Soqota
Soqota (Amharic: ሰቆጣ?), formerly spelled Sokota and also known as Sakota,Sekota, &c., is a town and separate woreda in northern Ethiopia. The name is likely from the Agaw word sekut, "fortified village." Located the Wag Hemra Zone of the Amhara Region, Soqota has a latitude and longitude of 12°38′N 39°02′E / 12.633°N 39.033°E / 12.633; 39.033 and an elevation of 2266 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by woreda of Soqota.
About 6 kilometers from Soqota is the church Wukro Meskal Kristos, where the mummified corpses of several Wagshums lie.
History
Philip Briggs speculates that this town may be identified with the mysterious Ku'bar, said by al-Ya'qubi and al-Masudi to have succeeded Axum as the capital of Ethiopia.
Soqota is the historic seat of the Wagshum, the former ruler of Lasta, who claimed to trace an unbroken succession back to the last king of the Zagwe dynasty. However, verification for this tradition is slight. This town is not mentioned in the surviving records until 1746, when the soldiers of Emperor Iyasu II burned it down. The traveller Augustus B. Wylde wrote in the 1890s that the palace of the Wagshums in this town had been built around 1650. It was a three-storey structure which could not be dated with any precision, but he believed the masons and craftsmen were some of those who had worked at Gondar.
Soqota (woreda)
Soqota is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Wag Hemra Zone, Soqota is bordered on the south by Gazbibla, on the southwest by Dehana, on the west by Zikuala, on the north by Abergele, and on the east by the Tigray Region. The separate woreda of town of Soqota is surrounded by Soqota. Abergele woreda was separated from Soqota.
The predominantly hilly terrain of the woreda serves to isolate the inhabitants of Soqota, and their steep slopes are highly degraded limiting crops yields. Crops and animal husbandry are practiced together by local farmers. High points include Mount Biala (3,810 meters).
Demographics
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 112,396 of whom 56,245 are men and 56,151 women, no urban inhabitants were reported. With an area of 1,722.43 square kilometers, Soqota has a population density of 65.25, which is greater than the Zone average of 47.15 persons per square kilometer. A total of 26,903 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.18 persons to a household, and 25,941 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 99.82% reporting that as their religion.
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