What is the official language of Ethiopia?
"has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromiffa, Somali or Tigrinya. While all languages enjoy equal state recognition in the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Amharic is recognized as the official working language of the Federal Government. The various regions of Ethiopia are free to determine their own working languages, with Oromiffa, Somali and Tigrinya recognized as official working languages in their respective regions. In terms of writing systems, Ethiopia's principal orthography is Ge'ez or Ethiopic. Employed as an abugida for several of the country's languages, it first came into usage in the 6th and 5th centuries"
"Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Amharic is the working language of the federal authorities of Ethiopia government. It was for some time also the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya. Nevertheless, Amharic is still widely used as the working language of Amhara Region, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Gambela Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region. The Amharic language is transcribed using the Ethiopic or Ge'ez script (""Fidäl""), an abugida. The Amharic language is the official language of Ethiopia. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel"
"policies after the 1991 revolution have strengthened the use of a number of languages. Publications specifically about endangered languages in Ethiopia include: Appleyard (1998), Hayward (1988), Zelealem (1998a,b, 2004) Languages of Ethiopia The languages of Ethiopia refers to the various spoken forms of communication in Ethiopia. It includes the nation's official languages, its national and regional languages, as well as its minority and foreign languages. There are 88 individual languages of Ethiopia according to Ethnologue, with the 1994 Ethiopian census indicating that some 77 tongues were spoken locally. Most of these languages belong to the Afroasiatic family (Semitic and Cushitic"
"Languages of Ethiopia The languages of Ethiopia refers to the various spoken forms of communication in Ethiopia. It includes the nation's official languages, its national and regional languages, as well as its minority and foreign languages. There are 88 individual languages of Ethiopia according to Ethnologue, with the 1994 Ethiopian census indicating that some 77 tongues were spoken locally. Most of these languages belong to the Afroasiatic family (Semitic and Cushitic languages; Omotic languages are also spoken, though their classification is uncertain). Additionally, Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by what the government calls the ""Nilotic"" people, though scholars distinguish Nilotic from"
"language in Ethiopia. Afar and Somali are recognized as national languages but are not official in Djibouti. The Oromo are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia and represent 34.5% of Ethiopia's population. Oromos speak the Oromo language as a mother tongue (also called ""Afaan Oromoo"" and ""Oromiffa""), which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The word ""Oromo"" appeared in European literature for the first time in 1893 and then slowly became common in the second half of the 20th century. The Somalis are an ethnic group"
"in Ethiopia. Most Ethiopians are taught using their mother tongue in primary schools and they are encouraged to develop their own languages. Some critics have said that this policy harms the unity and national identity of the country, while others have supported and praised the policy. Currently, many regional states have their own official state language. For instance, Afaan Oromo is the official language of the Oromia regional state but Amharic is still the official working language in the State of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples. Although Muslims and Orthodox Christians lived together in Ethiopia for many centuries, complete religious"
"Ethiopian Semitic languages Ethiopian Semitic (also known as Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic and Abyssinian) is a group of languages spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea, with a small population of Tigre speakers in Sudan. Together with the Razihi language of Old South Arabian, they form the Western South Semitic languages, which, together with Modern South Arabian, the Eastern branch, they form the South Semitic sub-branch of the Afroasiatic family's Semitic languages branch. Amharic, the official working language in Ethiopia, has ~62 million speakers (including second language speakers) and is the most widely spoken in the group. Tigrinya has 7 million speakers and is"
"region, the working language of the state is Amharic (the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia and formerly the only official language). The 1994 census reported that the predominantly spoken languages include Sidamigna (18%), Guragigna (14.72%), Welayta (11.53%), Hadiyigna (8.53%), Keffigna (5.22%), and Kembatigna (4.35%). Other languages spoken in the State include Gamoigna, Mello, Goffa, and Gedeo. Amharic is still the working language although most pupils get eight years of primary education in their home language and all secondary and further education is in English. The CSA reported that for 2004–2005 100,338 tons of coffee were produced in the SNNPR,"
"Arabian Peninsula, a few tribes continue to speak Modern South Arabian languages such as Mahri and Soqotri. These languages differ greatly from both the surrounding Arabic dialects and from the (unrelated but previously thought to be related) languages of the Old South Arabian inscriptions. Historically linked to the peninsular homeland of Old South Arabian, of which only one language, Razihi, remains, Ethiopia and Eritrea contain a substantial number of Semitic languages; the most widely spoken are Amharic in Ethiopia, Tigre in Eritrea, and Tigrinya in both. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is a working language in Eritrea."
