Qwara (woreda)

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Qwara is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Qwara is named after the former province Qwara, which was in the same area.

Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Qwara is bordered on the south by the Benishangul-Gumaz Region, on the west by Sudan, on the north by Metemma, and on the east by Alefa; part of its boundary with the Benishangul-Gumaz Region is defined by the Dinder River. The capital of this woreda is Gelegu; other settlements include Tewodros Ketema. Minority groups in this woreda include the Gumuz and the Kunfal.

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 48,042, of whom 23,312 were males and 24,730 were females; 512 or 1.07% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 14.1%. With an estimated area of 7,395.31 square kilometers, Qwara has an estimated population density of 6.5 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 60.23.^[1]

Qwara was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2003 as an area for voluntary resettlement for farmers from overpopulated areas. Along with Metemma, the other woreda selected in Amhara that year, that year this woreda became the home for a total of 13742 heads of households and 12337 total family members.^[2] Qwara was selected again in the fourth round of this resettlement program and, along with Lay Armachiho and Dangila in the Amhara Region, and Tsegede in the Tigray Region, became the new homes of 8,671 families.^[3] This was reportedly accompanied with almost 68 million Birr in infrastructure development.^[4]

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