Argobba people

Argobba
Total population
140,134 (2007 census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Languages
Argobba, Oromo, Amharic, Harari, Arabic, Afar
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Amhara • Gurage • Harari • Tigrayans • Tigrinya • Zay • other Ethiopian Semitic peoples[2]

The Argobba are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. A Muslim community, they are spread out through isolated village networks and towns in the north-eastern and eastern parts of the country. Group members have typically been astute traders and merchants, and have adjusted to the economic trends in their area. These factors have led to a decline in usage of the Argobba language.[3][4] Argobba are considered endangered today due to exogamy and destitution as well as ethnic cleansing by the Abyssinian state over the centuries.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Census 2007" Archived March 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, first draft, Table 5.
  2. ^ Joireman, Sandra F. (1997). Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa: The Allocation of Property Rights and Implications for Development. Universal-Publishers. p. 1. ISBN 1581120001. The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. These countries share similar peoples, languages, and geographical endowments.
  3. ^ "Argobba of Ethiopia". Ethnic people profile. Joshua Project. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  4. ^ Leyew, Zelealem and Ralph Siebert. (2001) "Sociolinguistic survey report of the Argobba language of Ethiopia", SIL International (accessed 25 May 2009)
  5. ^ Olson, James (1996). The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 37. ISBN 9780313279188.
  6. ^ Ancel, Stephane (2015). "A Muslim Prophecy Justifying the Conversion of Ethiopian Muslims to Christianity during Yoḥannəs IV's Reign". Annales d'Éthiopie. 30 (1): 321–328. doi:10.3406/ethio.2015.1592.