Welkait (Amharic: ወልቃይት) is a woreda and region in northwestern Ethiopia. Located in Semien Gondar Zone in Amhara Region, this woreda is bordered to the north by Kafta Humera and Eritrea to the south by Tsegede; these are the other two woredas of Northern Gondar in Amhara.[2] It is bordered on the east by the North West Zone; the woredas of Tahtay Adiyabo and Asgede Tsimbla lie to the north-east, on the other side of the Tekezé River, and Tselemti is to the east. The administrative center of Welkait is Addi Remets; other towns in the woreda include Mai'gaba and Awura.
Welkait is known for its fertile alluvial soil, which grows cash crops such sesame, cotton and also sorghum. Because this region has long and strong historical ties with Sudan, amhara Province, Eritrea, and Gonder, it has become a hot spot for all people from all the parts of Ethiopia and neighboring countries.
Until the 1995 administrative reorganization, Welkait was part of Semien and Begemder provinces. Welkait was taken as part of the Tigray region with military displacement of amhara and pro-amhara people but on the day of amhara special force operation 9th november 2020 GC the people of Amhara take control again from the agame occupants
Ever since the regionalization of workout, there were ethnic tensions as Amhara people classified themselves as the majority in Welkait (and asked to be moved to Amhara region) while the new Welkait woreda (which kept the original name) was smaller than the old Welkait. These ethnic tensions around Welkait woreda played a decisive role during the 2016 Ethiopian protests.
Based on the 2007 census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 138,926, an increase of 90,186 over the 1994 national census, of whom 70,504 are men and 68,422 women; 10,758 or 7.74% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 3,374.52 km2, Welkait has a population density of 41.17 people/km2, which is greater than the Zone average of 28.94 people/km2. A total of 30,375 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.57 persons in a household, and 29,336 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 97.28% reporting that as their religion, while 2.71% of the population were Muslim.[3]
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 90,186, of whom 45,657 were men and 44,529 were women; 4,597 or 5.1% of its population were urban dwellers. The ethnic groups reported in Welkait are Amhara (96.58%), Tigrayans (3.03%); and all other ethnic groups made up only 0.39% of the population. Amharic is spoken as a first language by 97.14%, and 2.75% speak Tigrinya; the remaining 0.11% spoke all other primary languages reported. 96.75% of the population said they were Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, and 3.09% were Muslim. Concerning education, 3.9% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 9.01%; 3.36% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school, which is less than the Zone average of 11.34%; a negligible number of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, which is also less than the Zone average of 0.65%; and a negligible number of children aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school, which is less than the Zone average of 0.51%.