Ethiopians

Total population
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Saudi Arabia	750,000[1]
United States	460,000[2]
UAE	200,000[3]
Israel	155,300[4]
United Kingdom	90,000[5]
Sudan	73,000 refugees[6]
South Africa	44,891[7]
Canada	44,065[8]
Kenya	36,889[7]
Sweden	30,624[9]
Lebanon	30,000[2]
France	30,000[10]
Germany	20,465[11]
Australia	19,349[12][13]
South Sudan	12,786[7]
Norway	12,380[14]
Djibouti	12,323[7]
Bahrain	10,000
Netherlands	9,451[7]
Italy	6,424[15]
Yemen	5,740[7]
Switzerland	5,211[7]
Spain	3,713[7]
Kuwait	3,595[7]
Greece	2,420[7]
Finland	2,366[7]
Denmark	2,136[7]
Somalia	2,079[7]
Libya	1,831[7]
Qatar	1,667[7]
Egypt	1,457[7]
Tanzania	1,400
Austria	1,276[7]
New Zealand	1,187[7]
Belgium	1,143[7]
Uganda	1,070[7]
Languages
Amharic,Oromo,Somali,Tigrinya,Wolaytta,Gurage,Sidamo and otherlanguages of Ethiopia
Religion
Christian 60.9% - Predominantly Oriental Orthodox (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church),Muslim 35.6%,Traditional 2.6%.Jewish 1%[16]
Related ethnic groups
Eritreans,Djiboutians,Somalis,Akhdam, otherHorn Africans, and otherAfro-Asiatic andNilo-Saharan populations.

Ethiopians are the native inhabitants ofEthiopia, as well as the globaldiaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constituteseveral component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboringEritrea and other parts of theHorn of Africa.

The first documented use of the name "Ethiopia" from Greek nameΑἰθίοψ,Aithíops was in the 4th century during the reign ofAksumite kingEzana. There were three ethnolinguistic groups in theKingdom of Aksum:Semitic,Cushitic, andNilo-Saharan (ancestors of the modern-dayKunama andNara). The Kingdom of Aksum remained a geopolitically influential entity until thedecline of its capital — also namedAxum — beginning in the 7th century. Nevertheless, the core Aksumite civilization was preserved and continued into the successiveZagwe dynasty. By this time, new ethnic groups emerged – theTigrayans andAmharas. During theSolomonic period, the latter established major political and cultural influence in theHorn of Africa.In theLate Middle Ages, Muslim states were established, including theSultanate of Ifat, and its successor theAdal Sultanate. Discontent with territory and religious dominance led tointense war between theEthiopian Empire, the Christian state (consisting of the Amhara, Tigrayan,Soddo Gurage, andAgaw ethnic groups) and the Muslim state Adal Sultanate (consisting of Semitic-speakingHarari formally known as theHarla people, and theArgobba). During the 1600s, there werelarge-scale migrations of theOromo from the south into the highlands and also alongside theSomali into Adal or what was known as "Hararghe" (land of the Hararis).

A period of stability and peace continued through theGondarine period in 16th and 17th century, but Ethiopia was divided into de factoautonomous regions in the mid-18th century. During this time, Ethiopia was nominally ruled by anEmperor who functioned as apuppet monarch of various regional lords and noblemen. This era was known as theZemene Mesafint or "Era of the Princes". EmperorTewodros II managed to unify the decentralized Ethiopian Empire in 1855 and inaugurated a process of modernization that continued into successive regimes, resurrecting the empire as a regional power.

In the late 19th century during the reign ofMenelik II, against the backdrop of theScramble for Africa, the notion of Ethiopian national integrity was strengthened by Italian efforts at colonization. The Italian invasion engendered a formidable national resistance, culminating in theBattle of Adwa in 1896 which resulted in a major Ethiopian victory against the Italians. The resultingTreaty of Addis Ababa ended theItalo-Ethiopian War, and along with the nation's contemporaneous territorial expansion, largely established the modern-day boundaries of Ethiopia.

