La'ilay Adiyabo
Encyclopedia
La'ilay Adiyabo is one of the 36 woreda
s in the Tigray Region
of Ethiopia
. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone
, La'ilay Adiyabo is bordered on the south by Tahtay Koraro
, on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela
, on the northwest by Tahtay Adiyabo
, on the northeast by the Mareb River
which separates it from Eritrea
, on the east by the Mehakelegnaw (Central) Zone
, and on the southeast by Medebay Zana
. The administrative center of this woreda is Addi Daero; other towns in La'ilay Adiyabo include Addi Nebreid.
Two battles of the Ethiopian Civil War
were fought in or near Addi Nebreid by rival groups rebelling against the Derg
regime. In July 1976, 500 soldiers of the Ethiopian Democratic Union were surrounded and defeated near Addi Nebreid by an armed group of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front
(TPLF) under Mehari Tekle ("Mussie"). The TPLF captured 125 of their opponent's men, killing or wounding the rest, and capturing a large number of badly needed semi-automatic rifles. The two groups clashed again at Addi Nebreid on 12 March 1977, with the EDU advancing on seven entrenched companies of the TPLF. The fighting raged for two days until the TPLF units, by that point out of ammunition, retreated in good order having inflicted substantial losses on their rivals. "From then on," writes Aregawi Berhe, one of the TPLF commanders in the battle, "the EDU could not proceed through TPLF-held territory without paying a heavy cost to mobilize the feudal and shifta
elements in the central region and beyond."
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 113,836, an increase of 79,832 over the 1994 national census, of whom 56,685 are men and 57,151 women; 8,033 or 7.06% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,809.29 square kilometers, La'ilay Adiyabo has a population density of 40.52, which is greater than the Zone average of 40.21 persons per square kilometer. A total of 25,414 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.48 persons to a household, and 24,407 housing units.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 79,832, of whom 40,547 were men and 39,285 were women; 5,929 or 7.43% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in La'ilay Adiyabo were the Tigrayan
(96.76%), foreigners from Eritrea (2.42%), and the Saho
(0.76%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.06% of the population. Tigrinya
was spoken as a first language by 98.9%, and 1.07% spoke Saho
; the remaining 0.03% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 96.5% reporting that as their religion, while 3.45% were Muslim
. Concerning education
, 6.18% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 9.01%; 6.89% of the children aged 7-12 were in primary school, which is less than the Zone average of 11.34%; a negligible number of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school, which is also less than the Zone average of 0.65%; and a negligible number of children aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school, which is less than the Zone average of 0.51%. Concerning sanitary conditions
, about 28% of the urban houses and 8% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 15% of the urban and 3% of all houses had toilet facilities.
, and 1.82% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 85.23% was planted in cereals, 1.89% in pulses, 1.74% in oilseeds, and 0.41% in vegetables. The total area planted in fruit trees was 6 hectares, while 17 were planted in gesho. 78.63% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 19.69% only grew crops and 1.69% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 82% owning their land, 17% renting, and 1.54% holding their land under other forms of tenure.
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
s in the Tigray Region
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone
Mi'irabawi Zone
Mi'irabawi is one of four Zones in the Ethiopian Tigray Region. Mi'irabawi is bordered on the east by the Mehakelegnaw Zone, the south by the Amhara Region, the west by Sudan and on the north by Eritrea...
, La'ilay Adiyabo is bordered on the south by Tahtay Koraro
Tahtay Koraro
Tahtay Koraro is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Tahtay Koraro is bordered on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela, on the north by La'ilay Adiyabo, and on the southeast by Medebay Zana...
, on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela
Asigede Tsimbela
Asegede Tsimbela is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Asegede Tsimbela is bordered along the south by the Tekezé River which separates the woreda on the south from Tselemti and to the west by Wolqayt, then on the northwest by La'ilay Adiyabo, on...
, on the northwest by Tahtay Adiyabo
Tahtay Adiyabo
Tahtay Adiyabo is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Tahtay Adiyabo is bordered on the south by the Asigede Tsimbela, then by the Tekezé River which separates Tahtay Adiyabo from Wolqayt and Kafta Humera on the southwest, on the north by Eritrea,...
, on the northeast by the Mareb River
Mareb River
The Mareb River , is a river flowing out of central Eritrea. Its chief importance is defining part of the boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia between the point where the Mai Ambassa enters the river at to the confluence of the Balasa with the Mareb at .According to the Statistical Abstract of...
which separates it from Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, on the east by the Mehakelegnaw (Central) Zone
Mehakelegnaw Zone
Mehakelegnaw is a Zone in the Ethiopian Region of Tigray. Mehakelegnaw is bordered on the east by Misraqawi , on the south by Debubawi , on the west by Mirabawi and on the north by Eritrea...
, and on the southeast by Medebay Zana
Medebay Zana
Medebay Zana is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Medebay Zana is bordered on the south by the Tekezé River which separates Tahtay Adiyabo from Tselemti, on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela, on the northwest by Tahtay Koraro, on the north by...