"and the ""Ethiopian Herald"". There is also a small but lively film industry. According to Ethnologue, there are ninety individual languages spoken in Ethiopia. Most people in the country speak Afro-Asiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes Oromiffa, spoken by the Oromo people, and Somali, spoken by the Somali people; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara people, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people. Together, these four groups make up about three-quarters of Ethiopia's population. Other Afro-Asiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic Sidamo, Afar, Hadiyya and Agaw languages, as"
"and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church since the late 12th century and remains the official language of Ethiopia today. As of the 2007 census, Amharic is spoken by 21.6 million native speakers in Ethiopia and 4 million secondary speakers in Ethiopia. Additionally, 3 million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak the language. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic. In Washington DC, Amharic became one of the six non-English languages in the Language Access Act of 2004, which allows government services and education in Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered a holy language by the Rastafari religion"
"Region, Benishangul-Gumuz, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Gambela Region, Addis Abeba and Dire Dawa, while Afar, Harari, Oromiffa, Somali and Tigrinya are recognized as official working languages in their respective regions. In terms of writing systems, Ethiopia's principal orthography is the Ge'ez script. Employed as an abugida for several of the country's languages, it first came into usage in the 6th and 5th centuries BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. During the 1980s, the Ethiopic character set"
"language of the ancient Axumite kingdom, which was also the language of the country's literature prior to the mid-nineteenth century, as well as parts of most present-day church services. Ethiopia's Semitic languages are today spoken mainly in the north and centre of the country. The most important of them in the north is Tigrinya, which is used throughout Tigray. The principal Semitic language of the north-western and centre of the country is Amharic, which is the language of Gondar and Gojjam, as well as much of Wollo and Shewa. Moreover, Amharic is also the official language of administration, and the"
"BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches. Other writing systems have also been used over the years by different Ethiopian communities. The latter include Sheikh Bakri Sapalo's script for Oromo. About 62% of the population adhere to Christianity, which is Ethiopia's main religion. About 30-35% of the population are Muslim, with other religions covering another 4-5%. There are a number of public holidays in Ethiopia. Among these holidays are Meskel and Ramadan. Culture of Ethiopia The culture of Ethiopia is diverse and generally"
"literally ""common speech""), without otherwise changing the definition of the standard national language. Amharic is the national language in Ethiopia. Finland has two national languages: namely the Finnish language and the Swedish language. The Constitution of Finland guarantees the right to use Finnish and Swedish in courts and other state institutions. Despite the large difference in the numbers of users, Swedish is not officially classified as a minority language but equal to Finnish. Both national languages are compulsory subjects in school (except for children with a third language as mother tongue) and a language test is a prerequisite for governmental"
"is ""Afaan Oromoo"", which translates to ""mouth (language) of Oromo"" and ``afaan oromoo´´ is an official language in Ethiopia. ""Ethnologue"" (2015) divides the Oromo macrolanguage into four languages It is divided into five languages in the ISO 639-3 listing: Blench (2006) concurs, dividing Oromo into four languages: Some of the varieties of Oromo have been examined and classified. About 85 percent of Oromo speakers live in Ethiopia, mainly in Oromia Region. In addition, in Somalia there are also some speakers of the language. In Kenya, the Ethnologue also lists 722,000 speakers of Borana and Orma, two languages closely related to"
"Ethiopian languages or dialects. Primary schools taught children in Amharic until 1994, when the government promoted use of ethnic languages as the medium of instruction. Children whose mother tongue is not Amharic are still disadvantaged since they also have to learn Amharic. Amharic shares the Ge'ez script with other Semitic languages such as Tigrinya (Tegrigna), the Gurage languages and related Harari . Afan Oromo is the mother-tongue of about a third of Ethiopians and it, together with Wolaytta, Afar, Sidama and Somali use a Latin script. This can cause interference with learning English because the sounds represented differ from those"