Present-day Ethiopia has a diverse population with many different languages and ethnic groups. Ethiopians speakAfro-Asiatic languages (Semitic, Cushitic, andOmotic) andNilo-Saharan languages. The Oromo, Amhara,Somali and Tigrayans make up more than three-quarters (75%) of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members.

Archaeologists found remains of early hominins, one of the most specimen wasAustralopithecus afarensis, also called "Lucy", which was discovered in the country'sAwash Valley, so-calledHadar in 1974. It is estimated to be 3.5 million years old. In October 2015, scientists discovered the remains of a man called "Mota" in a cave in south-central Ethiopia, he lived 4,500 years ago. Atypical of Euroasians, who were believed to have reached the region after him, Mota's genetic variants did not include traits such as "light-colored eyes or skin," resembling the modernAari tribes that live in the southern area of the country. Other research suggests Euroasians that arrived in the region resemble modern-daySardinians, or likelyLBK culture of antiquity.^[17] By proofingMota has no European genome, archeologist theorized theNear East population migrated to Africa in 3,000 years ago.^[18] Other evidence concluded that Eurasian population made significant contribution as a result of back migration between 1,500 and 3,500 years ago.Nilo-Saharan peoples do not exhibit this genetic similarity; instead, their DNA shows evidence of more recent admixture (less than 1200 years ago) with other African peoples.^[19] It was thought thatHamitic people fromAsia Minor had migrated before Semitic Arabian people in the 7th century BC.^[20] In 1933,G.W.B Huntingford proposed a theory ofAzanian civilization could existed inKenya, and northernTanzania, between theStone Age andIslamic period. It was supposed that these people evicted from Ethiopia andSomalia by Muslim invasion to southern region in present-day Kenya and Tanzania where perished around 14th- and 15th-century.^[21]

About 7000 BC,Afro-Asiatic-speaking population namelyCushitic andOmotic-speaking people grouped in the present day of Ethiopia after which diversification thrived in the area and allowed the other local groups, theAgaws,Somali,Oromo, and numerous Omotic-speaking groups to unify. Originally a hunter gatherers, those people began domesticating indigenous plants thereafter, including the grassesteff,eleusine,enset, root crop, and domestication of cattles and other animals to fill agricultural livelihoods that still contemporary followed. By the late first millennium BC, the Agaws occupied the northern Ethiopian region, as theSidamo occupied the central and southern parts of Ethiopia, making inauguralhistorical development of Ethiopia.^[22]

Afro-Asiatic languages were present in Africa and the Middle East by the eighth to sixth millennium BCE. This language family includes various modern and extinct African and Asian languages such as Oromo, Somali, Egyptian, Berber, Hausa, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and Akkadian. Ge'ez was developed around sixth century BCE and evident by inscriptions of contemporary kingdom of D'mt.^[23] The language dominance was eclipsed by 1000 AD, but the highland inhabitants used it as written scholar and liturgical language between 300s and 1800s.^[24]

In 980 BCE,Dʿmt was established in present-dayEritrea and theTigray Region of Ethiopia, straddlingSouth Arabia in present-day ofYemen. This polity's capital was located atYeha, in what is now northern Ethiopia. Most modern historians consider this civilization to be a native Ethiopian one, although in earlier times many suggested it wasSabaean-influenced because of the latter's hegemony of the Red Sea.^[25]

