Ethiopia Languages

The inhabitants of the Republic of Ethiopia speak almost 88 languages. Unfortunately, some of the dialects are now either extinct or endangered. These languages are drawn from three separate families. The largest family is the Afroasiatic family which consists of both Cushitic and Semitic languages. The second family is the Omotic family of languages spoken within Ethiopia. The last family is the Nilo-Saharan that has several languages. Nevertheless, the official languages spoken in Ethiopia are Oromo and Amharic languages. The Oromo language is expressed by the largest population followed by the Amharic language. Due to the Federal laws of Ethiopia, the Amharic language is considered the official language despite having the second largest population of speakers. It is also used as the medium of passing knowledge in primary schools though Tigrinya and Oromo are slowly taking over. English is the language used for passing knowledge and skills in the universities and secondary schools within the nation.

The Oromo language is spoken by 24,930,000 people who are 33.8% of the population of Ethiopia. The number includes both the young and old generations. People from all walks of life speak Amharic totaling to an estimated 21,634,000 speakers. This is about 29.3% of the total population of both urban and rural parts of Ethiopia. You can easily find many Ethiopians speaking their native language alongside English or Oromo and Amharic together. The residents also speak the minority languages; especially the older generation. It is also easier to learn the Amharic language more than Oromo due to its musical nature. Additionally, one Amharic word can form many phrases.

Some of the common phrases in both Oromo and Amharic languages that a visitor can easily learn include: in Amharic, one can say "Seh-lahm" to mean "Hello/Peace", or say "Awo" to mean "Yes". In Oromo, one says "akkam" to mean "hello", and "nagaatti" to mean "bye".

One of the minority languages spoken by people in Ethiopia is the Somali language. Approximately 4.6 million people, that is 6.25% of the population, speaks Somali. The second language is the Tigrinya language spoken by 4.3 million persons which are about 5.86% of the population. The other minority languages include Sidamo spoken by 2.9 million people (4.84%), Wolaytta spoken by 1.6 million people (2.21%), Gurage language is spoken by 1.48 million people (2.01%), and Afar language having 1.28 million speakers (1.74%). Some of the languages that are facing extinction or are endangered because of few speakers are Ongota, Gafat, Weyto, and Mesmes languages.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

More on Graphicmaps

Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Addis Ababa
Languages	Oromo (official working language in the State of Oromiya) 33.8%, Amharic (official national language) 29.3%, Somali (official working language of the State of Sumale) 6.2%, Tigrigna (Tigrinya) (official working language of the State of Tigray) 5.9%, Sidamo 4%, Wolaytta 2.2%, Gurage 2%, Afar (official working language of the State of Afar) 1.7%, Hadiyya 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, Opuuo 1.2%, Kafa 1.1%, other 8.1%, English (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (2007 est.)
Ethnic Groups	Oromo 34.4%, Amhara (Amara) 27%, Somali (Somalie) 6.2%, Tigray (Tigrinya) 6.1%, Sidama 4%, Gurage 2.5%, Welaita 2.3%, Hadiya 1.7%, Afar (Affar) 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, Silte 1.3%, Kefficho 1.2%, other 8.8% (2007 est.)
Religion	Ethiopian Orthodox 43.5%, Muslim 33.9%, Protestant 18.5%, traditional 2.7%, Catholic 0.7%, other 0.6% (2007 est.)
Government	Federal parliamentary republic
Independance	Oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years (may be traced to the Aksumite Kingdom, which coalesced in the first century B.C.)
Area	1,104,300.00 km²
Water Area	104,300.00 km²
Land Area	1,000,000.00 km²
Population	102,374,044.00
Location	Eastern Africa, west of Somalia
No. Bordering Countries	6
Bordering Countries	Djibouti 342 km, Eritrea 1,033 km, Kenya 867 km, Somalia 1,640 km, South Sudan 1,299 km, Sudan 744 km
GDP(PPP)	$175,000,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$1,900.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are Switzerland, China, the United States, and the Netherlands.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are coffee, oilseeds, and edible vegetables.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are China, the United States, and Saudi Arabia.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include machinery and aircraft, metal, and electrical materials.
Climate	Tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation
Terrain	High plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
Learn More	Ethiopia

Ethiopia Languages

More on Graphicmaps

What is a Trade Embargo?

Which Two Countries Used to Have the Same Flag?

What Is the Only Two-Sided State Flag?

Which Country Flag Looks Like the Texas Flag?

Flags That Resemble the US Flag

What is Demography?