"official languages, alongside ethnic Eritrean languages like Tigre, Afar and other Cushitic languages, as well as the Nilo-Saharan Kunama. SIL Ethnologue lists Tigrinya as the de facto language of national identity, Arabic as the de facto national language, and English as the de facto working language. The Eritrean embassy in Sweden says, ""The main working languages are Tigrigna and Arabic. English is the medium of instruction from middle school level upwards."" According to the Ministry of Information of Eritrea, an estimated 80% of the country's population is literate. In terms of writing systems, Eritrea's principal orthography is Ge'ez, Latin script"
"of Ethiopia, but it was overthrown in 1991 by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has been the ruling political coalition since. Ethiopia and Eritrea use the ancient Ge'ez script, which is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world. The Ethiopian calendar, which is approximately seven years and three months behind the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A majority of the population adheres to Christianity (mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and P'ent'ay), whereas around a third follows Islam (primarily Sunni). The country is the site of the Migration to Abyssinia and the"
"people. Every year, millions of Oromos, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, gather in Bishoftu for this annual celebration. However this year, the festive mood quickly turned chaotic after Ethiopian security forces responded to peaceful protests by firing tear gas and live bullets at over two million people surrounded by a lake and cliffs. Oromo people The Oromo people (; , ""’Oromo"") are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia and represent 34.5% of Ethiopia's population. Oromos speak the Oromo language as a mother tongue (also called ""Afaan Oromoo"" and ""Oromiffa""), which"
"Ethiopian Oromo. Within Ethiopia, Oromo is the language with the largest number of native speakers. Within Africa, Oromo is the language with the fourth most speakers, after Arabic (if one counts the mutually unintelligible spoken forms of Arabic as a single language and assumes the same for the varieties of Oromo), Swahili, and Hausa. Besides first language speakers, a number of members of other ethnicities who are in contact with the Oromo speak it as a second language. See, for example, the Omotic-speaking Bambassi and the Nilo-Saharan-speaking Kwama in northwestern Oromiyaa. Before the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974, publishing or broadcasting"
"oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Bete Israel, also resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s. Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken by the nation's Nilotic ethnic minorities. The nation is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests, and"
"Amharic Amharic ( or ; Amharic: , """", ) is one of the Ethiopian Semitic languages, which are a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas and as a lingua franca by other populations residing in major cities and towns of Ethiopia. The language serves as the official working language of Ethiopia, and is also the official or working language of several of the states within the Ethiopian federal system. With 21,811,600 total speakers as of 2007, including around 4,000,000 L2 speakers, Amharic is the second-most commonly spoken"
"people. Together, these four groups make up about three-quarters of Ethiopia's population. Other Afro-Asiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic Sidamo, Afar, Hadiyya and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic Gurage, Harari, Silt'e and Argobba tongues. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g. beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Many of the people traditionally herded cattle, goat or sheep. The Ethiopian state is ancient, dating back to at least the Aksumite Empire (which officially used the name ""Ethiopia"" in the 4th century) and its predecessor state, D`mt (with early 1st millennium BC roots). Despite two"
"these, 1,280,000 were recorded in the 2007 Ethiopian census, with 906,000 monolinguals registered in the 1994 census. In Djibouti, Afar is a recognized national language. It is also one of the broadcasting languages of the Radio Television of Djibouti public network. In Eritrea, Afar is recognized as one of nine national languages which formally enjoy equal status although Tigrinya and Arabic are by far of greatest significance in official usage. There are daily broadcasts on the national radio and a translated version of the Eritrean constitution. In education, however, Afar speakers prefer Arabic – which many of them speak as"
