Tigré

Region in the northern highlands of Ethiopia; area 65,900 sq km/25,444 sq mi; population (1999 est) 3,593,000. The chief town is Mek'elē. In the mountainous region in the west the highest point is Mokada, rising to 2,295 m/7,529 ft. The east of the region is much lower; some of the Danakil Depression is below sea level. Most of the population live by cultivation in the south and by nomadic herding in the north, but the area suffers from periodic severe droughts. Tigré is a major source of hides and skins for export and also an important producer of grain, beeswax, and wool. Potash and sulphur deposits occur in significant quantities.

In 1978 a guerrilla group known as the Tigré People's Liberation Front (TPLF) began fighting for regional autonomy. In 1989 government troops were forced from the province, and the TPLF advanced towards Addis Ababa, playing the key role in the fall of the Ethiopian government in May 1991.

The towns of Axum, Adwa, and Adigrat are historically significant. In 1984 drought and famine led to the migration of Tigrayans to fertile land in the south or into neighbouring Sudan.

Tigré

A people of northern Ethiopia. The Tigré language is spoken by about 2.5 million people; it belongs to the southeastern Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) family. Tigrinya is a closely related language spoken slightly to the south.