Semitic-speaking ethnic group native to Ethiopia in the Ethiopian Highlands
Amharas
አማራ(Amharic) ዐምሐራ (Ge'ez)
Yekuno Amlak founder of the Ethiopian Empire
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
19,870,651 (2007)[1]
United States
195,260[2]
Sudan
99,000[3]
Canada
18,020[4][5][6]
United Kingdom
8,620[7]
Egypt
8,000[8]
Israel
Unknown[9]
Australia
4,515[10]
Finland
1,515[11]
Languages
Amharic
Religion
Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) • Islam (Sunni) • Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Agaw • Argobba • Beta Israel • Gurage • Tigrayans • Tigrinya • Zay • other Ethiosemitic and Cushitic peoples[12]
Amharas (Amharic: አማራ, romanized: Āmara;[13] Ge'ez: ዐምሐራ, romanized: ʾÄməḥära)[14] are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly inhabiting the Amhara Region. According to the 2007 national census, Amharas numbered 19,867,817 individuals, comprising 26.9% of Ethiopia's population, and they are mostly Oriental Orthodox Christian (members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church).[1]
They are also found within the Ethiopian expatriate community, particularly in North America.[2][15] They speak Amharic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch which serves as the main and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia.[16] As of 2018, Amharic has over 32 million native speakers and 25 million second language speakers.[17]
The Amhara and neighboring groups in North and Central Ethiopia and Eritrea, more specifically the diaspora refer to themselves as "Habesha" (Abyssinian) people.[18][19][20][21][22]
Historically, the Amhara held significant political position in the Ethiopian Empire. They were at the origin of the Solomonic dynasty and all the Solomonic emperors were Amhara with the exception of Yohannes IV since the restoration of the dynasty in 1270.[23][24]
^ abCentral Statistical Agency, Ethiopia. "Table 2.2 Percentage Distribution of Major Ethnic Groups: 2007" (PDF). Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results. United Nations Population Fund. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
^ abUnited States Census Bureau 2009–2013, Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009–2013, USCB, 30 November 2016,
<https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html>.
^"Amharic". Retrieved 27 September 2023.
^Statistics Canada, 2011 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-314-XCB2011032
^Anon, 2016. 2011 Census of Canada: Topic-based tabulations | Detailed Mother Tongue (232), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population Excluding Institutional Residents of Canada and Forward Sortation Areas, 2011 Census. [online] Www12.statcan.gc.ca. Available at: <http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=103001&PRID=10&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=90&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=> [Accessed 2 December 2016].
^Immigrant languages in Canada. 2016. Immigrant languages in Canada. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011003_2-eng.cfm. [Accessed 13 December 2016].
^pp, 25 (2015) United Kingdom. Available at: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/GB (Accessed: 30 November 2016).
^"Languages of Egypt". Ethnologue. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
^Cite error: The named reference Teferra was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014, The People of Australia Statistics from the 2011 Census, Cat. no. 2901.0, ABS, 30 November 2016, <https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/research/people-australia-2013-statistics.pdf Archived 17 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine>.
^"Kieli sukupuolen mukaan maakunnittain ja kunnittain 1990 - 2017". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
^Joireman, Sandra F. (1997). Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa: The Allocation of Property Rights and Implications for Development. Universal-Publishers. p. 1. ISBN 1-58112-000-1. The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. These countries share similar peoples, languages, and geographical endowments.
^Following the BGN/PCGN romanization employed for Amharic geographic names in British and American English.
^Zegeye, Abebe (15 October 1994). Ethiopia in Change. British Academic Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-85043-644-7.
^Olson, James (1996). The Peoples of Africa. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8.
^Shaban, Abdurahman. "One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages". Africa News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
^Levine, Donald N. (2000). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-47561-5. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^Marvin Lionel Bender (1976). Language in Ethiopia. Oxford University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-19-436102-6.
^Henze, Paul B. (1985). Rebels and Separatists in Ethiopia: Regional Resistance to a Marxist Regime. Rand. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-8330-0696-7.