Other scholars regard Dʿmt as the result of a union of Afroasiatic-speaking cultures of the Cushitic and Semitic branches; namely, localAgaw peoples and Sabaeans from Southern Arabia. However,Ge'ez, the ancient Semitic language of Ethiopia, is thought to have developed independently from theSabaean language, one of theSouth Semitic languages. As early as 2000 BCE, other Semitic speakers were living in Ethiopia and Eritrea where Ge'ez developed.^[26][27] Sabaean influence is now thought to have been minor, limited to a few localities, and disappearing after a few decades or a century. It may have been a trading or military colony in alliance with the Ethiopian civilization of Dʿmt or some other proto-Axumite state.^[25] Politically integrated, theKingdom of Aksum was emerged independently from at least 100 BC, and its civilization grew from 1st century AD. The kingdom dominated theRed Sea, the Northeast Africa in the present location between northern Ethiopia (Tigray Region), easternSudan,Eritrea,South Arabia. It was by far powerful empire and trading nation betweenRoman Empire andIndia. The Aksumitelingua franca wasGreek evolved fromHellenistic period in 330–305 BC^{[citation needed]} and officially adopted in the first century. It was soon replaced byGe'ez in the 4th century. Politically and culturally influenced partially withByzantine Empire, the Aksumite achieved major historical grounds,Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity introduced and has been state religion in the early 4th century, construction of stone-fitted palace and public buildings, and erection of large obelisks around the capital Axum. These all are milestones that culminate in the rise ofEthiopian identity where the Greek exonym "Ethiopians" came to use by the kingdom under kingEzana's reign in the 4th century.^[28][22] The first century BCE Greek historianDiodorus Siculus claimed the Ethiopian nativity as "true natives", "most pious and righteous" in his record. This assertion resonated by locality of declaring themselves a "Habesha people".^[29] His record expounded the nature of Ethiopians, including highly proselytizing to neighboring Egypt. He denoted these people locating in the place superimposed by Nubia and Meroë, connected to the Nile river, having distinct rainy season and wonderful lake.^[30]

The kingdom enlarged its territory by the half of 4th century after conquering neighbor cityMeroë in 330, and entered a "Golden Age" for the next three centuries. Aksum's power began declining at the time of theIslamic Golden Age, where they frequently countered intrusions by Arab Muslims in theSouth Arabia protectorate (modernYemen), making them to evicted more in the southern of Agaw population. In 10th century, the kingdom ultimately collapsed followed by pillage byQueen Gudit, after execution of Christians and orderedarson in church. While Aksum's existence extinguished, the follow-upkingdom of Zagwe likely of a continuation of its civilization and revival of Christianity, and a new multi-ethnic empire-state was formed in title of "king of kings".

The successful integration of Agaw andSemitic groups in the north prolonged over millennium and eventually formsTigrayans andAmhara people. The Zagwe kingdom capital, relocated toLalibela, and sparked a new cultural life. The most notable churches in this period was constructed with uniquerock-hewn architecture. A dominant group, Amhara, continues to expand its territory in so-calledSolomonic period after the downfall of Zagwe in 1270, and by the late 13th century, they reached to southern Shewa. Since then, centralized military unit was buildup while frequently engaged war with Sidama kingdom in the west and Muslim population to the east.

One of the most important era for Christian and Muslim insight, and the resultant of religious war was in the mid-16th century ofEthiopian–Adal War, involving the Amhara, Tigrayan and Agaw force allied to theEthiopian Empire (Abyssinia) and the Muslim states composed mostly ofHarari and Somali people, together forms theAdal Sultanate. TheOromo people additionally took an advantage of the war and occupied much the northern highland zone of the Amhara empire in theOromo migrations.^[22]

The Oromo remained predominantly pastoral life who dominated the Amhara empire of Abyssinia for the rest of era. A blossom life continued throughout early modern period with the founding of capitalGondar in the early 18th century, by EmperorFasilides, commencing a "Gondarine period".

Between 1769 and 1855, Ethiopia experienced a period of isolation referred to as theZemene Mesafint or "Age of Princes". The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by regional lords and noblemen likeRasMikael Sehul ofTigray,RasWolde Selassie of Tigray, and by theYejju Oromo dynasty of theWara Sheh, such asRasGugsa of Yejju. Prior to the Zemene Mesafint, EmperorIyoas I had introduced the Oromo language (Afaan Oromo) at court, instead of Amharic.^[32][33] In 1855, EmperorTewodros II sought to establish permanent Ethiopian border by solidifying the Shewan kingdoms. Tewodros II is often credited with being the preliminary figure of modern Ethiopian history but his reign ended prematurely when he committed suicide during theBritish Expedition to Abyssinia.

