houses and is important chiefly for its market and as a centre for caravan traffic. One set of merchants plies between there and Roseires in the Sudan, and another goes to the Abyssinian main plateau; both carry the famous coffee grown at Kitar in Wanbera district. We had reached an altitude where the Amhara can live, but the population is strongly oromo."[2]
Demographics
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Debre Zeyit has an estimated total population of 4,179 of whom 1,936 were males and 2,243 were females.[3] According to the 1994 national census, its total population was 2,429 of whom 1,120 were males and 1,309 were females. It is the largest settlement in Wenbera woreda.
Notes
- Oscar T. Crosby, "Notes on a Journey from Zeila to Khartum", Geographical Journal, 18 (1901), pp. 46-61
- "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 7 December 2007)
- CSA 2005 National Statistics Archived November 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Table B.3