^Goitom, M. (2017) "Unconventional Canadians": Second-generation "Habesha" Youth and Belonging in Toronto, Canada. Global Social Welfare 4(4), 179–190.
^Gate, Henry Louis; Appiah, Anthony (2005). Africana the encyclopedia of the african and african american experience. Oxford University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-19-517055-9.
^Levine, Donald (1965). Wax & gold : tradition and innovation in Ethiopian culture. p. 2.
emperors were Amhara with the exception of Yohannes IV since the restoration of the dynasty in 1270. The earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to...
Since 1990, the Amhara and Agew people of Ethiopia have been subject to ethnic violence, including massacres by Tigrayan, Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups...
amhara in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Amhara may refer to: Amharapeople, an ethnic group of Ethiopia Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people...
and the homeland of the Amharapeople. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Regional Government of Amhara. Amhara is the site of the largest...
The War in Amhara is an armed conflict in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia that began in April 2023 between the Amhara regional forces along with the Fano...
the Amharapeople of Ethiopia includes castes. According to Donald Levine – a professor of sciology specializing in Ethiopian society – the Amhara society...
Dar, capital of the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. NAMA was created in June 2018 in Bahir Dar to defend the interests of Amharapeople in Ethiopia, after Abiy...
by Somalis inland. The 1500–1800 period also saw relocation of the Amharapeople, and helped influence contemporary ethnic politics in Ethiopia. According...
specific populations of the Horn of Africa, specifically among the Amharapeople. Genetic data and archeologic evidence suggest that East African pastoralists...
Bete Amhara (Amharic: ቤተ አማራ, Ge'ez: ቤተ ዐምሐራ, translation: "House of Amhara") is a historical region that is located in north central Ethiopia. It covered...
The 2019 Amhara Region coup d'état attempt was an attempted coup d'état against the Amhara Regional government on 22 June 2019, during which factions...
2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in the Welkiat, disputed area between the Amhara Region and Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border...
of the Amharapeople in Ethiopia. AAA is a non-profit 501(3)c organization with a stated mission to "end the suffering and sidelining of Amharas across...
was named after the Amharapeople, who originated from the province. Amhara Region Amharapeople Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Amhara" . Encyclopædia Britannica...
war between the Ethiopian Empire, the Christian state, (consisting of the Amhara, Tigrayan, Soddo Gurage, and Agaw ethnic groups) and the Muslim state Adal...
time as a caste among the dominant Amharapeople, Their endogamous strata has existed in the hierarchical Amhara society, one of the largest ethnic groups...
with other ethnic Oromo militants in multiple Amhara villages in North Shewa, Amhara region. 155 people injured and 1,930 houses damaged (set on fire)...
During the Middle Ages this province name was Amhara or Bete Amhara and it was the centre of the Amhara Solomonic emperors prior to the Oromo invasion...
states and become influential in the life of people more than the formal legal system. For example, in Amhara Region, they are called "Shemagelle", in Tigray...
Democratic Party (ODP), Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM) and Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)...
Amharic, spoken by the Amharapeople of Ethiopia, and Tigrinya spoken by the Tigrayan people Ethiopia and the Tigrinya people of Eritrea. Other Afroasiatic...
and restored to his prior rank and pension. Asaminew was part of the Amharapeople, which is Ethiopia's second largest ethnic group. He had been known...
deaths of citizens. After protests in Oromo, Amhara, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's region, The Ethiopian Human Rights Council reported...
peaceful, "Some [people] had an agenda to divert it into ethnic conflict and looting." During the Shashamane massacre, mostly Amharas, Gurages, Jamaicans...
2022, the head of Amhara Association of America call Shemelis to resign from office as a result of growing persecution of Amharapeople in Wollega. "Council...
Christian peoples found in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea between Asmara and Addis Ababa (i.e. the modern-day Amhara, Tigrayan, Tigrinya peoples) and...