The Habesha people ( Ḥabaśā, Amharic (H)ābešā, Ḥābešā; al-Ḥabašah), also known as Abyssinians, are a population group inhabiting the Horn of Africa. They include various related ethnic groups in the Eritrean Highlands and Ethiopian Highlands who speak languages belonging to the South Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. Members’ cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to the Kingdom of Dʿmt (usually vocalized Diʿamat) and the later Kingdom of Aksum. The peoples referred to as “Habesha” today include the Amhara, the Tigray-Tigrinya, the Tigre, the Gurage and the Harari. Together, the Amhara, Tigray and Gurage peoples make up about 35.5% of Ethiopia’s population (c. 24.6 million Amhara, 5.5 million Tigray, 1.8 million Gurage), 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 do not identify with this association.
