Tigray Region
Tigray Region (, "kilil Tigrāy;" Official name: , "Bəh̩erawi Kəllelawi Mängəśti Təgray", "Tigray National Regional State") is the northernmost of the nine regions ("kililat") of Ethiopia. Tigray is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob and Kunama peoples. Tigray is also known as Region 1 according to the federal constitution. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is the 6th largest by area, the 5th most populous, and the 5th most densely populated of the 9 Regional States.
2016 Ethiopian protests
According to the 1994 Ethiopian census, out of 90,186 residents 87,099 self-identified as Tigrayans (96.6%) and 2,734 self-identified as Amharas (3.0%). According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, out of 356,598 residents of Western Tigray Zone (of which Wolqayt is a woreda), 329,080 self-identified as Tigrayans (92.3%) and 23,093 self-identified as Amhara.
Following the take-over of Ethiopia by the EPRDF in 1991, the "old" Wolqayt was split into two parts and the northern part (the "new" Wolqayt with a Tigrayan majority) was moved to the newly established ethnic region of Tigray.