Tigray Province
Tigray (, ) is a historical region and province of Ethiopia. It encompasses most of the territories of Tigrinya-speakers (and a few minority groups closely linked with them) in Ethiopia; Tigray is separated from the northern Tigrinya territories by the River Mereb, now serving as the state border to Eritrea.
Tigray Province
Tigray went through numerous administrative changes in the course of its history. In 1991 Tigray was radically reshaped. During the reign of Haile Selassie I and also the following Derg period, Tigray did not yet encompass Welqayt (until 1991 having been part of Begemder), while Enderta in eastern Tigray extended over large Afar areas including the salt plains, which were given to Afar "kəlləl". Still in the 1930s the regions south of Enderta, i.e. Wajjarat and Angot, formed the separate governorate called "Southern Tigray". Modern Tigray is the result of a merger of diverse historical northern provinces (with Tigrinya and Agaw speakers), which were often independent from each other.
Today's unity of Tigrayan territories south of the Mereb river is a rather modern phenomenon. Most northern provinces were ruled by their own governors, often descending from local dynasties and preserving a high degree of autonomy within the empire, e.g., in legal and judicial issues, taxation etc. Only rarely these territories were unified under one ruler.