1410610403

in thc bu fik? ycar*. The two prindpal lanęuagc groups arc in origin Sazhic and thefr Tigrinya and Tigrć lan-guages, bkc Amharic which is spojeń in Central Ethiopia and i* thc olńtial larguagc of the Ethiopian Empire, spring irom a common root, Ged, thc anrient hnguagc of Ethiopia which has survivcd only in Coptk liturgy. Tigrinya uses Gccz chara«crs;Tigre can b: writren both in Gcez and Arabie script. The Tigrinya and Tigre lan-guages arc bascd on a common origin and stnicuite rather than on recopuzablc tinularity, and as nowspoken they arc mutually uruntclligiblc. The Tigrinya-speaking pcoplc arc mostly Copts and thc Tigrt-spcaking groups mostly Mosiem. In thc west and east of Erittea arc icprc-icnutivc* of thc race habitualiy using languages of thc H aronie typc. principalły thc Benś-Amer uibes, somc of w horo stiU us< Beja, thc tribes of thc Danakil who speak a linguagc o! their o*n, and possibly thc tribes on thc casttfn edge of thc central platcau speaking a languagc callcd Saho; most of thesc tribes arc Mosiem. Arabie Kas be en adopted as a seeond bnguagc by sectioru of thc western tribes to whom Arab culrure has spread* and it is almoit the lingua franca of thc Mohammedan quartcr in thc Eiitrean towns. Ndther thc Hamitic nor Semitic linguśstk groups arc raciaSIy puce, they havc absorbed so much alicn Kood from cach other and from negroid and othcf groups that thc term race is hardly apptcabk to ihcm. A distinaivc racial group is icprescnted by smali ttibcs of nepoid ot riiłoric otigin in thc south-wcs* of Eritrea.

63. Thesc various population groups havediffercnt .cconomic habits, different forms of social organization and largeły lice in different arcas ?hough thc boundarics arc blurred by scasotul migrations and ovcrbpping of tribal arcas. The central Eiitrean highlands hav« a prac-tically solid błock of somc 470,000 scttlcd cuUśvators, Coptic in reiigion and Tigrinya-speaking. .They Łve in village$, nestUng against ibe moontains with a Coptic chorch prominent on thc hill-cop. Thesc pcoplc arc or-ganized in kinship groups of families chiming dcscent from a co mm on anccitor, bu: they, in effect, form smali tcrrhorial units sińce thc hereditary land rigjit is corpo-ratę and vestcd in thc kinship group. Elcacd coundls of ddcri manage the commurul affairs and chicfs were unknown unol appointed by the ltalians. There are close affinitic* betwecn thc highland dwelkrs and thosc of thc adjcining Tigrai Prorincc of Ethiopia. Their bnguagc and rchgion arc the same; inter-roarriage is fiequer.t, and so is tmgratory usc of graiing in thc Tigrai The central highlands have ordy 72,000 rural Mosiom; somc a/c scttlcd in smali groops tkroeghout the arca, but thc cnain concentration is towjrd thccastcmcscarpmcnt whcrc the semi nomadie Saho-speaking tribes l»vc. In winter they motr to thc Red Sca foothilli for graiing whcrc, if

possibte. somc cultiuaic quick*maturin£ ciops, returni to the plateau in thc summer.

64.    Ad,owing the Saho trioes are thc Danakil tribes, pure nomadi speaking Danakil, a bnguagc distantly relatcd to Saho. Both croups arc organized on a kinship basćs, with an clccróe chiefiainship for cach kinship group. Appointed tribal chicfs were introduced by the luUans. The Saho-speaking tribes nevcr acqoircd any unity. A commoo languagc and reiigion and a common necd for protection havc devclopcd a sense of eohesion amongs: thc Danakil.

65.    Western, nnnhem and castern Eritrea arc in-habited by numerous nomadk tribes of gready Yirying siie and language, ytt united to somc cncnt by thc common reiigion of Islam. The Beni-Amer tribes pre-dominate in numbers and mostly speak Tigrć, but somc speak Be|a or arc bilingual. With the adwent long ago of ncw tribes in thc nonh-west, a division of sociecy into aristocratk and serf clasies occurred, whkh in part stall caists although fcudal dues have bcen aboUshed by thc Brkith Adminiuration. Tribal organiiation on a territo-rial basis is pr ecłuded by tbc nomadk naturę of thc tribes; it, thereforc, developcd on a kinship basis, with<lectivc councils of cldcrs and cScctise chicfs. Tribal chicftain-ship by appoincmcnc was introduced by thc Italians and still cxists.

