The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have complex tonal systems. The languages have around 6.2 million speakers. The group is generally classified as belonging to the Afroasiatic language family, but this is disputed by some.
Bench is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira. In a 2006 dissertation, Christian Rapold described three varieties of Bench as "...mutually intelligible...varieties of one and the same language". Bench is the ancestral language of the Bench people.
Benishangul-Gumuz is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. It was previously known as Region 6. The region's capital is Assosa. Following the adoption of the 1995 constitution, the region was created from the westernmost portion of the Gojjam province, and the northwestern portion of the Welega Province. The name of the region comes from two peoples – Berta and Gumuz.
The Koman languages are a small close-knit family of languages located along the Ethiopia–Sudan border with about 50,000 speakers. They are conventionally classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan family. However, due to the paucity of evidence, many scholars treat it as an independent language family. Among scholars who do accept its inclusion within Nilo-Saharan, opinions vary as to their position within it.
The Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front was a political party in Ethiopia. In the 2010 elections, the BGPDUF won 9 seats. In local elections held the same day, the BGPDUF won 98 of the 99 seats in the Benishangul-Gumuz parliament.
The languages of Ethiopia include the official languages of Ethiopia, its national and regional languages, and a large number of minority languages, as well as foreign languages.
The Gumuz are an ethnic group speaking a Nilo-Saharan language inhabiting the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in western Ethiopia, as well as the Fazogli region in Sudan. They speak the Gumuz language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family. The Gumuz number around 250,000 individuals.
Metekel Zone is located in the current Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. It was previously known to be part of the Amhara land.(H.Dufton Narrative of a journey through Abyssinia in 1862-3.P.129). It is bordered on the south and southwest by Kamashi, on the west by Sudan, and on the north and east by the current Amhara region. The Abay River which formery defined the western border of the Amhara land,defines the Zone's boundaries with Kamashi, while the Dinder River defines part of its boundary with the current Amhara region.
Dangur is one of the 20 Districts of Ethiopia, or woredas, in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the Dangur range of mountains, which extend southwest from the mountains along the west side of Lake Tana. The administrative center of this woreda is Manbuk.
Guba is one of the 20 Districts of Ethiopia, or woredas, in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the former Sultanate of Gubba. Part of the Metekel Zone, Guba is bordered by the Abay River on the south which separates it from the Kamashi Zone, Sudan on the west, Amhara Region on the north, Dangur on the east, and on the southeast by the Beles River, which separates it from Wenbera. Towns in Guba include Mankush. A refugee camp for displaced persons from Sudan operated in this woreda at Yarenja until all of its inhabitants were repatriated and the camp closed 28 March 2007.
Telegram (software)Wenbera is one of the 20 Districts of Ethiopia, or woredas, in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Metekel Zone, it is bordered on the south and west by the Kamashi Zone, on the north by the Beles River which separates it from Guba and Dangur, and by Bulen on the east; the Abay River defines the boundary between Wenbera and the Kamashi Zone.
Dibate is a woreda in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Metekel Zone, it is bordered by Mandura on the north, by the Dura River on the east which separates it from the Amhara Region, by the Abay River on the south which separates it from the Kamashi Zone, and by Bulen on the west. This woreda is named for its largest town, Dibate; other settlements include Borebo.
The Welayta, Wolayta or Wolaitta are an ethnic group and its former kingdom, located in southern Ethiopia. According to the most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zone. The language of the Wolayta people, similarly called Wolaytta, belongs to the Omotic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite their small population, Wolayta people have widely influenced national music, dance and cuisine in Ethiopia.
Guangua is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Agew Awi Zone, Guangua is bordered on the south and west by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the north by Dangila, on the northwest by Faggeta Lekoma and Banja Shekudad, and on the east by Ankasha Guagusa; the Dura River, a tributary of the Abay River, defines part of its western border. The administrative center of this woreda is Chagni; other towns in Guangua include Kilaj, and Menta Wuha.
Mao-Komo is a woreda in Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia. Because it is not part of any zones in Benishangul-Gumuz, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area. The southernmost woreda in the Region, Mao-Komo is bordered on the west by Sudan and South Sudan, on the north by the Asosa Zone, and on the east and south by the Oromia Region. Towns in this woreda include Tongo, which has a weekly market. The Tongo refugee camp, housing 12,483 displaced people from Sudan and South Sudan, is also located in Mao-Komo.
Shinasha, also known as Boro is a North Omotic language spoken in western Ethiopia by the Shinasha people. Its speakers live in scattered areas north of the Abay River: in the Dangur, Bullen, Dibate and Wenbera districts, which are parts of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region.
Bambassi is an Omotic Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia around the towns of Bambasi and Didessa in the area east of Asosa in Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The parent language group is the East Mao group. Alternative names for the language are Bambeshi, Siggoyo, Amam, Fadiro, Northern Mao, Didessa and Kere.
The Mao languages are a branch of the Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia. The group had the following categories:
The Benishangul-Gumuz conflict was an armed conflict mostly in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Ethiopia that started in 2019, until peace agreement signed between the rebel groups and the government of Ethiopia in October 2022.
Ethiopia is considered the area from which anatomically modern humans emerged. Archeological discoveries in the country's sites have garnered specific fossil evidence of early human succession, including the hominins Australopithecus afarensis and Ardipithecus ramidus. Human settlements in present-day Ethiopia began at least in the Late Stone Age, and the agricultural revolution took place in the third millennium BCE. Ethnolinguistic groups of Afroasiatic speakers and Nilo-Saharan speakers—defined by new ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identities—emerged around 2000–1000 BCE.
