TheChara also known as the Tsara are a people group ofEthiopia. They form a part of theGimira peoples of Ethiopia and live in theKaffa Highlands,[1] and theDebub Omo area.
Their three main villages areGeba a meša,Buna Anta, andKumba, Ethiopia and they practise subsistencefarming and hold to a syncretic religion ofOriental Orthodox Christianity with tribal practices.[2]The Chara people speak their ownChara language a member of theOmotic Language group,[3][4] which islinguistically similar toMela[5] and the numerically much largerWolaytta[6][7] both of which many Chara also speak.[8] (SeeEthiopian language map).
The number of Chara have been decimated due toslavery and war and are estimated to number between 16,500 and 6,984 (1994 census)[9] people.