. The administrative center of this woreda is Addi Daero; other towns in La'ilay Adiyabo include Addi Nebreid.
Two battles of the Ethiopian Civil War
Ethiopian Civil War
The Ethiopian Civil War began on September 12, 1974 when the Marxist Derg staged a coup d'état against Emperor Haile Selassie, and lasted until the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front , a coalition of rebel groups, overthrew the government in 1991. The war overlapped other Cold War...
were fought in or near Addi Nebreid by rival groups rebelling against the Derg
Derg
The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
regime. In July 1976, 500 soldiers of the Ethiopian Democratic Union were surrounded and defeated near Addi Nebreid by an armed group of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front
Tigrayan People's Liberation Front
The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front , known more commonly and sometimes pejoratively in Ethiopia as Woyane or Weyane is a political party in Ethiopia...
(TPLF) under Mehari Tekle ("Mussie"). The TPLF captured 125 of their opponent's men, killing or wounding the rest, and capturing a large number of badly needed semi-automatic rifles. The two groups clashed again at Addi Nebreid on 12 March 1977, with the EDU advancing on seven entrenched companies of the TPLF. The fighting raged for two days until the TPLF units, by that point out of ammunition, retreated in good order having inflicted substantial losses on their rivals. "From then on," writes Aregawi Berhe, one of the TPLF commanders in the battle, "the EDU could not proceed through TPLF-held territory without paying a heavy cost to mobilize the feudal and shifta
Shifta
Shifta is term used in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia for rebel, outlaw, or bandit. The word is derived from shúfto. Historically, shifta served as local militia in the lawless rural mountainous regions on the Horn of Africa...
elements in the central region and beyond."
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical AgencyCentral Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 113,836, an increase of 79,832 over the 1994 national census, of whom 56,685 are men and 57,151 women; 8,033 or 7.06% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,809.29 square kilometers, La'ilay Adiyabo has a population density of 40.52, which is greater than the Zone average of 40.21 persons per square kilometer. A total of 25,414 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.48 persons to a household, and 24,407 housing units.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 79,832, of whom 40,547 were men and 39,285 were women; 5,929 or 7.43% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in La'ilay Adiyabo were the Tigrayan
Tigray-Tigrinya people
Tigray-Tigrinya are an ethnic group who live in the southern, central and northern parts of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia's Tigray province. They also live in Ethiopia's former provinces of Begemder and Wollo, which are today mostly part of Amhara Region, though a few regions...
(96.76%), foreigners from Eritrea (2.42%), and the Saho
Saho people
The Saho , sometimes called Soho, are an ethnic group living largely in the Horn of Africa. They are principally concentrated in the Southern and Northern Red Sea regions of Eritrea, but some also live in adjacent parts of Ethiopia.-Demographics:...
(0.76%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.06% of the population. Tigrinya
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
was spoken as a first language by 98.9%, and 1.07% spoke Saho
Saho language
The Saho language is a Cushitic language of Eritrea and Ethiopia.-Overview:It is spoken natively by the Saho people who traditionally inhabit territory in Eritrea bounded by the bay of Arafali in the east, the Laasi Ghedé valleys in the south, and the Eritrea highlands to the west .This speech area...
; the remaining 0.03% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 96.5% reporting that as their religion, while 3.45% were Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
. Concerning education
Education in Ethiopia
Education in Ethiopia has been dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. Prior to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated illiteracy rate well above 90% and compared poorly with the rest of Africa in the provision of schools and...
, 6.18% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 9.01%; 6.89% of the children aged 7-12 were in primary school, which is less than the Zone average of 11.34%; a negligible number of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school, which is also less than the Zone average of 0.65%; and a negligible number of children aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school, which is less than the Zone average of 0.51%. Concerning sanitary conditions
Water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia
Access to water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia is amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and the entire world. While access has increased substantially with funding from external aid, much still remains to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the share of people...
, about 28% of the urban houses and 8% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 15% of the urban and 3% of all houses had toilet facilities.
Agriculture
A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 24,664 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 1.16 hectares of land. Of the 24,023 hectares of private land surveyed, 89.39% was under cultivation, 1.28% pasture, 7.49% fallow, 5 hectares in woodlandForestry in Ethiopia
In the late nineteenth century, about 30% of Ethiopia was covered with forest. The clearing of land for agricultural use and the cutting of trees for fuel gradually changed the scene, and today forest areas have dwindled to less than 4% of Ethiopia's total land. The northern parts of the highlands...
, and 1.82% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 85.23% was planted in cereals, 1.89% in pulses, 1.74% in oilseeds, and 0.41% in vegetables. The total area planted in fruit trees was 6 hectares, while 17 were planted in gesho. 78.63% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 19.69% only grew crops and 1.69% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 82% owning their land, 17% renting, and 1.54% holding their land under other forms of tenure.