Tigray region

The Tigray Region or Tigré (from Amharic: ትግራይ ክልል) Təgray) is the northernmost of the ten ethnic regions (or kililoch) of Ethiopia. It was previously known as Region 1. It is the land of the Tigray ethnic group, its capital is Mekele. It is bordered to the north by Eritrea (independent of Ethiopia since 1993), to the west by Sudan (Al Qadarif state), to the east by the Afar region, and to the south by the Amhara region.

History

The Tigray region was established in 1995, as one of the 9 ethnically differentiated regions or states, called kililoch, according to the political-administrative order of the country. The kililoch system is organized on the basis of the ethnicity of the majority of the population, and was integrated as a principle in the new constitution after the disintegration of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Following the conclusion of the Ethiopian Civil War, although the rest of Ethiopia thought the area that became the Tigray region was the beneficiary of huge funding from a comrade-dominated Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government Tigrayans, actually the beneficiaries are mostly members of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). John Young, who visited the area several times in the early 1990s, attributes this delay in part to "central budget constraints, structural readjustment and a lack of awareness among government bureaucrats in Addis Ababa about the conditions in the province," but notes that "an equally significant obstacle was posed by an entrenched and largely Amhara-dominated central bureaucracy, which used its power to block government-sanctioned funds from reaching Tigray& #3. 4;. At the same time, a growing urban middle class of merchants, businessmen, and government officials emerged that distrusted and distanced itself from the victorious EPRDF. The ruling party attempted to address these challenges in forums with its middle-class critics, as well as by establishing a number of EPRDF-controlled non-governmental charities, including the Tigray Rehabilitation Endowment Fund, the Tigray Relief Society Tigray, and the Tigray Development Association.

In 1998, war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia over a piece of territory that had been administered as part of Tigray, which included the city of Badme. Following a United Nations decision in 2002, much of this land was awarded to Eritrea, but Ethiopia has so far refused to implement the final, binding decision, and relations with Eritrea were highly strained as a result. From 1991 to 2001, the president of Tigray was Gebru Asrat.

From 2001 to 2010 the president was Tsegay Berhe. Following the 2020 Tigray regional elections, in November 2020, the region came into conflict with the Ethiopian federal government, and there were attacks on neighboring Eritrea. The Ethiopian Army claimed victory over the rebels but the conflict it spread. In 2022 Ethiopian aviation bombings were reported on the capital of Tigray.

Geography

A cannon west of Adigrat, northern Tigray.

Main Mountains

• Ferrah Imba, 3939 meters, mountain peak Tsibet in the woreda Endamekoni (12 ° 50′34 ′′ N 39 ° 31′03 ′′ E), and the highest peak of Tigray
• Imba Alaje, 3438 meters, in the woreda Alaje (12 ° 59′39 ′ N 39 ° 30′13 ′′ E)
• Mugulat, 3263 meters, in the wearda of Ganta Afeshum (14 ° 16'N 39 ° 25'E); one of its foothills is crossed by the standing tunnel of Siqurto
• Top Mesetas of Atsbi Horst 3057 meters in the woreda Atsbi Wenberta(14 ° 03′N 39 ° 43′E)
• Imba Tsion, 2917 meters, in the wearda Hawzen (14 ° 06′N 39 ° 26′E)
• Ekli Imba, 2799 meters, summit of the Arebay massif in the woreda Degua Tembien (13 ° 43′N 39 ° 16′E)
• Imba Aradom - sometimes transcribed as Amba Aradam, 2756 meters, in the woreda Hintalo Wajirat (13 ° 20′N 39 ° 31′E)
• Soloda, 2436 meters, in Adwa woreda (14 ° 11'N 38 ° 54'E)
• Imba Neway, 2388 meters, in Abergele (woreda) (13 ° 16'N 38 ° 57'E)

Demographics

According to the population census, conducted by the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency in 2007, the Tigray region had an estimated total population of 4,314,456 people, of whom 2,124,853 were men and 2,189,603 were women. With an estimated area of 50,078.64 square kilometers, the region has an estimated density of 86.15 people per square kilometer. The region has an approximate volume of 985,654 houses, with an average of 4.4 people per house.

The predominant ethnic group in the region is the Tigre (96.5%) with the presence of other groups such as the Amhara (1.63%), the Saho (0.71%), the Afar (0.29%), the Agaw (0.19%), Oromo (0.17%) and the Kunama (0.07%). In addition, 95.6% of the population professes the Ethiopian Coptic Christian religion, 4.0% is Muslim, 0.4% is Catholic and 0.1% is Pentay (Ethiopian Protestant Christian).

The urban population of the region reaches 842,723, which is equivalent to 19.53% of the total population.

Main cities

The main cities of Tigray are:

• Mekele
• Adigrat
• Axum
• Alamata
• Inda Selassie
• Adua
• Maychew
• Korem
• Wukro
• Humera
• Abi Adi
• Hawzen

Political parties

The main party is the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which was formed with the support of the Eritrea People's Liberation Front and ended up seizing power in Ethiopia after the fall of the Mengistu Haile Mariam regime. Initially a nationalist party, it created different nationalist parties for the various states and peoples, and with control of them it exercises hegemony in Ethiopia. Shortly after taking power, it recognized the independence of Eritrea.

The State Flag has a slight modification in the position of the star, the one used by the Tigray Liberation Front in the years of armed struggle.