the kunama are a nilotic ethnic group inhabiting eritrea and ethiopia. although they are one of the smallest populations in eritrea, constituting only 2% of the population, 80% of kunama live in the country. most of the estimated 100,000 kunama live in the remote and isolated area between the gash and setit rivers near the border with ethiopia. the ethiopian-eritrean war (1998–2000) forced some 4,000 kunama to flee their homes to ethiopia. as refugees they reside in the tense area just over the border with eritrea and in proximity to the contested border village of badme. in the 2007 ethiopian census, however, the number of kunama in tigray has dropped to 2,976 as the remaining 2,000 or so members of this ethnic group have migrated into the other regions of ethiopia.