Shewa Robit is a town in north-central 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...

. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region

Amhara Region

Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....

, this town has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of 1280 meters above sea level. Shewa Robit holds its market on Wednesdays.

Overview

A visitor to Shewa Robit in 1985 described the town as "a one-street town of ramshackle adobes. The hotel we visited was made of mud with straw on a wood frame, walls stuccoed or painted, roof of corrugated iron. Doorways were small and crooked but there was electricity, a refrigerator and a shower. Children and chickens roamed everywhere. -- Except for the people, this could have been India or Egypt or Colombia or Bolivia."

In May 2009, a group of rebels claiming to belong to the Ethiopian Unity and Justice Movement allegedly attacked the police station and other targets in Shewa Robit.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency

Central 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...

 in 2005, Shewa Robit has an estimated total population of 24,886 of whom 13,021 were men and 11,865 were
women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 5,360 of whom 2,553 were males and 2,807 were females. The inhabitants include members of the Argobba people

Argobba people

The Argobba are a Muslim people group that is spread out through isolated village networks and towns in the northeast and east of Ethiopia. The Argobba have typically been astute traders and merchants, and have adjusted to the economic trends in their area...

. It is the largest settlement in Kewet

Kewet (woreda)

Kewet is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Shewa Zone, Kewet is bordered on the southwest by Termaber, on the northwest by Mam Midrina Lalo Midir, on the north by Efratana Gidim, and on the east and south by Afar Region...

 woreda

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...

.