The Tigray-Tigrinya (ትግራይ – ትግርኛ) are an ethnic group inhabiting the southern and central parts of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region. Prior to 1995, they lived in Ethiopia’s former provinces of Tigray, Begemder (Gonder), and Wollo, with the regions within these provinces that they inhabited (e.g. Wolqayt, Tsegede, Tselemti, Raya, Humera) later incorporated into the modern Tigray Region. The Tigray people, eponymous with the name of their territory, make up approximately 96.6% of the inhabitants of the Tigray Region,[sic] and comprise 6.1% of Ethiopia’s total population, numbering a little over 5.7 million. Group members in Eritrea are known by the name of their language, Tigrinya, and they constitute around 50% of the population, at about 3.4 million people. They primarily live in a region of Eritrea known as the Kebessa, contained within the former awrajas of Hamasien, Seraye, and Akele Guzay, these later incorporated into Eritrea’s present-day regions. The Tigray-Tigrinya speak Tigrinya, an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the family’s Semitic branch. Members from this ethnic group today form the dominant political force in both Ethiopia and Eritrea. Tigray-Tigrinya are not to be confused with the Tigre people who speak Tigre, a closely related Afro-Asiatic language.
