Tigray Region

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'ትግራይ ክልል
Tigrāy Kilil'		 'the Tigray Region'
Flag of the Tigray Region
Flag
Location of the Tigray Region
Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Tigray region
Capital city Mek'ele
Official languages Amharic
Recognised regional languages\Dialects Tigrinya
Demonym Tigray-Tigrinya
Currency Birr
Internet TLD .et
Image:Ge'ez.PNG This article contains Ethiopic text.
Without rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.

For other uses please see Tigre (disambiguation)

Tigray Region (ትግራይ ክልል Tigrāy Kilil) is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions (kililoch) of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1. Its capital is Mek'ele.

Tigray is bordered by Eritrea to the north (independent from Ethiopia since 1993), Sudan to the west, the Afar Region to the east and the Amhara Region to the south. Besides Mek'ele, other major towns and cities in Tigray include Abiy Addi, Adigrat, Adwa, Aksum, Humera, Inda Selassie, Korem, Alamata, Maychew, Wukro, Qwiha, and Zalambessa, as well as the historically significant village of Yeha.

Contents

[edit] History

For the history of the Tigray area prior to 1995, see Tigray Province.

In 1998, war erupted between Eritrea and Ethiopia over a portion of territory that had been administered at part of Tigray, which included the town of Badme. Following a 2002 United Nations decision, much of this land was awarded to Eritrea, so far however, Ethiopia has refused to implement the final and binding ruling and as a result, relation with Eritrea is very tense.

Canyon west of Adigrat in northern Tigray
Canyon west of Adigrat in northern Tigray

[edit] Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia published in 2005, Tigray has an estimated total population of 4,334,996, consisting of 2,136,000 men and 2,198,996 women. 3,519,000 or 81.2% of the population are estimated to be rural inhabitants, while 816,000 or 18.8% are urban. With an estimated area of 50,078.64 square kilometers, this region has an estimated density of 86.56 people per square kilometer.[1]

According to the 1994 Census the state's population was 3,136,267, of which 1,542,165 were males and 1,594,102 were females. The urban residents of the region numbered 468, 478, and its rural residents 2,667,789. 95.5% of the population were Orthodox Christians, while 4.1% and 0.4% were Muslims and Catholics, respectively. The State is predominantly Tigrayan, at 94.98% of the population, while 2.6% Amhara, 0.7% Irob (i.e. Saho), and 0.05% Kunama. Its working language is Tigrinya.[2]

Mountains of Lemalimo near Inda Selassie in western Tigray
Mountains of Lemalimo near Inda Selassie in western Tigray

[edit] Agriculture

The CSA estimated in 2005 that farmers in Tigray had a total of 2,713,750 cattle (representing 7.0% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 72,640 sheep (0.42%), 208,970 goats (1.61%), 1,200 horses (less than 0.1%), 9,190 mules (6.24%), 386,600 asses (15.43%), 32,650 camels (7.15%), 3,180,240 poultry of all species (10.3%), and 20,480 beehives (0.47%).[3]


[edit] Landmarks of Tigray

A distinctive feature of Tigray are its rock-hewn churches. Similar in design to those of Lalibela, these churches are found in four or five clusters -- Gheralta, Takatisfi, Atsbi and Tembien -- with Wukro sometimes included. Some of the churches are considered earlier than those of Lalibela, perhaps dating from the eighth century. Mostly monolithic, with designs partly inspired by classical architecture, they are often located at the top of cliffs or steep hills, for security. For example, Tigray's ancient Debre Damo monastery is accessible only by climbing a rope 25 meters up a sheer cliff.

[edit] Presidents of the Executive Committee

  • Gebru Asrat (TPLF) 1992 - 2001
  • Tsegay Berhe (TPLF) 2001 - present

(This list is based on information from Worldstatesmen.org.)

[edit] Zones

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.3.
  2. ^ FDRE States: Basic Information - Tigray, Population (accessed 22 March 2006)
  3. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables D.3 - D.5.

[edit] External links

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Regions
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(prior to 1995)
Arsi · Bale · Gamu-Gofa · Gojjam · Begemder · Hararghe · Illubabor · Kaffa · Shoa · Sidamo · Tigray · Welega · Wollo