Wegeltena is a town in northern 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 Wollo Zone

Semien Wollo Zone

Semien Wollo is a Zone in the Ethiopian Amhara Region. Semien Wollo acquired its name from the former province of Wollo. Semien Wollo is bordered on the south by Debub Wollo, on the west by Debub Gondar, on the north by Wag Hemra, and on the northeast and east by the Afar Region; part of its...

 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 latitude and longitude of 11°35′N 39°13′E with an elevation of 2555 meters above sea level.

On 29 January 1990 Wegeltena was bombed by the aircraft of 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...

, which killed two people. John Graham passed through the town about ten years later, and wrote in the Addis Tribune that he found it "a remote and decayed spot, with one of those awful Dergue era metal towers in the main square, this one unusually decrepit. However, we had a pleasant luncheon there."

Situated on the main road between Dessie

Dessie

Dessie is a city and a woreda in north-central Ethiopia. Located on the Addis Ababa - Asmara highway in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 2,470 and 2,550 meters above sea level.Dessie has postal service , and telephone...

 and Amba Mariam

Amba Mariam

Amba Mariam is a village in central Ethiopia. It was known as Magdala or Meqdela during the reign of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia...

 and Lalibela

Lalibela

Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia, known for its monolithic churches. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is almost completely Ethiopian Orthodox Christian...

, Wegeltena is expected to become a communication link between these historical places.

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, Wegeltena has an estimated total population of 7,205 of whom 3,478 are men and 3,727 are women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 4,166 of whom 1,830 were males and 2,336 were females. It was the main city of the former Dawuntna Delant

Dawuntna Delant

Dawuntna Delant is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Wollo Zone, Dawuntna Delant is bordered on the south by the Checheho River which separates it from the Debub Wollo Zone, on the west by the Debub Gondar Zone, on the north by Wadla, and on the east by...

 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...

. It is also the administrative center of the present Delanta woreda.