Editing Horn of Africa (section)

==Demographics, ethnicity and languages==
{{Further|Languages of Africa|Demographics of Africa|List of ethnic groups of Africa#Horn of Africa|List of African countries by population|Writing systems of Africa#Indigenous writing systems|Cushitic languages|Ethiopian Semitic languages|label1=Cushitic Peoples|label2=Habesha Peoples|Nilotic languages|Omotic languages|Afroasiatic languages|Nilo-Saharan languages}}
[[Image:Cushitic map.svg|thumb|150px|left|Map of the ethnic groups who speak [[Cushitic languages]]]]

Besides sharing similar geographic endowments, the countries of the Horn of Africa are, for the most part, linguistically and ethnically linked together,<ref name="Joireman22"/> evincing a complex pattern of interrelationships among the various groups.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Katsuyoshi Fukui|author2=John Markakis|title=Ethnicity & Conflict in the Horn of Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/ethnicityconflic00kats|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=James Currey Publishers|isbn=978-0-85255-225-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/ethnicityconflic00kats/page/4 4]}}</ref> The two main macro groups in the Horn are the [[Cushitic languages|'''Cushitic-speaking''']] [[Cushitic peoples]] traditionally centered in the lowlands and the [[Ethiopian Semitic languages|'''Ethiosemitic-speaking''']] [[Habesha peoples]] who inhabit the [[Ethiopian Highlands|Ethiopian]] and [[Eritrean Highlands|Eritrean]] highlands.

According to ''[[Ethnologue]]'', there are 10 individual languages spoken in Djibouti (two native), 14 in Eritrea, 90 in Ethiopia, 15 in Somalia (Somali being the only native).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/country |title=Languages – Summary by country |publisher=Ethnologue.com |date=19 February 1999 |access-date=25 July 2013 |archive-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719010654/http://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/country |url-status=live }}</ref> Most people in the Horn speak [[Afroasiatic languages]] of the [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]], [[Semitic languages|Semitic]], or [[Omotic languages|Omotic]] branches. The Cushitic branch includes [[Oromo language|Oromo]], spoken by the [[Oromo people]] in Ethiopia, and [[Somali language|Somali]], spoken by the [[Somali people]] in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya; the Semitic branch (specifically the [[Ethiopian Semitic languages|Ethiosemitic]] sub-branch) includes [[Amharic language|Amharic]], spoken by the [[Amhara people]] of Ethiopia, and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] spoken by the [[Tigrayans|Tigrayan people]] of Ethiopia and the [[Tigrinya people]] of Eritrea. Other Afroasiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic [[Afar language|Afar]], [[Saho language|Saho]], [[Hadiyya language|Hadiyya]], [[Sidamo language|Sidamo]] and [[Agaw languages|Agaw]] languages, the Semitic [[Tigre language|Tigre]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Gurage language|Gurage]], [[Harari language|Harari]], [[Silt'e language|Silt'e]] and [[Argobba language|Argobba]] tongues<ref name="Ethnologue">{{cite web|title=Languages of Ethiopia|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=ET|work=Ethnologue|publisher=SIL International|access-date=9 February 2013|archive-date=3 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203002449/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=ET|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as [[Omotic languages]] are spoken by Omotic communities inhabiting Ethiopia's southern regions. Among these languages are [[Aari language|Aari]], [[Dizi language|Dizi]], [[Gamo language|Gamo]], [[Kafa language|Kafa]], [[Hamer language|Hamer]] and [[Wolaytta language|Wolaytta]].<ref name="Tspahcoe">{{cite web|title=Country Level |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/index.php?option=com_rubberdoc&view=doc&id=264&format=raw&Itemid=521 |work=2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia |publisher=[[Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)|CSA]] |date=13 July 2010 |access-date=18 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114004942/http://www.csa.gov.et/index.php?option=com_rubberdoc&view=doc&id=264&format=raw&Itemid=521 |archive-date=14 November 2010 }}</ref>