EmperorMenelik II done major reformations to the country by the late 1890s: under his reign, Menelik extensively conquered the rest of kingdoms nearby region, while annexing theTigray Province, ultimately formed the modern border of Ethiopia. His reign brought sharp solidification of the current Ethiopian national identity. TheBattle of Adwa was a 1896colonial resistance battle between the Ethiopian Empire led by Menelik andKingdom of Italy led by GeneralOreste Baratieri, involving respective 100,000 and 17,700 troops,^[34] where Ethiopian armies decisively defeated them and secured sovereignty.^[22] The battle became signature national pride among Ethiopians, and beyond forPan-Africanism. TheTreaty of Addis Ababa (1896) settled an end ofItalo-Ethiopian War, and modern border of Ethiopia was created as a background of ceased foreign external pressure against the sovereignty of Ethiopia. Ethiopia, along withLiberia, became the only independent African survivors against theEuropean colonization.^[35]

An Italian occupation of Ethiopia followingSecond Italo-Ethiopian War brought legacy of ethnic marginalization of major ethnic groups: the Oromos, Amharas, Tigrayans, and Somalis. Ethiopia underwent series civil clashes under communist military juntaDerg.Ethnic nationalism and similar policies implemented by theEthiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which brought Ethiopia toethnic federalist state since 1995, which was aimed to reduce internal ethnic conflicts and grantfreedom of choice within every ethnic groups although, Ethiopia then faced moreprolong internal conflicts and ethnic clashes in the 21st century.^[37]

• Oromo 30.4%
• Amhara 27.0%
• Somali 6.1%
• Tigray 6.1%
• Sidama 4.0%
• Gurage 2.5%
• Welayta 2.3%
• Hadiya 1.7%
• Afar 1.7%
• Gamo 1.5%
• Otherethnic groups 12.6%^[38][39]

• Ethiopian Americans
• Ethiopian Australians
• Ethiopian Canadians
• Ethiopian Jews in Israel
• Ethiopians in Italy
• Ethiopians in the United Kingdom
• Ethiopians in Denmark
• Ethiopians in Norway
• Ethiopians in Sweden
• Eritreans
• Habesha peoples
  • Eritrean people of Ethiopian descent
  • Ethiopian people of Eritrean descent

Until thefall of the Derg,Amharic served as the sole official language in government administration, courts, church and even in primary school instruction; although in the 17th century during theZemene Mesafint under the rule of theWarasek dynasty, theOromo language did serve as the official language of theEthiopian Empire'sroyal court.^[45] After 1991, Amharic has been replaced in many areas by other official government languages such as Oromo,Somali andTigrinya.^[46]English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools.

According to the 2007 Ethiopian census and the CIA World Fact Book, the largestfirst languages are:Oromo 24,929,567 speakers or 33.8% of the total population;Amharic 21,631,370 or 29.3% (federal working language);Somali 4,609,274 or 6.2%;Tigrinya 4,324,476 or 5.9%;Sidamo 4,981,471 or 4%;Wolaytta 1,627,784 or 2.2%;Gurage 1,481,783 or 2%; andAfar 1,281,278 or 1.7%.^[38][47] Widely-spoken foreign languages includeArabic,English (major foreign language taught in schools), andItalian (spoken by an Italian minority).^[38]

According to the CIA Factbook the religious demography of Ethiopia is as follows; Ethiopian Orthodox 43.8%, Muslim 31.3%, Protestant 22.8%, Catholic 0.7%, traditional 0.6%, and other 0.8%.^[38]

The largestdiaspora community is found in the United States. According to theU.S. Census Bureau,^[48] 250,000Ethiopian immigrants lived in the United States as of 2008. An additional 30,000 U.S.-born citizens reported Ethiopian ancestry.^[49] According to Aaron Matteo Terrazas, "if the descendants of Ethiopian-born migrants (the second generation and up) are included, the estimates range upwards of 460,000 in the United States (of which approximately 350,000 are in theWashington, DC Metropolitan Area; 96,000 inLos Angeles; and 10,000 in New York)."^[2]

A large Ethiopian community is also found in Israel, whereEthiopians make up almost 1.9% of the population.^{[citation needed]} Almost the entire community are members of theBeta Israel community. There are also large number of Ethiopian emigrants inSaudi Arabia,Italy,Lebanon,United Kingdom,Canada,Sweden andAustralia.^{[citation needed]}.

