Seleh Leha 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 Mirabawi (Western) Zone of the Tigray Region

Tigray Region

Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...

, this town has a latitude and longitude of 14°07′N 38°29′E with an elevation of 2107 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Medebay Zana

Medebay Zana

Medebay Zana is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Medebay Zana is bordered on the south by the Tekezé River which separates Tahtay Adiyabo from Tselemti, on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela, on the northwest by Tahtay Koraro, on the north by...

 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...

.

This town serves as the primary market center for much of the surrounding area. Sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

 and finger millet

Finger millet

Eleusine coracana, commonly Finger millet , also known as African millet or Ragi is an annual plant widely grown as a cereal in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. E...

 are brought from the lowland portions of La'ilay

La'ilay Adiyabo

La'ilay Adiyabo is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, La'ilay Adiyabo is bordered on the south by Tahtay Koraro, on the southwest by Asigede Tsimbela, on the northwest by Tahtay Adiyabo, on the northeast by the Mareb River which separates it from...

 and Tahtay Adiyabo

Tahtay Adiyabo

Tahtay Adiyabo is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Tahtay Adiyabo is bordered on the south by the Asigede Tsimbela, then by the Tekezé River which separates Tahtay Adiyabo from Wolqayt and Kafta Humera on the southwest, on the north by Eritrea,...

 for sale at Seleh Leha.

History

Seleh Leha is mentioned in the Royal Chronicle as where Ras Mikael Sehul

Mikael Sehul

Mikael Sehul was a Ras or governor of Tigray 1748–71 and again from 1772 until his death...

 and his puppet Emperor Tekle Haymanot II

Tekle Haymanot II of Ethiopia

Tekle Haymanot II was as Admas Sagad III of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...

 spent one night in June 1770 during their campaign through Tigray. The chronicler describes the place as "a holy land where there is no breath of scandal."

Two British hunters passed through Seleh Leha and its neighbor Beles

Beles

Beles may refer to :*Beles River and Gilgil Beles, a river and a town in Metekel Zone of Benishangul-Gumaz region of Ethiopia, near Seleh Leha*Beles Hydroelectric Power Plant in Ethiopia*a name for the Opuntia ficus-indica fruit in Ethiopia and Eritrea....

 in January 1923, later describing the settlements in unflattering and dismissive words. In February 1936, during the opening moves of the Second Italian-Abyssinian War, the Blackshirt "21st April" Division, with the "Gavininana" and "Gran Sasso"

Italian 24 Infantry Division Gran Sasso

The 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was made up of draftees from Abruzzo and originally called the 24th Infantry Division Gran Sasso which had participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and was reorganized as the binary 24th...

 Divisions clashed with the soldiers of Ras Imru Haile Selassie

Imru Haile Selassie

Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie was an Ethiopian noble, soldier, and diplomat. He was also the cousin of Emperor Haile Selassie.-Biography:...

 near Seleh Leha, as part of the Second Battle of Tembien

Second Battle of Tembien

The Second Battle of Tembien was a battle fought on the northern front of what was known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks by Italian forces under Marshal Pietro Badoglio on Ethiopian forces under Ras Kassa Haile Darge and Ras Seyoum Mangasha...

.

During the Italian occupation

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...

, a leprosarium was built in Seleh Leha; this was abandoned by its Italian staff on 30 March 1941, and later pillaged and destroyed by the locals. The town was later the center of heavy fighting between the 604th Army Corps of the Derg

Derg

The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...

's Third Revolutionary Army and troops of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front

Tigrayan People's Liberation Front

The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front , known more commonly and sometimes pejoratively in Ethiopia as Woyane or Weyane is a political party in Ethiopia...

 during the Battle of Shire, which ended on 19 February 1989 with a crushing defeat for the Derg.

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, Seleh Leha has an estimated total population of 7,391, of whom 3,529 are men and 3,862 are women. The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 4252 of whom 1,879 were males and 2,373 were females.