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Languages

Languages of Ethiopia

Addis AbabaLocal time

Languages, writing systems and language context

ኢትዮጵያ
COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE
አማርኛ
Amharic
Text direction: LTR

Ethiopia's Constitution gives all Ethiopian languages equal state recognition and names Amharic as the working language of the Federal Government. Regional states may determine their own working languages by law.

1
Core language shown
Country-level reference set
Amharic
First listed core language
Not a speaker-share estimate
1
Writing system represented
Across the core language set
LTR
Primary text direction
Additional directions noted below

Language Overview

Amharic

Read the Characters

Amharic · 33 characters

Amharic · 33 characters
ሀ
ha
ለ
la
ሐ
hha
መ
ma
ሠ
sza
ረ
ra
ሰ
sa
ሸ
sha
ቀ
qa
በ
ba
ተ
ta
ቸ
ca
ኀ
xa
ነ
na
ኘ
nya
አ
a
ከ
ka
ኸ
kxa
ወ
wa
ዐ
`a
ዘ
za
ዠ
zha
የ
ya
ደ
da
ጀ
ja
ገ
ga
ጠ
tha
ጨ
cha
ጰ
pha
ጸ
tsa
ፀ
tza
ፈ
fa
ፐ
pa

How to Read the Language Landscape

PolicyLegal and administrative language status may differ between national and subnational government.
Everyday useA language can be socially dominant without being the only language used at home, school, work or in media.
Community diversityIndigenous, minority, migrant and sign languages can remain important even when they are not part of a short national headline list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages are used in Ethiopia?

Ethiopia's Constitution gives all Ethiopian languages equal state recognition and names Amharic as the working language of the Federal Government. Regional states may determine their own working languages by law.

What writing systems are used in Ethiopia?

The represented writing system is Ethiopic and the primary direction shown is left to right.

More about Ethiopia

Explore Ethiopia across the other DigifyWorld country-data sections.

Public HolidaysPublic holidays 2026 and 2027→Digital AdoptionInternet, payments and digital government→Population & DemographicsPopulation, age structure and projections→Economy SnapshotGDP, trade and economic structure→Currency & ExchangeCurrency, exchange rates and money→Human DevelopmentHDI and quality-of-life indicators→Geography & EnvironmentLand, climate and environment→Practical Country InfoTime, driving, electricity and codes→EducationSchool system and education data→

Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page
Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia: Constitution

Official federal legal source. Article 5 gives all Ethiopian languages equal state recognition, names Amharic as the Federal Government working language, and allows member states to determine their working languages.

Unicode CLDR: Country/Region Names

Localized country display-name reference. CLDR names are customary UI/display names, not claims about a state’s full constitutional long-form name.

Unicode: Supported Scripts

Reference for the writing-system/script families represented in the character component.

Unicode: Writing Direction and Bidirectional Text

Reference for left-to-right and right-to-left script direction and bidirectional text behavior.

Unicode Character Database: NamesList

Reference for Unicode character names used as small readout labels under selected character samples; these labels are not presented as a complete transliteration standard.