[[File:Eritrean Women.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Saho people|Saho]] women in traditional attire.]]
[[File:University students sits in front of Somali traditional house.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Somalis|Somali]] men and women in front of a traditional house]]
Languages belonging to the [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] language family are also spoken in some areas by [[Nilotic peoples|Nilotic]] ethnic minorities mostly in [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]]. These tongues include the Nilo-Saharan [[Me'en language|Me'en]] and [[Mursi language|Mursi]] languages used in southwestern Ethiopia, and [[Kunama language|Kunama]] and [[Nara language|Nara]] idioms spoken in parts of southern Eritrea.

Languages belonging to the [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo]] language family are also spoken in some areas by [[Somali Bantu|Bantu]] ethnic minorities in Somalia. In the riverine and littoral areas of southern Somalia, [[Bajuni people|Bajuni]], [[Bravanese people|Barawani]], and Bantu groups also speak variants of the Niger-Congo [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and [[Zigula language|Mushunguli]] languages.<ref name="Ethnologue Mushungulu">{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=xma |title=Ethnologue – Mushungulu |publisher=Ethnologue.com |date=19 February 1999 |access-date=25 July 2013 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019120950/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=xma |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Abdullahi">{{cite book|last=Abdullahi|first=Mohamed Diriye|title=Culture and customs of Somalia|publisher=Greenwood|year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri/page/11 11]|url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri|url-access=registration|isbn = 978-0-313-31333-2}}</ref>

The Horn has produced numerous indigenous writing systems. Among these is [[Ge'ez script]] ({{lang|gez|ግዕዝ}} ''{{transliteration|sem|Gəʿəz}}'') (also known as ''Ethiopic''), which has been written in for at least 2000 years.<ref>Rodolfo Fattovich, "Akkälä Guzay" in Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C''. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz KG, 2003, p. 169.</ref> It is an [[abugida]] script that was originally developed to write the [[Ge'ez language]]. In speech communities that use it, such as the Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is called ''{{transliteration|sem|fidäl}}'' ({{lang|gez|ፊደል}}), which means "script" or "alphabet".
For centuries, Somali sheikhs and Sultans used [[wadaad's writing]] (a version of the Arabic alphabet) to write. In the early 20th century, in response to a national campaign to settle on a writing script for the [[Somali language]] (which had long since lost its ancient script<ref>Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Somalia, ''The writing of the Somali language'', (Ministry of Information and National Guidance: 1974), p.5</ref>), [[Osman Yusuf Kenadid]], a Somali poet and remote cousin of the [[Sultan]] [[Yusuf Ali Keenadid|Yusuf Ali Kenadid]] of the [[Sultanate of Hobyo]], devised a phonetically sophisticated alphabet called [[Osmanya script|Osmanya]] (also known as ''far soomaali''; Osmanya: 𐒍𐒖𐒇 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘) for representing the sounds of Somali.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of African Biography: Abach – Brand, Volume 1|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195382075|page=357|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA4-PA357|access-date=9 February 2018|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818172855/https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA4-PA357|url-status=live}}</ref> Though no longer the official writing script in Somalia, the Osmanya script is available in the [[Unicode]] range 10480-104AF [from U+10480 – U+104AF (66688–66735)].
A number of ethnic minority groups in southern Ethiopia and Eritrea also adhere to various [[African traditional religion|traditional faiths]]. Among these belief systems are the Nilo-Saharan [[Surma people]]'s acknowledgment of the [[sky god]] ''[[Tumu (god)|Tumu]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Aparna Rao|author2=Michael Bollig|author3=Monika Böck|title=The Practice of War: Production, Reproduction and Communication of Armed Violence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trnATFcxvKwC|year=2007|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-84545-280-3|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=22 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522141724/https://books.google.com/books?id=trnATFcxvKwC|url-status=live}}</ref>