Yesmala is a town in western 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 on the southwestern shore of Lake Tana

Lake Tana

Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia...

 in the Mirab Gojjam Zone

Mirab Gojjam Zone

Mirab Gojjam is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Mirab Gojjam is named after the former province of Gojjam was divided in to two administrative zones by EPRDF...

 of the Amhara Region

Amhara Region

Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....

, this town has a latitude and longitude of 11°36′N 36°57′E with an elevation of 2072 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Achefer

Achefer

Achefer is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the historic district of Achefer, which was first mentioned in the 16th century...

 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...

.

A notable point of interest in Yesmala is the church of Yeldet Giyorgis ("The Daughter of George").

History

One of the earliest mentions of Yesmala is in the Royal chronicle of Emperor Iyasu the Great

Iyasu I of Ethiopia

Iyasu I , also known as Iyasu the Great, was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...

, where the Emperor stopped twice during his travels in Gojjam

Gojjam

Gojjam was a kingdom in the north-western part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. This region is distinctive for lying entirely within the bend of the Abbay River from its outflow from Lake Tana to the Sudan...

 in 1702 and the following year. Hormuzd Rassam

Hormuzd Rassam

Hormuzd Rassam , was a native Assyrian Assyriologist, British diplomat and traveller who made a number of important discoveries, including the clay tablets that contained the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest literature...

 records that he stopped briefly here 21 January 1866, describing it as the largest village he had seen since his entry into Ethiopia. He was told that Yesmala had been "reckoned one of the most important in the Amhara country, owing to its wealth and to the number of militia which it furnished to the Emperors in time of war."

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...

, an Italian official was stationed in Yesmala. The town had a telegraph station and an infirmary.

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, this town has an estimated total population of 5,309 of whom 2,497 are men and 2,812 women. The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 3,027 of whom 1,266 were men and 1,761 were women.