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The Irob people (Ge'ez: ኢሮብ ʾirōb, also spelled Erob) are an ethnic group who live in a predominantly highland, mountainous area by the same name in Eritrea and Ethiopia. They speak the Saho language. Most of them profess the Catholic Christian religion and are mostly farmers.[citation needed] The etymology of the name Irob is debatable, but Irob's elders say that the term comes from the Saho word "Oroba", which means "welcome to our home". The boundaries of Irobland are, to an extent, identical to the Irob woreda; both are bordered by the following areas: Dabri-Mela to the north, Hado to the east, the Afar Region to the east and south, Shoumezana and Gulomakeda to the west, and Saesi Tsaedaemba to the south. The first two neighbors are Saho speakers and predominantly Muslim, the third are Muslim Afars, and the others are Tigrigna-speaking Christians.