Dälanta is situated in the northwest part of Wällo with an altitude ranges between 1700 meter above sea level in river valleys and 3500 meter above sea level at mountains. As traveler Markham briefly explains what he observed during his journey in the year 1868, Dӓlanta is a flat plain, quite treeless, except the clumps around a few churches, and with a rich black soil several inches thick, save where the streams have worn it away and laid bare the pentagon-shaped tops of the basalt columns. From most points of view the scarped side of the Dawənt plateau and of the Žəṭṭa and Bashilo ravines is just visible of the edges of the plain. The eastern part has been described as “a mass of columnar basalt between the
Žəṭṭa and Bäšlo rivers, with its surface upwards of 9000 feet above the level of the sea. It is surrounded by the headwater tributaries of the Blue Nile such as Bashilo River in the south and Žəṭṭa River, which separates the Wadla plateau from that of Dälanta, in the north. None of the rivers are used for irrigation. This is because Dälanta is characterized by a land form of extensive plateaus, chains of hills with mountainous ridge, oval shape with dendritic drainage pattern, numerous hills at the plain area, river valleys and very deep gorges at the boundary. Dälanta plateau is surrounded by deep river valleys with very steep slopes in most parts. About two-third of the
wäräda embracing altitudes range between 2100 and 3500 meter above sea level are highly populated. The remaining one-third of the area is located along the river valleys on the east, southeast, north and northwest escarpments. The topography of the highland plateaus mainly elevated above 3000m which dominated by hills. The
wäräda was classified as mountainous consisted of 30%, plains 30%, 36.5% gorges and 3.5% other land features. The differences in temperature mainly between Dälanta plateau and its neighboring mainly Wadla is very observable, the former being warmer. This may probably be accounted for by the deep warm ravines of the Žəṭṭa and Bäšlo, which border Dälanta on either side, while the Wadla plateau only has the Žəṭṭa ravine on the one side. As the regions topography is varied, so its climate ranging from extremely cold/
däga through temperate/
wäyna däga to hot lowland/
qolla areas ranging from an elevation of 1700 to 3600 meter above sea level. When considered in terms of agro-climatic zones, that are basically correlated with elevation, the
wäräda falls under lowlands (
qolla) good for
țef, goats and vegetables; midlands (
wäyna däga) good for wheat and oats; and highlands (
däga) good for barley and sheep. Its climate is characterized by dry seasons i.e. October to February Cold-Dry and March to June Hot-Dry and wet season from mid-June to September. The
däga climate is made up of 26.4% or 25,872.53 hectares,
wäyna däga covers 43.8% or 42,924 hectares and the
qolla zone consisted of 29.8% or 29,204.59 hectares. From this the
wäyna däga climatic zone covers the largest area in the
wäräda. Areas which are extremely cold in the
däga region are called “
wurč” such as Angot, Ṩäḥay Mäwuča, and Ṭardat are found in this zone and in each year of the
mäḵär season mainly in every October and November, experience crop failure due to extreme cold climate. The peasants in these areas depend on “
Bälg” rain which occurs between
Mägabit (March) and
Miyaziya (April). The cereal crops in the
däga grow barley, wheat, oats, peas, horse beans, and lentils and the staple food is barley and horse beans. The only crop they cultivate during the minor rainy season is barley because it is cold resistant crop. The
Wäyna Däga zone is part of the region which is neither very cold nor very hot. It comprises altitudes between 2400 and 3000 meters above sea level. Areas such as Yəlana Bätačə, Mähal Dälanta, Zəban Däga, and Čäwu Quțər are fall under this zone. People living in this zone rely on both
Bälg and
Mäḵär seasons and they cultivate crops such as
Teff (
Eragrostis tef), beans, peas, lentils and
Gʷaya (
Lathyrus sativus) and
Abəš (
Trigonella foenum-graecum). ==Demographics==