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Tigray Region
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For other uses please see Tigre (disambiguation)
Tigray Region (???? ??? Tigray 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.
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Encyclopedia
For other uses please see Tigre (disambiguation)
Tigray Region (???? ??? Tigray 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 (controversial), Inda Selassie, Korem, Alamata, Maychew, Wukro, Qwiha, and Zalambessa, as well as the historically significant village of Yeha.
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.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the Tigray Region has an estimated total population of 4,314,456, of whom 2,124,853 are men and 2,189,603 women; urban inhabitants number 842,723 or 19.53% of the population. With an estimated area of 50,078.64 square kilometers, this region has an estimated density of 86.15 people per square kilometer. For the entire region 985,654 households were counted, which results in an average for the Region of 4.4 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 3.4 and rural households 4.6 people. The Region is predominantly Tigrayan, at 96.55% of the population; other ethnic groups include Amhara (1.63%), Irob or Saho (0.71%), Afar (0.29%) Agaw/Kamyr (0.19%), Oromo (0.17%), and Kunama (0.07%). 95.6% of the population were Orthodox Christians, 4.0% Muslim, 0.4% Catholics, and 0.1% Protestant.
In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the Region's population was 3,136,267, of whom 1,542,165 were men and 1,594,102 women; urban inhabitants numbered 621,210 or 14% of the population. Ethnic groups present at the time of the earlier census included Tigrayan (94.98%), 2.6% Amhara (2.6%), Irob (0.7%), and Kunama (0.05%). 95.5% of the population were Orthodox Christians, while 4.1% and 0.4% were Muslim and Catholics, respectively. Its working language is Tigrinya.
According to the CSA, , 53.99% of the total population had access to safe drinking water, of whom 42.68% were rural inhabitants and 97.28% were urban. Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for Tigray include the following: 31.6% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 67.5% and for women 33.7%; and the Regional infant mortality rate is 67 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which less than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants’ first month of life.
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%).
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.
Presidents of the Executive Committee
- Gebru Asrat (TPLF) 1992 - 2001
- Tsegay Berhe (TPLF) 2001 - present
(This list is based on information from .)
Zones
See also
External links
- (PDF file)
- (PDF file)
- - Dam Building in Tigray by David Mercer
- by Elizabeth Blunt, BBC News, 20 December 2007
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