one of the great divisions of Abyssinia, including the whole country north of the upper basin of the Blue River, and separated on the north-east from Tigré by the Tacazze. The province of Amhara Proper is in the south-east of this territory, and constitutes a state or kingdom still nominally subject to the head of the royal family, who is however a mere puppet in the hands of his temporary minister, with a paltry pension. The great lake of Dembea lies in the centre, surrounded by the plain of Dembea, which has been called the granary of the country, on account of its fertility and the blandness of its climate. The language is the Amharic, a branch of the Semitic stock.