List of ethnic groups in Ethiopia

This is a list of ethnic groups in Ethiopia that are officially recognized by the government. It is a list taken from the 2007 Ethiopian National Census:^[1]^[2] Population size and percentage of Ethiopia's total population according to the 1994 and 2007 censuses follows each entry.

Ethiopia's population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups. Most people in Ethiopia speak Afro-Asiatic languages, mainly of the Cushitic and Semitic branches. The former includes the Oromo and Somali, and the latter includes the Amhara and Tigray. Together these four groups make up three-quarters of the population.

The country also has Omotic ethnic groups who speak Afro-Asiatic languages of the Omotic branch. They inhabit the southern regions of the country, particularly the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region. Among these are the Welayta and Gamo.

Groups from the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan group, especially Nilotic ethnic groups also inhabit the southwestern regions of the country, particularly in the Gambela Region. Among these are the Nuer and Anuak who are also found in South Sudan which borders the Gambela Region. However, according to Glottolog, many of those comprise small language families or isolates, such as Surmic languages Kwegu, Me'en, and Suri, and the isolate Berta.

Ethnic Groups in Ethiopian censuses


Ethnic group	Linguistic grouping	Census 1994^[3]		Census 2007^[4]
Ethnic group	Linguistic grouping	Number	%	Number	%
Aari	Omotic	155,002	0.29	290,453	0.39
Afar	Cushitic	979,367	1.84	1,276,374	1.73
Agaw-Awi	Cushitic	397,491	0.75	631,565	0.85
Silt'e	Semitic	939,457		1,135,306	1.27
Agaw-Hamyra	Cushitic	158,231	0.30	267,851	0.36
Alaba	Cushitic	125,900	0.24	233,299	0.32
Amhara	Semitic	16,007,933	30.13	19,870,651	26.89
Anuak	Nilotic	45,665	0.09	85,909	0.12
Arbore	Cushitic	6,559	0.01	6,840	0.01
Argobba	Semitic	62,831	0.12	140,134	0.19
Bacha (Kwego)	Eastern Sudanic			2,632	< 0.01
Basketo	Omotic	51,097	0.10	78,284	0.11
Bench	Omotic	173,123	0.33	353,526	0.48
Berta	Nilo-Saharan			183,259	0.25
Bodi	Eastern Sudanic	4,686	0.01	6,994	0.01
Brayle	????			5,002	0.01
Burji	Cushitic	46,565	0.09	71,871	0.10
Bena	Niger-Congo			27,022	0.04
Beta Israel	Semitic	2,321	<0.01
Chara	Cushitic	6,984	0.01	13,210	0.02
Daasanach	Cushitic	32,099	0.06	48,067	0.07
Dawro	Omotic	331,483	0.62	543,148	0.74
Debase/ Gawwada	Omotic	33,971	0.06	68,600	0.09
Dirashe				30,081	0.04
Dime		6,197	0.01	891	<0.01
Dizi		21,894	0.04	36,380	0.05
Donga	Nilo-Saharan			35,166	0.05
Fedashe	????	7,323	0.01	3,448	< 0.01
Gabra	Cushitic	616,664	1.30	1,105,160	1.45
Gamo	Omotic	719,847	1.35	1,107,163	1.50
Gebato	????	75	<0.01	1,502	< 0.01
Gedeo	Cushitic	639,905	1.20	986,977	1.34
Gedicho	????			5,483	0.01
Gidole	Cushitic	54,354	0.10	41,100	0.06
Goffa	Omotic	241,530	0.45	363,009	0.49
Gumuz	Nilo-Saharan	121,487	0.23	159,418	0.22
Gurage	Semitic	4,290,274	4.31	1,867,377	2.53
Hadiya	Cushitic	927,933	1.75	1,284,373	1.74
Hamar	Omotic	42,466	0.08	46,532	0.06
Harari	Semitic	21,757	0.04	31,869	0.04
Irob	Cushitic			33,372	0.05
Kafficho	Omotic	599,188	1.13	870,213	1.18
Kambaata	Cushitic	499,825	0.94	630,236	0.85
Kebena	Cushitic^[5]	35,072	0.07	52,712	0.07
Konta	Omotic			83,607	0.11
Komo	Nilo-Saharan	1,526	<0.01	7,795	0.01
Konso	Cushitic	153,419	0.29	250,430	0.34
Koore	Omotic	107,595	0.20	156,983	0.21
Kontoma	Omotic		0.4	48,543	0.05
Kunama	Nilo-Saharan	2,007	<0.01	4,860	0.01
Karo	Omotic			1,464	< 0.01
Kusumie	Cushitic			7,470	0.01
Kwegu	Nilo-Saharan			4,407	0.01
Male	Omotic	46,458	0.09	98,114	0.13
Mao	Omotic	16,236	0.03	43,535	0.06
Mareqo	Omotic^[6]	38,096	0.07	64,381	0.09
Mashola	Omotic			10,458	0.01
Mere people	????			14,298	0.02
Me'en	Nilo-Saharan	52,815	0.10	151,489	0.20
Messengo	????	15,341	0.03	10,964	0.01
Majangir	Nilo-Saharan			21,959	0.03
Mossiye	Cushitic	9,207	0.02	19,698	0.03
Murle	Nilo-Saharan			1,469	< 0.01
Mursi	Nilo-Saharan	3,258	0.01	7,500	0.01
Nao	Omotic	4,005	0.01	9,829	0.01
Nuer	Nilotic	64,534	0.12	147,672	0.20
Nyangatom	Nilotic	14,201	0.03	25,252	0.03
Oromo	Cushitic	17,080,318	31.15	24,489,024	33.49
Oyda	Omotic	14,075	0.03	45,149	0.06
Qechem	????	2,740	0.01	2,585	< 0.01
Qewama	????	141	<0.01	298	< 0.01
She	Omotic	13,290	0.03	320	< 0.01
Shekecho		53,897	0.10	77,678	0.11
Sheko		23,785	0.04	37,573	0.05
Shinasha		32,698	0.06	52,637	0.07
Shita/Upo	Nilo-Saharan	307	<0.01	1,602	< 0.01
Sidama	Cushitic	1,842,314	3.47	2,966,474	4.01
Somali	Cushitic	3,185,266	6.5	4,581,794	8.21
Surma	Nilo-Saharan	19,632	0.04	27,886	0.04
Tigrayans	Semitic	3,284,568	6.18	4,483,892	6.07
Tembaro	Omotic	86,510	0.16	480,573	0.13
Tsamai	Omotic	9,702	0.02	20,046	0.03
Welayta	Omotic	1,269,216	2.39	1,707,079	2.31
Werji	Omotic	20,536	0.04	13,232	0.02
Yem		165,184	0.31	160,447	0.22
Zeyese		10,842	0.02	17,884	0.02
Zelmam	Nilo-Saharan			2,704	< 0.01
Other/unknown		155,972	0.29	178,799	0.24
Somali				20,227	0.03
Sudanese		2,035	<0.01	10,333	0.01
Eritrean		61,857	0.12	9,736	0.01
Kenyan		134	<0.01	77	<0.01
Djiboutian		367	<0.01	733	<0.01
Other foreigners				15,550	0.02
Total		53,132,276		73,750,932

