Ethnic Groups in Ethiopia - Languages

Languages

According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, the largest first languages are: Oromigna 24,929,567 speakers or 33.8% of the total population; Amharic 21,631,370 or 29.33% (official language); Somali 4,609,274 or 6.25%; Tigrinya 4,324,476 or 5.86%; Sidamo 2,981,471 or 4.84%; Wolaytta 1,627,784 or 2.21%, Gurage 1,481,783 or 2.01%; and Afar 1,281,278 or 1.74%. Widely-spoken foreign languages include Arabic (official), English (official; major foreign language taught in schools), and Italian (spoken by European minorities).

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