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]
Canada
18,020[3][4][5]
United Kingdom
8,620[6]
Israel
Unknown[7]
Australia
4,515[8]
Finland
1,515[9]
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[10]
Amharas (Amharic: አማራ, romanized: Āmara;[11] Ge'ez: ዐምሐራ, romanized: ʾÄməḥära)[12] 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][13] 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.[14] As of 2018, Amharic has over 32 million native speakers and 25 million second language speakers.[15]
The Amhara and neighboring groups in North and Central Ethiopia and Eritrea refer to themselves as "Habesha" (Abyssinian) people.[16][17][18][19][20]
^ 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>.
^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).
^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 1581120001. 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 9781850436447.
^Olson, James (1996). The Peoples of Africa. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 27. ISBN 9780313279188.
^Shaban, Abdurahman. "One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages". Africa News.
^Levine, Donald N. (2000). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226475615. 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.
earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty, when the Amhara were recorded of being...
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 Amhara genocide is an ongoing systematic massacre of ethnic Amhara and Agew people in Ethiopia since 1990. Large-scale killings and grave human rights...
amhara in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Amhara may refer to: Amharapeople, an ethnic group of Ethiopia Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people...
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...
specific populations of the Horn of Africa, specifically among the Amharapeople. Genetic data and archeologic evidence suggest that East African pastoralists...
the Amharapeople of Ethiopia includes castes. According to Donald Levine – a professor of Sociology specializing in Ethiopian society, the Amhara society...
by Somalis inland. The 1500–1800 period also saw relocation of the Amharapeople, and helped influence contemporary ethnic politics in Ethiopia. According...
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...
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...
Zagwe dynasty. By this time, new ethnic groups emerged – the Tigrayans and Amharas. During the Solomonic period, the latter established major political and...
located in present-day Amhara Region, specifically, the modern provinces Semien Shewa and Debub Wollo. It was named after the Amharapeople, who originated from...
present day Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions. During the Middle Ages this region was known as Bete Amhara and had Amhara kings. Bete Amhara had an illustrious...
time as a caste among the dominant Amharapeople, Their endogamous strata has existed in the hierarchical Amhara society, one of the largest ethnic groups...
made up of Amharapeople and Oromo people who were high ranking members of Menelik II's Royal Court and their soldiers. While upper class Amhara who came...
and its people." "Methodical slaughter of ethnic Amhara in Ethiopia continues". "Statement on the Ongoing Violence Against the AmharaPeople". lemkininstitute...
over 500 Amhara civilians in the Gimbi county of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Witnesses said that the OLA intentionally targeted ethnic Amharapeople. This attack...
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...
Amharic, spoken by the Amharapeople of Ethiopia, and Tigrinya spoken by the Tigrayan people Ethiopia and the Tigrinya people of Eritrea. Other Afroasiatic...
instrument from the Amharapeople of Ethiopia, and is the sole melodic instrument devoted only to the zema, the spiritual part of Amhara music. The instrument's...
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...
however, OLA militants killed over four hundred Amhara civilians in Gimbi. Prior to the massacre, local Amhara officials requested aid from the Hawa Gelana...
town of Ataye, where hundreds of people were killed. Suspected OLA forces wearing army uniforms would clash with Amhara regional forces leading to the death...
of Kemise, the conflict started between Wollo Oromo people and Amhara Special Forces after Amhara Special Forces killed an individual at the entrances...
the Camp Speicher massacre in Iraq, and the Mai Kadra massacre of the Amharapeople in Ethiopia. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. For several...
peaceful, "Some [people] had an agenda to divert it into ethnic conflict and looting." During the Shashamane massacre, mostly Amharas, Gurages, Jamaicans...