Tselemti
Tselemti is an Ethiopian District, or woreda, in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Mi'irabawi (North Western) Zone, Tselemti is bordered on the south by the Amhara Region, on the west by the Mi'irabawi Zone, on the north by Asigede Tsimbela, on the northeast by Medebay Zana, and on the east by the Maekelay (Central Area) Zone. The Tekezé defines the boundary between Tselemti and both the last two woredas and the Zone; other rivers in this woreda include the Abata, a tributary of the Tekezé. The administrative center of this woreda is Mai Tsebri; other towns in Tselemti include Dima.
History
Tselemti, a Tigrinya speaking district, just as originally the adjacent Tellemt, was part of Gondar Teklay Gizat in the mid 20th C.. Since the beginning of the Zagwe dynasty c.900 AD. until the 1995 constitution ratification, Tselemti was part of Begemder province. Tselemti was then split into two parts once ethnic federalism was established in Ethiopia. One of the two parts which had turned up to have a majority Agaw and Amhara ethnic group living in it, was given to the new Amhara Region. The other, still had a majority of Tigrayan ethnic people so it was returned to the Tigray Region, as it had been for most of the 3000 years history of Ethiopia,< before Haile Selassie changed it in 1941/1943.The decline of the Tigrayan population in Ethiopia during Haile Selassie's reign – in particular in districts of the former Tigray province, which are given to the present-day Amhara Region, like Addi Arkay, Kobo and Sanja – is likely to have been as a result of Haile Selassie's suppression and systematic persecution against non-Amhara ethnic peoples of Ethiopia. For example, on the 1958 famine of Tigray, Haile Selassie refused to send any significant basic emergency food aid to Tigray province despite having the resources to; as a consequence, over 100,000 people died of the famine.
2020 woreda reorganisation
In 2020 woreda Tselemti became inoperative and its territory belongs to the following new woredas:- Tselemti
- Dima woreda
- May Tsebri town
Demographics
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, this woreda has a total population of 138,858, an increase of 97,630 over the 1994 census, of whom 70,108 are men and 68,750 women; 8,623 or 6.21% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 3,858.66 square kilometers, Tselemti has a population density of 35.99 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 40.21. A total of 30,485 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.55 persons to a household, and 29,805 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 98.47% reporting that as their religion, while 1.51% of the population were Muslim.The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 97,630, of whom 49,893 were men and 47,737 were women; 5,301 or 5.43% of its population were urban dwellers. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Tselemti were the Tigrayan, and the Amhara ; all other ethnic groups made up 0.25% of the population. Tigrinya is spoken as a first language by 57.18%, and 42.73% speak Amharic; the remaining 0.09% spoke all other primary languages reported in urban areas.Religion; 97.98% of the population said they were Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 1.77% were Muslim. Concerning education, 5.13% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 9.01%; 5.91% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school, which is less than the Zone average of 11.34%; 0.34% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, which is also less than the Zone average of 0.65%; and 0.06% of children aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school, which is less than the Zone average of 0.51%. Concerning sanitary conditions, 0.77% of the urban houses and about 5% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 9.07% of the urban and about 2% of all houses had toilet facilities.