Demographics

Ethiopia's population has grown dramatically in the last several decades, from 33.5 million in 1983 to 75.1 million in 2006. The country's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigray make up more than three-quarters of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members.

Ethiopians and Eritreans, especially Semitic-speaking ones, collectively refer to themselves as Habesha or Abesha, though others reject these names on the basis that they refer only to certain ethnicities.The Arabic form of this term (Al-Habesh) is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia," the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages. According to the Ethiopian national census of 1994, the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia at 32.1%. The Amhara represent 30.2%, while the Tigray people are 6.2% of the population. Other ethnic groups are as follows: Somali 6.0%, Gurage 4.3%, Sidama 3.4%, Wolayta 2%, Afar 2%, Hadiya 2%, Gamo 1%.

Ethiopia has eighty-four indigenous languages. Some of these are: Afar, Hadiya, Saho, Tigrinya, Amharic, Harari, Soddo, Wolaita, Anfillo, Konso, Sidam, Gurage, Berto, Ongota, Silt'e, Gamo, Bussa, Oromo, Somali, and Goffa. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya. Ethiopia has its own alphabet, Ethiopic, and calendar.

English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya. Ethiopia has its own alphabet, Ethiopic, and calendar.

According to the most recent 1994 National Census, Christians make up 61% of the country's population, Muslims 33%, and practicioners of traditional faiths 5%. Orthodox Christianity has a dominant presence in central and northern Ethiopia, while both Orthodox & Protestant Christianity has large representations in the South and Western Ethiopia. A small ancient group of Jews, the Beta Israel, live in northwestern Ethiopia, though most have emigrated to Israel in the last decades of the twentieth century as part of the rescue missions undertaken by the Israeli government, Operation Moses and Operation Solomon.