What is the population of Debre Birhan, Amhara?

Debre Birhan has a population of approximately 73,697 according to the latest available open data.

Where is Debre Birhan, Amhara located?

Debre Birhan is located in Amhara, Ethiopia, at approximate coordinates 9.6752°, 39.5325°.

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Debre Birhan

Amharacity

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Debre Birhan

Total population

73,697

Elevation2840 m

Land area14.71 km²

Coordinates9.68°, 39.53°

Demographic figures from Ethiopian Statistical Service. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.

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City facts

Elevation

2840 m

Area

14.71 km²

Facts from Wikidata (CC0).

Overview

Debre Birhan is a city in north central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of Amhara Region, about 130 kilometers north east of Addis Ababa on Ethiopian highway 2, the town has an elevation of 2,840 meters, which makes it the highest town in Africa. It was an early capital of Ethiopia and afterwards, with Ankober and Angolalla, was one of the capitals of the kingdom of Shewa. Today, it is the administrative center of the North Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region.

History & geography

History

Debre Birhan was founded by Emperor Zara Yaqob, in response to a miraculous light that was seen in the sky at the time. Believing this was a sign from God showing his approval for the death by stoning of a group of heretics 38 days before, the emperor ordered a church built on the site, and later constructed an extensive palace nearby, and a second church, dedicated to Saint Cyriacus. Zara Yaqob spent 12 of the last 14 years of his life in Debre Birhan. Historian Richard Pankhurst offers the date of 1456 for the date of the founding of this church, providing a plausible argument that the light in the sky was Halley's Comet, which could have been seen in Shewa that year, although the traditional dates (10th day of the month of Maggabit, i.e. 6 or 7 March) do not coincide with the days that the comet was most visible (13 through 17 June). While his son Baeda Maryam did spend the first part of his reign in Debre Birhan, eventually Baeda Maryam returned to the established itinerant practice of living in a permanent encampment that was constantly on the move through the realm. The departure of the court led to a decline in the population and importance of this town. Pankhurst explains that the needs of the imperial court and army—who numbered in the thousands—for firewood and food was so burdensome that, "it could not remain in any one locality for more than four months, nor return to the same place in less than 10 years due to the resultant shortage of food", which prevented the growth of any capital city in this period. While little more than a large village, Debre Birhan is mentioned a few times in the 16th century, the first time as a mustering center by Emperor Lebna Dengel against the invading armies of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim. After he had defeated Lebna Dengel at the…

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Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).