66.    The Ker en mountain arca, owing to its better rainfall, is largely inhabited by sedenury peasanis. There it a błock of Tigrinya-speatebg Copts south of Keren in ehe so^allcd Abyssinian Districu, and a dklinctWe Bcłcimspcaking tribe lives arcund Keren. The negroid or nilotk group; of Eritrea are located in thc south-west, berween the Setce and Cash rivetS; they arc mainly agrkul-turalisu, speak two languages of their own and arc srill regarded as an infciior race by thek Coptic and Mosiem ncighboun.

67.    The bulk of thc popularion of Eritrea is niral and 847,000 or 78 per cent of the estimated total of 1,067,000 are so datsified. Since 1933, considerable urbanization of thc indigentyas Eritreans has, howcw, occurred. The main concemranons are in the Capital, Asmara, and in thc Red Sea port, Matsawa, whkh re-spcctrvcly account for 126,000 and 26,000,or for a totil of 152,000 of the estimated urban population of 219,000. The indigenous popularion of Asmara is pre-dominamty Coptic, that of Massawa and other centres mainly Mosiem. Many rural Eritreans havc becomc dc-tribalized and in their new surroundings hate acquired a use of Italian.

68.    In thc light of the foregoing, the population statisrics of Eritrea are ubutated bdow, showing the divcnicy of the situarion in broad outlinc:

Estimated g<ograph»cal distributioc, reiigion. languagc and was of lifc of thc Eritrean people by administrator disisions

Groupittf	HighUrsJi
(a) Słzc JHj dc nuty.
rercenuge of total arca	24
Ccrccntagc of popobrión:
Rural	a
Rural ♦ urban	SI
(b) Rchgion o/ itidigenous peopk:
Mosiem	104,000
Christian	470.000
P»gsn	•
Total	S74.COO
(c) Ri<rjJ population: (i) WiyofSfc
Sftiłcd agriculturalists	388,000
Nomadic •	62.000
Total	450.000
(ii) LanjujRf;
Tigrinya	387.000
• Tifcre	•
Saho	63,000
Belrin	•
D.iukil	•
Oiher	•
Total	450,000
(d) Urban popuhtron:
Mosiem	31,000
Christian	93,000
Asutk	5,000
European	A 9.000
Totil	1*8.000
Total ru^alaso urban
POPULATION (fc)li).(dl)	598,000

The administrattve and judidal system

69. In vicw of the form oi social organiiation «xistcnt in thc vilbge commur.ities and amongst the nomadic kmship groups, their day-to day affairs arc rcpibted internally through that medium. Discrict and tnbl chich, appointed and paid by the Administration as in Italian times, arc, however, responsible for the ^r«btions wirh the Administration of thc groups of villages

Rej Sej	froriarr	Tout
22	54	100
8	39	100
U	33	100
105,000	315,000	524.000
2.000	34.000	506,000
•	8.000	5.000
107,000	357.000	I.03S.OO0

17.000	80.000	485,000
47,0.50	254.000
64,000	334,000	84S.OOO
w	9,000	396,000 .
29,000	24J.0CO	272,000
7,000	•	70.000
W	37.000	37,000. .
.28,000	m	28.000
•	_&0Cfl	45,000
64,000	334,000	848,000 .
41.000	17,000	89,000 ‘
2,000	6.M0	101,000
1,000	2.000	8,000
1.500	_SC2	21.000
-lliBg	25.500	—łlŁSOO
109J00	359,500	1,067,000

and nomads under their contro!. Thesc chiefs aa as thc generał agems of the Administration in their arcas and tribes, colkct thc annual Nativc cribute, per form certain judicial functions and conccy adminisuat'nx orders to the population. The chicfs aa through unpaid subordinate chiefs, \illage headmen and heads of tribal seaions des-ignaccd by the Adminisuation. |c maimains direa contaa with thc rural communmes through senior dwisional officers, asskted fcy divisional officers. The main towns

Doeumen: 4    63

62 *niF ttsrffO NATIOSS ASO TltK ISOifhNDENCE OF DUTKLA