Estimates

The World Factbook estimates the ethnic groups of Ethiopia in 2022 as follows^[7]

2022 est.
Ethnic Group	%
Oromo	35.8
Amhara	24.1
Somali	7.2
Tigray	5.7
Sidama	4.1
Guragie	2.6
Welaita	2.3
Afar	2.2
Silte	1.3
Kefficho	1.2
other	13.5

References

^ 2007 Ethiopian census, first draft Archived 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (accessed 6 May 2009)
^ "Population and Housing Census 2007 – National Statistical" (PDF). Ethiopian Statistics Agency. 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
^ United nations Demographic Yearbook Special Census Topics. Volume 2b Table 4 [1]
^ "Ethiopian Census First Draft" (PDF). Central Statistics Agency. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
^ Ulrich Braukamper 2012: 165
^ Ulrich Braukamper 2012: 189
^ "Ethiopia", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2024-08-27, archived from the original on August 27, 2024, retrieved 2024-09-07

[Census-2007-1] 2007 Ethiopian census, first draft Archived 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (accessed 6 May 2009)

[2] "Population and Housing Census 2007 – National Statistical" (PDF). Ethiopian Statistics Agency. 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[3] United nations Demographic Yearbook Special Census Topics. Volume 2b Table 4 [1]

[4] "Ethiopian Census First Draft" (PDF). Central Statistics Agency. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

[5] Ulrich Braukamper 2012: 165

[6] Ulrich Braukamper 2012: 189

[7] "Ethiopia", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2024-08-27, archived from the original on August 27, 2024, retrieved 2024-09-07

[1]

Ethnic Groups in Ethiopian censuses

Estimates

See also

References