Alitena facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alitena
ዓሊተና
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Town
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 Alitena
Location in Ethiopia
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| Country |  Ethiopia |
| Region |  Tigray |
| Zone | Misraqawi (Eastern) |
| Woreda | Irob Woreda |
| Elevation | 1,850 m (6,070 ft) |
| Population
(2007)
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| • Total | 4,905 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Alitena (which is ዓሊተና in the Ge'ez language) is a town in northern Ethiopia. It's found in the eastern part of the Tigray Region. For a long time, Alitena was the main town for the Irob area. But in 2003, another town called Dawhan became the new center.
History of Alitena
The 1800s
Alitena has been an important center for the Roman Catholic Church in northern Ethiopia since 1845. Around that time, followers of Justin de Jacobis helped some local people change from the Ethiopian Church to Catholicism.
In 1847, Catholic missionaries, including de Jacobis and Guglielmo Massaia, held a special Easter service there. They were joined by two Ethiopian priests they had recently trained. Even without many churches, de Jacobis liked the people of Alitena. He even thought of it as a safe place if Catholics faced difficulties. Since 1934, the Lazarist Mission, a group of Catholic priests, made Alitena their main base in Tigray.
The 1900s
Alitena is connected to Zalambessa by a 35-kilometer road. This road was built thanks to the ideas and hard work of local Roman Catholic priests. It was officially opened on December 5, 1974.
People of Alitena
A study from 2007 showed that Alitena has a total population of 4,905 people. Out of these, 2,431 were men and 2,474 were women. The town had 975 households, which means about 5 people lived in each home. There were also 927 housing units counted.
Back in 1994, an earlier study reported that the town had 857 people. At that time, 447 were men and 410 were women.
