Wukro

Wukro (also transliterated Wuqro, Tigrigna: ውቕሮ; also known as Wukro Kilte Awulaelo, Tigrigna: ውቕሮ ክልተ ኣውላዕሎ) is a small town and separate woreda in Tigray, Ethiopia. The population of Wukro was around 50,000 in 2013. Wukro is located along Genfel River, in the Eastern Zone of the Tigray Region on the Asmara-Addis Ababa highway (Ethiopian Highway 2). Wukro is surrounded by Kilte Awulaelo woreda. The rock-hewn churches around Wukro are the town's most distinctive landmarks. Visually it can be characterised by one main road, few cars, yet many bajaj (three-wheeled auto-rickshaws) and hotels under construction. Hotels have been growing to serve conferences and to accommodate tourists departing to regional attractions.

In earlier sources the area is usually referred to as Dongolo (Ge'ez: ዶንጎሎ) before the foundation of Wukro as a modern town, after the name of the main village nearby, while the term Wukro just referred originally to the church area of Wuqro Cherqos which was situated within the land of Dongolo village. Due to the establishment of modern infrastructure, including a far-distance road, the area around Wuqro Cherqos evolved into a town by itself, thus separated from Dongolo and became an economic and administrative centre by itself. The town's name derives from the Tigrigna word for a structure carved from the living rock, Wukro.