Maychew
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Maychew
| other_name =
| native_name = ማይጨው (salt water)
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Town and Woreda
| motto =
| image_skyline =
| imagesize =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = Ethiopia#Horn of Africa#Africa
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia##Location within the Horn of Africa##Location within Africa
| pushpin_relief =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Ethiopia}}
| subdivision_type1 = Region
| subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Tigray|Region}}
| subdivision_type2 = Zone
| subdivision_name2 = Debubawi (Southern)
| population_as_of = 2007
| population_footnotes =
| population_note =
| population_total = 23,419
| timezone = EAT
| utc_offset = +3
| timezone_DST =
| utc_offset_DST =
| coordinates = {{coord|12|47|N|39|32|E|region:ET|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 2479
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Maychew, also Maichew ({{langx|ti|ማይጨው}}, "salt water"), is a town and woreda in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is located at 665 km north of Addis Ababa along Ethiopian Highway 2. According to Ethiopia’s agro-ecological setting, Maychew and its environs are classified under the Weinadega (semi-temperate zone). Maychew is located in the endoreic basin of the Afar Triangle. The streams near Maychew do not reach the ocean.
History
After his capture in 1921 by Gugsa Araya Selassie,{{cn|date=March 2013}} the deposed Lij Iyasu was detained for two weeks at Maychew.Harold Marcus, Haile Sellassie I: The Formative Years (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996), pp. 47f
Near Maychew, on March 31, 1936, the conclusive battle of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia was fought. By means of more sophisticated and powerful weaponry and superior numbers, along with modern training, the Italians routed the Ethiopian forces, and six weeks later marched unopposed into the capital, Addis Ababa. The battle of Maychew was despairing for the emperor.
During the Italian occupation, the inhabitants included about 500 local population and 22 Italians. Facilities included telephone service, an infirmary, a gas station, restaurant, and a Tuesday market.[https://nai.uu.se/library/resources/thematic-resources/local-history-of-ethiopia.html "Local History of Ethiopia"] The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 22 April 2022)
In the early years of the Ethiopian Civil War, the Derg required that all vehicles travelling north from Maychew be restricted to convoys. By 1980, convoys were deemed necessary to move even the 20 kilometers from Maychew to Mehoni. During the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia, the commander of the First Division, Colonel Hailu Gebre Yohannis, ordered the theft of food stocks from the NGO World Vision in Maychew to feed his hungry troops. By 8 September 1989, Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front forces had captured Maychew and Korem, and afterwards advanced along the main highway southwards.
Between February 1999 and April 2000, SUR Construction built a road segments connecting Maychew with Alamata by way of Mehoni about 68 kilometers in length.[http://www.sur.com.et/MajProjExp.html "SUR Construction PLC - Major Projects"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226180507/http://www.sur.com.et/MajProjExp.html |date=2010-02-26 }}, SUR Construction webpage (accessed 6 May 2010 A notable landmark in this town is the church Maychew Mikael Bete Kristiyan.
Demographics
The population comprises mainly Tigraians. Amharic is frequently used as trade language. Tigraians are dominantly Orthodox Christians.{{cite book |last1=Nyssen |first1=J. and colleagues |title= At the edge between Ethiopian plateau and Rift Valley. In: Nyssen, J., Biadgilgn Demissie, Tesfaalem Ghebreyohannes (eds.). Land, water, people and landscapes in north Ethiopia's grabens, pp. 48-54 |date=2019 |publisher= VLIR-UOS, Mekelle University, Ghent University, KU Leuven |isbn=9789082922226|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331976456}}
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this town has a total population of 23,419, of whom 11,024 are men and 12,395 women. 95.28% of the population said they were Orthodox Christians, and 4.24% were Muslim.[http://www.csa.gov.et/index.php?option=com_rubberdoc&view=doc&id=275&format=raw&Itemid=521 Census 2007 Tables: Tigray Region] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114010300/http://www.csa.gov.et/index.php?option=com_rubberdoc&view=doc&id=275&format=raw&Itemid=521 |date=November 14, 2010 }}, Tables 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4.
The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 19,757 of whom 8,894 were men and 10,863 were women.
Climate
{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y
|collapsed = Y
|location = Maychew, elevation {{convert|2380|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1971–2000)
|Jan high C = 23.6
|Feb high C = 23.1
|Mar high C = 24.4
|Apr high C = 24.4
|May high C = 28.6
|Jun high C = 29.6
|Jul high C = 24.1
|Aug high C = 24.1
|Sep high C = 24.9
|Oct high C = 24.6
|Nov high C = 25.9
|Dec high C = 23.4
| year high C =
|Jan low C = 5.5
|Feb low C = 6.1
|Mar low C = 8.1
|Apr low C = 10.1
|May low C = 9.0
|Jun low C = 11.2
|Jul low C = 12.9
|Aug low C = 12.0
|Sep low C = 9.2
|Oct low C = 5.4
|Nov low C = 4.8
|Dec low C = 5.0
| year low C =
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 13.0
|Feb precipitation mm = 23.0
|Mar precipitation mm = 58.0
|Apr precipitation mm = 92.0
|May precipitation mm = 48.0
|Jun precipitation mm = 16.0
|Jul precipitation mm = 203.0
|Aug precipitation mm = 211.0
|Sep precipitation mm = 80.0
|Oct precipitation mm = 39.0
|Nov precipitation mm = 35.0
|Dec precipitation mm = 15.0
|year precipitation mm =
| Jan humidity = 54
| Feb humidity = 51
| Mar humidity = 52
| Apr humidity = 49
| May humidity = 44
| Jun humidity = 47
| Jul humidity = 73
| Aug humidity = 78
| Sep humidity = 59
| Oct humidity = 50
| Nov humidity = 55
| Dec humidity = 54
| year humidity =
| source 1 = FAO{{cite web
| url = https://www.fao.org/land-water/databases-and-software/climwat-for-cropwat/en/
| title = CLIMWAT climatic database
| publisher= Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations
| access-date = 22 June 2024}}
}}