Filakit Gereger 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 has a latitude and longitude of 11°40′N 38°48′E and an elevation of 2865 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Meket

Meket

Meket is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named after a former district located approximately in this area. Located on the western side of the Semien Wollo Zone, Meket is bordered on the south by Wadla, on the west by the Debub Gondar Zone, on the north by Bugna, and...

 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...

.

History

One of the earliest mentions of Gereger is in the Royal chronicle of Emperor Susenyos

Susenyos of Ethiopia

Susenyos was of Ethiopia...

, where the Emperor stopped during his campaign against the rebel Yona'el in 1620. The Emperor Yohannes I

Yohannes I of Ethiopia

Yohannes I , throne name A'ilaf Sagad was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...

 stopped in this town while returning to Aringo

Aringo

Aringo is a frazione in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy....

, which he reached 11 December 1677. During the later 18th century, Filakit Gereger served as the capital of Begemder

Begemder

Begemder was a province in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. There are several proposed etymologies for this name...

, and was where Ras Ali

Ali I of Yejju

Ali I of Yejju was a Ras of Begemder, and following the death of Ras Mikael Sehul, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia. He was the son of Abba Seru Gwangul, chieftain of the Yejju Oromo, and Gelebu Faras....

 died in 1788.

By 1964, Gereger was the administrative center of Shedeho Mekiet woreda.

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, Filakit Gereger has an estimated total population of 5,517 of whom 2,623 are men and 2,894 are women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 3,194 of whom 1,380 were men and 1,814 were women