"Tigrinya. In Ethiopia, a native of Tigray is referred to in Tigrinya as ""tigrāwāy"" (male), ""tigrāweytī"" (female), ""tigrāwōt"" or ""tegaru"" (plural). In Eritrea, Tigrinya speakers are officially known as the ""Bihér-Tigrigna"" which means ""nation of Tigrinya speakers"". Bihér roughly means nation in the ethnic sense of the word in Tigrinya, Tigre and Amharic as well as in Ge'ez (from which all three languages originate). The Jeberti in Eritrea also speak Tigrinya in addition to Arabic. Tigrinya is the fourth most spoken language in Ethiopia after Amharic, Somali and Oromo, and the most widely spoken language in Eritrea (see Demographics of"
"while 31 spoke it as their second language. According to the analytical volume of the 1994 national census, where Mursi was grouped under Me'en, 89.7% were monolingual, and the second languages spoken were Bench (4.2%), Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia (3.5%), and Kafa (1.1%). Two orthographies for the Mursi language exist. One is the Amharic-based, although the Mursi language is one the Surmic languages with incompatible vowel structures and stressed and unstressed consonants compared to Amharic. The second is the more suitable Latin-based alphabet. The Latin-based orthography was developed by David Turton and Moges Yigezu of Addis Ababa University."
"patent by the U.S. government. Amharic Amharic ( or ; Amharic: , """", ) is one of the Ethiopian Semitic languages, which are a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas and as a lingua franca by other populations residing in major cities and towns of Ethiopia. The language serves as the official working language of Ethiopia, and is also the official or working language of several of the states within the Ethiopian federal system. With 21,811,600 total speakers as of 2007, including around 4,000,000 L2 speakers, Amharic"
"no standard transliteration from the Ethiopic to the Latin exists. Ge’ez is the ancient language of Ethiopia, which was first introduced as an official written language during the first Aksumite Kingdom between the first and seventh centuries BCE. The earliest known inscriptions of Ge’ez date to the fifth century BCE. Written in horizontal lines from left to right, it was created based on the Sabean/Minean alphabet and is still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the twenty-first century. Ethiopian languages are classified into four major groups: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan. The Omotic languages are largely verbal and have"
"ethnically Komo or ethnically Mao, and are generally identified as ethnically Komo by the government. Gwama and Komo are related languages, having about 30% cognates with one another, however they are not mutually intelligible. The Komo language is mentioned in the constitution of the Benishangul-Gumuz state of Ethiopia, and therefore it is actually warranted higher prestige than other surrounding languages. Moreover, because of this it is included as part of a multilingual education initiative in the region. Most education is in the region is in Amharic, the official language of the state and country, however the Komo ethnic group has"
"Ethiopia, like most countries in Africa, is a multi-ethnic state. Although the original physical differences between the major ethnic groups have been blurred by centuries, if not millennia, of intermarriage, there remain many who are distinct and unique. Ethnic differences may also be observed from the great variety of languages spoken in the country, of which there are an astonishing eighty-three, with 200 dialects. These can be broken into four main groups: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan. The Semitic languages of Ethiopia are related to both Hebrew and Arabic. The Ethiopian languages of this family are derived from Ge'ez, the"
"Anuak. In 2009, Ethiopia hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 135,200. The majority of this population came from Somalia (approximately 64,300 persons), Eritrea (41,700) and Sudan (25,900). The Ethiopian government required nearly all refugees to live in refugee camps. According to ""Ethnologue"", there are 90 individual languages spoken in Ethiopia. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes Oromiffa, spoken by the Oromo, and Somali, spoken by the Somalis; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigrayans. Together, these four groups"
"relatively freely between these states. Ethiopia has a high central plateau that varies from above sea level, with the highest mountain reaching . Near the equator but high up, the climate is temperate all year round. The heavy rains from June until mid-September feed the Blue Nile, which waters Egypt. The country's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak Afro-Asiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes Oromiffa, spoken by the Oromo people, and Somali, spoken by the Somali people; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara people, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya"