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The Welayta , or Wolaitans ( Ge'ez : ወላይታ Wolayta ) are an ethnic group located in Southwestern Ethiopia . According to the most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zone . The language of the Wolayta people, similarly called Wolaytta , belongs to the Omotic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite their small population, Wolayta people have widely influenced national music, dance, and cuisine in Ethiopia.

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24-609: (Redirected from Wolaitta ) Wolayta , Wolayita or Wolaita may refer to: Wolayta people , an ethnic group of Ethiopia Wolaytta language , spoken by the Welayta people Wolayita Zone , a zone in SNNPR, Ethiopia Kingdom of Welaytta, a Welaytta kingdom founded in medieval times surviving until the 19th century, see List of rulers of Welayta See also [ edit ] Welayta Dicha , an Ethiopian football club Topics referred to by

48-479: A 24 May 2004 World Bank memorandum, 4% of the inhabitants of Semien Omo have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 36.4 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers), the average rural household has 0.4 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.89 for the SNNPR) the equivalent of 0.4 heads of livestock. 29.7% of

72-761: A result, the textbooks in Wegagoda were withdrawn and teachers returned to ones in Wolaytta. The Welayta people use many proverbs. A large collection of them was published in 1987 ( Ethiopian calendar ) by the Academy of Ethiopian Languages . Fikre Alemayehu's 2012 MA thesis from Addis Ababa University provides an analysis of Wolaytta proverbs and their functions. Welayta music plays a prominent role in national entertainment in Ethiopia. The unique and fast-paced Welayta tunes have influenced several styles and rhythm as it continues to shape

96-721: A system for writing it. The writing system was later revised by a team led by Dr. Bruce Adams. They finished the New Testament in 1981 and the entire Bible in 2002. It was one of the first languages the Derg selected for their literacy campaign (1979–1991). Welaytta pride in their written language led to a fiercely hostile response in 1998 when the Ethiopian government distributed textbooks written in Wegagoda – an artificial language based on amalgamating Wolaytta with several closely related languages. As

120-730: Is deep rooted cultural food by Welayta people. Little is known on the origin of raw meat eating habit. Minced raw beef called “Kitfo” by the Gurage people and Kurt are mostly served on special occasions such as holidays like "Finding of the True Cross" or "Meskel" holiday, celebrated annually on September 27 in Ethiopia. Moreover, Enset foods are traditionally incorporated into cultural events such as births, deaths, weddings, and rites of planting, harvesting and purification. Wolaita people used different type of currencies through their kingdoms for trade purpose. Among them Karetta Sinna and Shalluwa , both of

144-433: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Wolayta people The people of Wolayta had their own kingdom for hundreds of years with kings (called "Kawo") and a monarchical administration. The earlier name of the kingdom was allegedly " Damot " - this was said to include the south, south-east, south-west and part of the central region of present Ethiopia. The ruler

168-493: Is spoken. The 'Ethnologue' identifies one smaller dialect region: Zala . Some hold that Melo , Oyda , and Gamo-Gofa-Dawro are also dialects, but most authorities, including Ethnologue and ISO 639-3 now list these as separate languages. The different communities of speakers also recognize them as separate languages. Welayta has existed in written form since the 1940s, when the Sudan Interior Mission first devised

192-589: The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) restructured the country into ethnically-based Regions , and Welayta became the centre of Region 9. Later, Welayta was included in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR, consisting of the former regions 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) as part of the Semien Omo Zone . The regional government claimed that the Welayta were so closely related to

216-717: The 1994 Census Semien Omo had a population of 2,603,057, in 554,618 households, of whom 1,289,763 were men and 1,313,294 women; 176,339 or 6.77% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone included the Welayta (44.17%), the Gamo (26.65%), the Kullo (10.15%), the Gofa (9.12%), the Basketo (1.87%), the Konta (1.86%), and the Amhara (1.84%); all other ethnic groups made up 4.34% of

240-473: The Zone and add Basketo . However friction between these groups, which was often blamed on the Welayta for "ethnic chauvinism" and despite the efforts of the ruling party to emphasize the need to co-ordinate, consolidate, and unify the smaller ethnic units to achieve the "efficient use of scarce government resources", eventually led to the division of the Zone in 2000 into three new Zones and two special woredas. Despite

264-856: The central government conceding to this demand, Sarah Vaughan notes, "this may not be the end of the story": a formal request has been made by the Gofa to form their own Zone from the Gamo Gofa Zone, and the Oyda who live in that zone, in June 2002 petitioned for the creation of their own special woreda. Based on figures from the CSA in 2005, this zone has an estimated total population of 3,741,304, of whom 1,853,003 are men and 1,888,301 are women; 319,493 or 8.5% of its population are urban dwellers. With an estimated area of 23,911.03 square kilometers, Semien Omo has an estimated population density of 156.47 people per square kilometer. In

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288-433: The expansion of Emperor Menelik II into the regions south of Shewa during the early 1890s. The war of conquest has been described by Bahru Zewde as "one of the bloodiest campaigns of the whole period of expansion", and Wolayta oral tradition holds that 118,000 Welayta and 90,000 Shewan troops died in the fighting. Kawo (King) Kawo Tona Gaga , the last king of Welayta, was defeated and Welayta conquered in 1896. Welayta

312-405: The identity of Ethiopian musical diversity. Various famous Ethiopian artists from other ethnic groups have incorporated Welayta musical style into their songs, including vocalists Tibebu Workeye, Teddy afro and Tsehaye Yohannes. Just as influential are Welayta traditional dance forms that are often adopted by musicians and widely visible in Ethiopian music videos. Raw beef, commonly known as “Kurt”

336-496: The number of clans has increased to over 200+ contemporarily. Semien Omo Zone North Omo Zone ( Amharic : ሰሜን ኦሞ) was a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia . It was named after the Omo River , which flows in the western area of the former zone. In 2000 it was split into three zones: Dawro , Gamo Gofa , and Wolayita ; and Basketo and Konta became special woredas. Semien Omo

360-560: The other Omotic-speaking peoples of that zone that there was no justification for a separate Welayta zone . Welayta leaders, however, stressed that their people had a distinct language and culture and demanded a zone for themselves. In 1998, the regional government attempted to introduce an artificially constructed language, based on the various local North Omotic languages and dialects, as the new language of education and administration for Semien Omo Zone. This triggered violent protests by Welayta students, teachers and civil servants, which led to

384-449: The population. Welayta is spoken as a first language by 44.27% of the inhabitants, 25.88% speak Gamo , 10.22% Kullo , 8.86% Gofa , 2.27% Amharic , 2.14% Basketo , and 1.8% Konta ; the remaining 4.56% spoke all other primary languages reported. 39.02% of the population said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity , 35.75% were Protestants , 18.58% observed traditional religions, and 2.88% embraced Catholicism . According to

408-522: The products of cotton, are the priors. But next to this currencies Wolaita people achieved one of the most important civilizations in the sphere of currency and created a currency made from metal pieces, which is called Marchuwa . Marchuwa is equal to 18 Maria Theresa Thalers or 0.50 US dollars . The Wolayta are of multi-social origin, meaning they are historically, culturally, and ethnically, products of continuous (im)migration from numerous ethnic groups, making them heterogeneous. Due to this continuity,

432-411: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Welayta . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Welayta&oldid=1038908678 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

456-593: The withdrawal of the new language. In November 2000, the Welayta Zone was established. Wolaytta is an Omotic language spoken in the Wolaita Zone and some parts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia. The number of speakers of this language is estimated at 1,800,000 (1991 UBS); it is the native language of the Welayta people. There are conflicting claims about how widely Welayta

480-586: Was Mount Guge (3568 m), west of Chencha . The administrative center of Semien Omo was Arba Minch ; other towns included Areka , Boditi , Sawla and Sodo . The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) reported that 8,364 tons of coffee were produced in Semien Omo in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 7.27% of the SNNPR's output and 3.7% of Ethiopia's total output. The Semien Omo Zone

504-531: Was King (Kawo) Motolomi who is mentioned in the religious book Gedle Teklehaimanot , as an invader of the north and the king to whom was surrendered the mother of the Ethiopian saint, Tekle Haymanot . Some assume that the saint was the son of this king. After the defeat which overcame the northern part of its territory the kingdom was reduced to its present size and the name became the Kingdom of Wolayta. It remained thus an independent kingdom for hundreds of years until

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528-618: Was bordered on the south by Debub Omo , on the west by Keficho Shekicho , on the northwest by the Oromia Region , on the north by Kembata Tembaro , on the northeast by part of the Oromia Region , on the east by the Bilate River which separated it from Sidama and another part of the Oromia Region, and on the southeast by the Amaro and Dirashe special woredas . The highest point in Semien Omo

552-493: Was established in 1987 by the Derg , who created the administrative unit from parts of Gamu-Gofa , Sidamo and Kaffa , based on the conclusion that the four ethnic groups—the Goffa , Gamo , Kullo and Welayta -- all spoke minor variants of the same language and shared other aspects of their cultures. The only changes the Transitional Government of Ethiopia made to it after assuming power, were to remove Konso special woreda from

576-494: Was then incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire . However, Welayta had a form of self-administrative status and was ruled by Governors directly accountable to the king until the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. The Derg afterwards restructured the country and included Welayta as a part of the province of Sidamo . The Welayta were previously known as "Wolamo" , although this term is now considered derogatory. In 1991

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