Habesha People

Habesha People

The term Habesha (Ge'ez: ሐበሣ Ḥabaśā, Amharic (H)ābešā, Tigrinya: ? Ḥābešā; Arabic: الحبشة ‎ al-Ḥabašah) refers to the South Semitic-speaking group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to those people who ruled the Axumite Empire and the kingdom known as Dʿmt (usually vocalized Diʿamat).

Peoples referred to as "Habesha" today include the Amhara, Tigray-Tigrinya and Tigre ethnic groups of Ethiopia and Eritrea, who are predominantly Oriental Christians and have been since AD 332, with the exception of the Tigre who are predominantly Muslim. The Amhara and Tigray ethnicities combined make up about 33% of Ethiopia's population (c. 24.6 million Amhara, 5.5 million Tigray), while the Tigrinya and Tigre combined make up 85% (55% plus 30% respectively) of Eritrea's population (c. 5 of 5.9 million).

In the broadest sense, the word Habesha may refer to anyone from Ethiopia or Eritrea, although some would exclude themselves from this association.