Tigrayans
 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Ethiopia | 4,483,776 |
| Sudan | 60,000 |
| United States | 22,000 |
| Canada | 2,155 |
| Languages | |
| Tigrinya | |
| Religion | |
Overwhelming Majority: Christianity Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodoxy ~97.6% Catholicism ~0.4% Minority:  Sunni Islam ~2% | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Habesha (Eritrean Tigrinya, Amhara) • Tigre • Argobba • Beta Israel • Irob • Kunama • Agaw • Gurage • Harari • Zay • other
a The word "Orthodoxy" here refers to Oriental Orthodoxy, not to be confused with Eastern Orthodoxy. All Habesha Orthodox Churches (EOTC, EriOTC and TOTC) are part of the Oriental Orthodox communion. | |
Tigrayan people (Tigrinya: ተጋሩ, romanized: Təgaru) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group who are indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak Tigrinya, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the North Ethio-Semitic language branch, and written in the Geʽez script serves as the main and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also the main language of the Tigrinya people that live in Eritrea.
According to the 2007 national census, Tigrayans numbered approximately 4,483,000 individuals, making up 6.07% of Ethiopia’s total population at the time. The majority of Tigrayans adhere to the schismatic Tigrayan Church which broke away from the Oriental Orthodox communion on the 7th May 2021. Although minority communities exist that follow Islam or Catholicism. Historically, the Habesha people are closely associated with the Aksumite Empire whose political and religious center was in modern-day Eritrea and Tigray.. Tigrayans played major roles in the early political history of Ethiopia, including during the 17th-century Zemene Mesafint (Era of the Princes), and later in the 20th century through events such as the Woyane rebellion and the Ethiopian Student Movement, or movements like the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which became the dominant faction in the coalition that overthrew the Derg in 1991 and ruled Ethiopia through the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) until 2018. Like other northern highland peoples, Tigrayans often identify with the broader Habesha (Abyssinian) identity—a term used historically to describe the Semitic-speaking Christian populations of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Highlands.
Areas where Tigrayans have strong ancestral links include Enderta, Agame, Tembien, Kilite Awlalo, and Axum, Adwa, Shire and Mekelle.