Tigrayans

Tigrayan people (Tigrinya: ተጋሩ, romanized: Təgaru) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group who are indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak Tigrinya, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the North Ethio-Semitic language branch, and written in the Geʽez script serves as the main and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also the main language of the Tigrinya people that live in Eritrea. According to the 2007 national census, Tigrayans numbered approximately 4,483,000 individuals, making up 6.07% of Ethiopia’s total population at the time. The vast majority of Tigrayans are adherents of Tewahedo Oriental Orthodoxy, specifically the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church which has historically been the dominant religious institution in the region. In fact, Tigray is often regarded as Ethiopia's spiritual heartland, due to its association with the early Christian Kingdom of Aksum. However, there are small communities that follow Islam or Catholicism. Historically, the Tigrayans and Biher-Tigrinya are closely associated with the heritage of the Aksumite Empire, whose core territories encompassed much of present-day Tigray and the Eritrean highlands. Tigrayans played major roles in the Ethiopian history, including during the 17th-century Zemene Mesafint, and later in the 20th century through events such as the Woyane rebellion and the Ethiopian Student Movement, or movements like the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which became the dominant faction in the coalition that overthrew the Derg in 1991 and ruled Ethiopia through the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) until 2018. Like other northern highland peoples, Tigrayans often identify with the broader Habesha (Abyssinian) identity—a term used historically to describe the Semitic-speaking Christian populations of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Highlands. Areas where Tigrayans have strong ancestral links include Enderta, Agame, Tembien, Raya, Welkait, Tselemt, Kilite Awlalo, Axum, Adwa, Shire and Mekelle.