Dek Island

Dek Island is the biggest island on Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It is administratively included in the Bahir Dar Zuria woreda of the Mirab Gojjam Zone. To the southeast of Dek is the much smaller Daga Island.

Overview

Dek Island is home to several monasteries, the best-known being Narga Selassie. Dek is accessible by the ferry that runs from Bahir Dar to Gorgora. Hormuzd Rassam mentions visiting the island in February 1866, describing that at the time it contained four villages with a church attached to each one. Rassam also repeats the story told to him how Dejazmach Kassa captured Dek in a single assault.
When R.E. Cheesman visited Dek in 1932 and 1933, he found that it was not strictly "monasterial", but with five churches each with a small village nearby. Cheesman continues his description:

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, the kebele which includes Dek has a total population of 4,816, of whom 2,503 are men and 2,313 women; a total of 1,218 households were counted in this kebele, resulting in an average of 3.95 persons to a household, which is less than the woreda average of 4.45 persons, and 1,197 housing units. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 5,099 people in 1,028 households, of whom 2,683 were men and 2,416 were women.