The earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty, when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict in the land of Wargih against the Wärjih in 1128 AD. The Amhara and neighboring groups in North and Central Ethiopia and Eritrea, more specifically the diaspora refer to themselves as 'Habesha' ( Abyssinian) people. As of 2018, Amharic has over 32 million native speakers and 25 million second language speakers. They speak Amharic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch which serves as the main and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. They are also found within the Ethiopian expatriate community, particularly in North America. According to the 2007 national census, Amharas numbered 19,867,817 individuals, comprising 26.9% of Ethiopia's population, and they are mostly Oriental Orthodox Christian (members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church).
Yekuno Amlak founder of the Ethiopian EmpireĬhristianity ( Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