Wilson et al. (2001), conducted a DNA study based on cluster analysis that looked at a combined sample ofAmhara andOromo, examining a single enzyme variant:drug metabolizing enzyme (DME) loci. They found that 62% of Ethiopians fall into the same cluster ofAshkenazi Jews,Norwegians andArmenians based on that gene, and only 24% of Ethiopians cluster withBantus and Afro-Caribbeans, 8% withPapua New Guineans, and 6% withChinese.^[50]

An investigation by Tishkoff et al. (2009) identified fourteen ancestral population clusters which correlate with self-described ethnicity and shared cultural and/or linguistic properties within Africa, in what was the largest autosomal study of the continent at the time.^{[failed verification][51]} The Burji, Konso and Beta Israel were sampled from Ethiopia. The Afroasiatic speaking Ethiopians sampled were cumulatively (Fig.5B) found to belong to: 71% in the "Cushitic" cluster, 6% in the "Saharan/Dogon" cluster, 5% in the "Niger Kordofanian" cluster, 3% each in the "Nilo-Saharan" and "Chadic Saharan" cluster, while the balance (12%) of their assignment was distributed among the remnant (9) Associated Ancestral Clusters (AAC's) found in Sub-Saharan Africa.^[52] The "Cushitic" cluster was also deemed "closest to the non-African AACs, consistent with an East African migration of modern humans out of Africa or a back-migration of non-Africans into Saharan areas and Eastern Africa."^[53]

Other studies conducted on Ethiopians belonging to Semitic and Cushitic ethnic groups mostly from the north of the country (Oromo, Amhara, Tigray, and Gurage), estimate approximately 40% of their autosomal ancestry to be derived from an ancient "non-African" back-migration from the Near East and about 60% to be of native African origin (from a population indigenous or "autochthonous" to the Horn of Africa).^[54][55] Pickrell et al. (2014) found that the West Eurasian ancestry peaks in the Amhara and Tigrayans at 49% and 50%, respectively.^[56] Walsh, Sandra et al. (2020) which sampled 119 genome-wide-samples of Ethiopian populations similarly outlined the proportion ofWest Asian ancestry, their data showed that: "The masked West Asian component measures the proportion of West Asian ancestry in each population. The Amhara and Oromo populations have the highest amount (54 and 51%, respectively), Wolayta and Somali show 43 and 44%, respectively, while in contrast the Gumuz show the low amount of 0.7%. These values agree with previous estimates."^[57]

In characterizing the ancestry, Pagani, Luca et al. (2012) noted this non-African component is estimated to have entered the Horn of Africa roughly ~3,000 years ago, and was found to be similar to the populations in theLevant. The paper goes on to say that this coincides with the introduction of Ethio-Semitic languages into the region.^[58] Gallego Llorente, M et al. (2015) similarly discovered extensive admixture in Eastern Africa from a population closely related to early Neolithic farmers from the Near-East/Anatolia.^[59]

An entry by Hodgson et al. (2014) found a distinct African ancestral component in Afro-Asiatic populations in the Horn (dubbed "Ethiopic"), as well as a distinct non-African Western Eurasian component (dubbed "Ethio-Somali"),^[60] that is most likely pre-agricultural. Their data also revealed Nilo-Saharan ancestry in Afro-Asiatic populations, and "Ethiopic" ancestry in Nilo-Saharan populations, suggesting an intricate history of contact in the region. However, the Ethiopian Nilo-Saharan groups and theendogamous Aari blacksmithcaste were found to have little to no Eurasian admixture.^[61] Aari blacksmiths may descend from the "Ethiopic" hunter-gatherers who were assimilated as other populations expanded into the region, or they may be a subset of a single population recently marginalized for their occupation.^[58][55][62] According to Hollfelder et al. (2017): "TheNilotic populations have stayed largely un-admixed, which appears to be the case in Ethiopia too, where a similar observation has been made for the Gumuz, an Ethiopian Nilotic population that is genetically similar to South Sudan Nilotes. Northeast African Nilotes showed some distinction from an ancient Ethiopian individual (Mota, found in the Mota Cave in the southern Ethiopian highlands), which suggests population structure between northeast and eastern Africa already 4,500 years ago. The modern-day Nilotic groups are likely direct descendants of past populations living in northeast Africa many thousands of years ago."^[63]

