Werji people

Worji
A medieval map of Ethiopia locating the ancestral homeland of the "Werjih." It indicates the approximate location of a province named for them that lied between the Great Rift Valley and the Ahmar Mountains
Total population
13,232 (2007 census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Languages
Oromiffa, Amharic
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Oromo, Jebertis, Argobba, Gurage, Amhara, Sidama, Afar, Agaw, Hadiya, Beja

The Worji (Oromo: Warjiih, Ge'ez: ወርጄ, Arabic: ورجي‎ [wɔrdʒi]), fully known as the Tigri-Worji, are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. The prefix for their traditional name, Tigri, comes from the word Tijaari, which is an adjectival in the Arabic language that literally translates to "merchant." Their tribal name Worji is eponymous with the name of their ancestral homeland. Thus, Tigri Werji essentially means "merchant of Werji."[2]

Demographics

According to the 2007 Ethiopian census carried out by the Central Statistical Agency, the Worji population numbered 13,232 individuals.[1]

Politics

Prior to the 2010 General Elections, the current Ethiopian regime approved the creation of the Tigri Worgi Nationality Democratic Organization, which represents a minority of the tribe.[3]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Census 2007", first draft, Table 5.
  2. ↑ "The Tigri Wergi 'Jeberti' People", Chapter 1 pg. 1.
  3. ↑ "National Electoral Board of Ethiopia: List of Registered Political Parties"

References

  • Grover Hudson, "Linguistic Analysis of the 1994 Ethiopian Census", Northeast African Studies, Volume 6, Number 3, 1999 (New Series), pp. 89 – 107.
  • Pankhurst, Richard K.P. The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1967
  • Pankhurst, Borderlands, p. 79.
  1. ↑ , Ethiopian Government Portal
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