Tigrai is the land of the Sabeans

Tigrai is the land of the Sabeans, that had been successfully inhabited since the Stone Age. It is the owner of Da'amat and Axumite Kingdoms. From erecting one of the largest structures in the world to curving the most inaccessible cliff-top rock churches, Tigrai has invented its own unique letters, numbers, and calendar. In addition to its wonderful history, Tigrai is known for its gold, honey, and animals.

Tigrai, best described as the open-air museum, is an ancient state in the Horn of Africa. It is situated between 12°–15° N and 36° 30\’ – 40° 30′ E and comprises 53,638 square kilometers (20,710 sq mi). Tigrai’s official language is Tigrigna. Tigray has more than 5.5 million inhabitants. The greatest part of the population (more than 80%) is agriculturalists, contributing 46% to the state’s gross domestic product (2002/03).

The highlands (11.5% Degua, 40.5% weyna Degua) have the highest population density, especially in eastern and central Tigrai. The much less densely populated lowlands of Tigrai (Qolla) comprise 48% of Tigrai.

Tigray is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Amhara and Afar regions of Ethiopia to the south, and the east and southeast respectively.

Tigrai has been home to successive waves of civilizations through the millennia. Each has left its own footprints by erecting monuments, building palaces and temples, curving rock churches, writing stone and skin inscriptions, inventing unique language with its own alphanumeric writing, and so on. Temples, elaborate palaces, great stone stelae, magnificent tombs, and early churches and mosques stand as testimony to the ebb and flow of humanity in the region. They are set against an extraordinary biblical landscape in which the life led by the people has much that is timeless creating wonders and triggering questions to tourists from around the world.