Welo

Welo, also spelled Wollo or Wollo, is a historic province of Ethiopia in the northeast of the country. It roughly corresponds to parts of the present-day Amhara Region, particularly the North Wollo and South Wollo zones.

The province covered varied highland and midland terrain and contained several important towns, including Dessie and Weldiya. It bordered areas in what is now northern Amhara, with a population historically centered on Amhara communities, who speak Amharic and practice Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

Wollo existed as a provincial entity within the Ethiopian Empire and played a role in the region’s political and religious life. In the 1980s, the area was affected by famine, notably the Wollo famine of 1984–85, which attracted international attention.

With the 1995 reform establishing ethnically based regional states, the territory that was Wollo became part of the Amhara Region and is now divided into the North Wollo and South Wollo zones. The area remains agriculturally oriented, with crops such as cereals and pulses and livestock production forming the basis of the local economy; important towns along major transport routes include Dessie, Kombolcha, and Weldiya. The region also preserves historic churches and monasteries tied to Ethiopian Orthodox Christian heritage.