López, Saioa et al. (2021) found that when comparing Ethiopians to external populations only, Nilo-Saharan speakers (as well as the Chabu, Dassanech, and Karo) in the southwest shared more recent ancestry with Bantu and Nilotic speakers, while Afro-Asiatic speakers in the northeast shared more recent ancestry with Egyptians and other West Eurasians. Overall, the study revealed that groups belonging to the Cushitic, Omotic, and Semitic branches of Afro-Asiatic in the region, still showed high genetic similarity to each other on average.^[62]

A composite look at most YDNA studies done so far^{[65][66][64][67][68]}reveals that, out of a total of 459 males sampled from Ethiopia, approximately 58% of Y-chromosome haplotypes were found to belong toHaplogroup E, of which 71% (41% of total) were characterized by one of its further downstream sub lineage known asE1b1b, while the remainder were mostly characterized byHaplogroup E1b1(x E1b1b,E1b1a), and to a lesser extentHaplogroup E2. With respect toE1b1b, some studies have found that it exists at its highest level among the Oromo, where it represented 62.8% of the haplotypes, while it was found at 35.4% among the Amhara,^[66] other studies however have found an almost equal representation of Haplogroup E1b1b at approximately 57% in both the Oromo and the Amhara.^[69] The haplogroup (as its predecessor E1b1) is thought to have originated somewhere in theHorn of Africa. About one half of E1b1b found in Ethiopia is further characterized by theE1b1b1a (M78) clade, which arose later in northeast Africa (Egypt/Libya) and then subsequently back-migrated to eastern Africa.^[70]

Haplogroup J has been found at a frequency of approximately 18% in Ethiopians, but with a much higher prevalence among the Amhara, where it has been found to exist at levels as high as 35%, of which about 94% (17% of total) is of the type J1, while 6% (1% of total) is of J2 type.^[71] On the other hand, 26% of the individuals sampled in theArsi control portion by Moran et al. (2004) were also found to belong to Haplogroup J.^[67] Moreover, a 2010 study found that their phylogenetic clock estimates of the Haplogroup J1 in the Horn of Africa, were indirectly supported by a linguistic model for an introduction of Semitic from Arabia 2800 years ago.^[72]

Another fairly prevalent lineage in Ethiopia belongs toHaplogroup A, occurring at a frequency of about 17% within Ethiopia, it is almost all characterized by its downstream sub lineage of A3b2 (M13). Restricted to Africa, and mostly found along theRift Valley from Ethiopia toCape Town,Haplogroup A represents the deepest branch in the Human Y- Chromosome phylogeny.^[73]

Finally,Haplogroup T was found at approximately 4% andHaplogroup B at approximately 3%, which make up the remainder of the Y-DNA Haplogroups found within Ethiopia.

The maternal ancestry of Ethiopians is similarly diverse. About half (52.2%) of Ethiopians belongs tomtdna HaplogroupsL0,L1,L2,L3,L4,L5, orL6. These haplogroups are generally confined to the African continent. They also originated either in Ethiopia or very near. The other portion of the population belong toHaplogroup N (31%) andHaplogroup M1 (17%).^[74] There is controversy surrounding their origins as either native or a possible ancient back migration into Ethiopia fromAsia.

