Kola Tembien

Kola Tembien (Tigrinya: ቆላ ተምቤን "Lower Tembien") is one of the woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Part of the Mehakelegnaw Zone, Kola Tembien is bordered on the south by Abergele, on the west by the Tekezé River which separates it from the Semien Mi'irabawi (North Western) Zone, on the north by the Wari River which separates it from Naeder Adet and Werie Lehe, on the east by Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone, and on the southeast by Degua Tembien. Towns in Kola Tembien include Guya and Werkamba. The town of Abiy Addi is surrounded by Kola Tembien.

Notable landmarks in this woreda include the monastery of Abba Yohanni and the monolithic church of Gebriel Wukien, both of which are north of Abiy Addi.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 134,336, an increase of 28.13% over the 1994 census, of whom 66,925 are men and 67,411 women; 0 or 0.00% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,538.39 square kilometers, Kola Tembien has a population density of 52.92, which is 56.29 than the Zone average of 0 persons per square kilometer. A total of greater households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 8,871 persons to a household, and 28,917 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 99.86% reporting that as their religion.

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 113,712, of whom 56,453 were men and 57,259 were women; 8,871 or 7.8% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Kola Tembien was the Tigrayan (99.88%). Tigrinya was spoken as a first language by 99.82%. 98.23% of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 1.69% were Muslim. Concerning education, 9.15% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 14.21%; 8.64% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 0.72% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school, and 0.86% of the inhabitants aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions, about 86% of the urban houses and 17% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 11% of the urban and 3% of the total had toilet facilities.

Agriculture

A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 27,665 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.81 hectares of land. Of the 22,402 hectares of private land surveyed, 85.28% was in cultivation, 0.87% pasture, 10.78% fallow, 0.23% woodland, and 2.84% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 78.02% was planted in cereals, 4.61% in pulses, 1.82% in oilseeds, and 0.08% in vegetables. The area planted in gesho was 36 hectares; the amount of land planted in fruit trees is missing. 77.26% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 19.75% only grew crops and 2.98% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 89.01% owning their land, and 10.48% renting; the percentage reported as holding their land under other forms of tenure is missing.