Hayq 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...

. The town is named after Lake Hayq

Lake Hayq

Lake Hayq or Lake Haik is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region . The town of Hayq is to the west of the lake....

, which lies two kilometers east of the town and is the home of Istifanos Monastery

Istifanos Monastery

Istifanos Monastery is in Ethiopia, located in Lake Hayq. The monastery was built around an 8th century church of Aksumite origins by Emperor Yekuno Amlak to fulfill a promise he made to Iyasus Mo'a.- History :The monastery is responsible for producing five people, known as...

, an important landmark in Ethiopian Church history. Located 28 kilometers north of Dessie

Dessie

Dessie is a city and a woreda in north-central Ethiopia. Located on the Addis Ababa - Asmara highway in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 2,470 and 2,550 meters above sea level.Dessie has postal service , and telephone...

 in the Debub Wollo Zone

Debub Wollo Zone

Debub Wollo is one of 10 Zones in the Ethiopian Amhara Region. It acquired its name from the former province of Wollo.Debub Wollo is bordered on the south by Semien Shewa and the Oromia Region, on the west by Mirab Gojjam, on the northwest by Debub Gondar, on the north by Semien Wollo and on the...

 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....

, it has a latitude and longitude of 11°18′N 39°41′E and an elevation of 2030 meters above sea level.

Telephone service reached the town of Hayq at some point between 1954 and 1967. Notable landmarks include the churches Hayq Timhirt and Hayq Yohannis. Near the town is the church of Hayq Tekle Haymanot, founded according to tradition in 862

862

Year 862 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ashot I becomes the first king of Armenia's Bagratuni dynasty.* Aed Finliath is crowned High King of Ireland....

 by Saint Kalae Salama during the reign of king Dil Na'od

Dil Na'od

Dil Na'od was the last negus of Axum before the Zagwe dynasty of Ethiopia. He lived in either the 9th or 10th century. Dil Na'od was the younger son of Ged'a Jan , and succeeded his older brother 'Anbasa Wedem as negus...

.

History

In the 1930s, the Italian occupiers dedicated a graveyard near Hayq for the bodies of dead soldiers from the Blackshirt 3 Gennaio Division. During the mid-1980s, local educational services was augmented by the Swedish Wello Environment Education Project, which ran a secondary school. Hayq was formerly the capital of the Amba Sel 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...

 or district in Wollo

Wollo

Wollo was a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie. The province was named after the Wollo Oromo, who settled in this part of Ethiopia in the 17th century...

.

Construction of a youth center, which includes amenities as a gymnasium, internet service room, assembly hall, a café, and office space, was underway in March 2009. Funds for construction of the building, budgeted at a million Birr

Ethiopian birr

The birr is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. Before 1976, dollar was the official English translation of birr. Today, it is officially birr in English as well....

, was provided by the woreda and Helvidius

Helvidius

Helvidius was the author of a work written before 383 against the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary.Helvidius maintained that the mention in the Gospels of the "sisters" and "brethren" of our Lord was proof that the Blessed Virgin had subsequent issue, and he supported his opinion by the...

, a non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

.

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, Hayq has an estimated total population of 14,319 of whom 7,226 are men and 7,093 are women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 8,247 of whom 3,802 were males and 4,445 were females. It is the largest town in Tehuledere

Tehuledere

Tehuledere is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named for one of the "Houses" or subgroups of the Wollo Oromo, who was located there...

woreda.