Passarino et al. (1998) suggested that:

"Caucasoid" gene flow into the Ethiopian gene pool occurred predominantly through males. Conversely, the Niger–Congo contribution to the Ethiopian population occurred mainly through females.^[54]

While there is debate among the scientific community of what exactly constitutes "Caucasoid gene flow",^[75][76] the same study further stated:

"Indeed, Ethiopians do not seem to result only from a simple combination of proto-Niger–Congo and Middle Eastern genes. Their African component cannot be completely explained by that of present-day Niger–Congo speakers, and it is quite different from that of the Khoisan. Thus, a portion of the current Ethiopian gene pool may be the product of in situ differentiation from an ancestral gene pool."^[54]

Scott et al. (2005) similarly observed that the Ethiopian population is almost equally divided between individuals that carry Eurasian maternal lineages, and those that belong to African clades. They describe the presence of Eurasian clades in the country as sequences that "are thought to be found in high numbers in Ethiopia either as a result of substantial gene flow into Ethiopia from Eurasia (Chen et al., 2000; Richards et al., 2003), or as a result of having undergone several branching events in demic diffusion, acting as founder lineages for non-African populations". The researchers further found no association between regional origin of subjects or language family (Semitic/Cushitic) and their mitochondrial type:

The haplogroup distribution amongst all subjects (athletes and controls) from different geographical regions of Ethiopia is displayed in Table 3. As can be seen graphically in Fig. 3, the mtDNA haplogroup distribution of each region is similar, with all regions displaying similar proportions of African 'L' haplogroups (Addis Ababa: 59%, Arsi: 50%, Shewa: 44%, Other: 57%). No association was found between regional origin of subjects and their mitochondrial type (v2=8.5, 15 df, P=0.9). Similarly, the mtDNA haplogroup distribution of subjects (athletes and controls) speaking languages from each family is shown in Table 3. Again there was no association between language family and mitochondrial type (v2=5.4, 5 df, P=0.37). As can be seen in Fig. 4, the haplogroup distributions of each language family are again very similar.^[77]

In addition, Musilová et al. (2011) observed significant maternal ties between its Ethiopian and other Horn African samples with its Western Asian samples; particularly in terms of theHV1b mtDNA haplogroup. The authors noted:

"Detailed phylogeography of HV1 sequences shows that more recent demographic upheavals likely contributed to their spread from West Arabia toEast Africa, a finding concordant with archaeological records suggesting intensive maritime trade in theRed Sea from the sixth millennium BC onwards."^[78]

According to Černý et al. (2008), many Ethiopians also share specific maternal lineages with areas inYemen and other parts of Northeast Africa. The authors indicate that:

"The most frequent haplotype in west coastal Yemen is 16126–16362, which is found not only in theEthiopian highlands but also in Somalia, lower Egypt and at especially high frequency in theNubians. The Tihama share some West Eurasian haplotypes with Africans, e.g. J and K with Ethiopians, Somali and Egyptians."^[79]

Schuenemann V. J et al. (2017) found that when it came to the maternal background of 125 Ethiopians, over >60% was composed of African L lineages, while these lineages were up to 20% for the 100 Modern Egyptians.^[80]

• Demographics of Ethiopia
• Ethnic groups in Ethiopia
• Government of Ethiopia
• Regions of Ethiopia

• "20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex - Australia",Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006 Census, archived fromthe original(Microsoft Excel) on 25 December 2018, retrieved2 June 2008. Total count of persons: 19,855,288.
• E. Sylvia Pankhurst,The Ethiopian People. Their Rights and Progress. Woodford Green, Essex: New Times & Ethiopia News 1946.
• Edward Ullendorff,The Ethiopians: an introduction to country and people. London: Oxford University Press 1960, ²1965, ³1973 (ISBN 0-19-285061-X), ⁴1990 (Wiesbaden: F. Steiner;ISBN 3-515-05693-9).

• Directory of ethnic groups with information on population numbers and religion, maintained by Protestant churches and mission agenciesArchived 2018-11-30 at theWayback Machine

• Society of Ethiopia
• Ethnic groups in Ethiopia

• CS1 Swedish-language sources (sv)
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• All articles with bare URLs for citations
• Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022
• Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations
• CS1 Norwegian-language sources (no)
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from August 2025
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation
• Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2023
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2021
• All articles with failed verification
• Articles with failed verification from May 2018