Map - Tigray Province (Tigray Region)

Tigray Province (Amharic and ትግራይ), also known as Tigre (ትግሬ tigrē), was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed the present day Afar and Tigray regions. Akele Guzai borders with the Tigray province It was one It encompassed most of the territories of Tigrinya-speakers (and a few minority groups) in Ethiopia. Tigray was separated from the northern Tigrinya speaking territories by the Mareb River, now serving as the state border to Eritrea (formerly Eritrea Province), with the Tekezé River separating it from the Amhara dominated south.

The great majority of inhabitants were Orthodox Christians (95.5% in 1994), with the exception of a small, but important Muslim subgroup (Jeberti) and a few Catholics (mainly Irob). Protestantism is only a very recent urban phenomenon. Despite a general impression of ethnic and cultural homogeneity, there were a few ethnic minorities, especially at the borders of Tigray, belonging to a non-Tigrinya groups, such as the Saho-speaking Irob at the north-eastern border to Eritrea, the Raya Oromo in the south-east, the Agaw-speaking H̬amta in Abergele north of Wag, a few Kunama in the Habesha Kunama woreda east of Humera, and scattered peripheral groups in the western lowlands across the tekeze, such as the Chare of the Sellim Bet (related with the Gumuz) and Tukrir in the Humera area.

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 Wolkait (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 the Afar Region. Still, in the 1930s the regions south of Enderta, i.e. Wajjarat and Angot, formed the separate governorate called "Southern Tigray". 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.

The core of today's Tigray was the most important northern province and bore the name "Tigray". Usually it controlled adjacent territories, which might be the reason why the term Tigray basically encompassed only Adwa, Aksum and Yeha, and regularly extended over Hawzen (with Amba Enda Seyon) and Enticho. It included sometimes wider areas, such as Shire and Tembien, which, however, kept their own separate identities and often their local governors.

Hawzen was an important province seemingly already in Aksumite times (with important early rock-hewn churches); according to the, in the 13th century Hawzen encompassed wide areas from today's Hawzen to the Afar salt plains in the east. Consequently, over the centuries the realm of Tigray regularly extended over all these territories. Tembien was included in Tigray already in the 17th century, and at times also well before. An ancient permanent boundary of Tigray proper to the south is the Tekeze, in ancient sources equaled with the Nile River. Therefore, Tigray proper together with its dependencies was occasionally also called ("beyond the Tekezze"). Over a long period, the capital of Tigray proper was Hawzen in the sub-province Haramat. Already in the 17th century, this town served as a seat of governors. In the 19th century, it again served as the capital, e.g. of Wube Haile Mariam and negus Negusse. Adwa assumed the role of capital in the 18th century under Amde Haymanot, and again later (starting from the 1880s in competition with the new capital Mekelle).

Tigray was of strategic importance, both symbolically, as it included the sacred town of Aksum, and economically, due to important trade routes from the east (i.e. Agame and Enderta) and the north. It included fertile plains (e.g.,. to the west of Aksum), and strategically important mountains. According to Markham in 1869, the Abyssinians say "Who holds Amba Tsion holds Tigré". Still in the 20th century, Tigray proper was a province of its own in the framework of a wider homonymous province, also called Tigray. Even if well before the 20th century occasionally the term Tigray already extended over areas outside of Tigray proper, local parlance preserved the old provincial names, and the term Tigray is still used by rural people of Tigray as referring only to Adwa awrajja, while other regions of modern Tigray are still considered to be "outside Tigray" by elders and rural people.

Several names of the other northern provinces in today's Tigray are very ancient (for example, the Agame were already mentioned in the Monumentum Adulitanum), and persisted from their first mention in ancient inscriptions or medieval documents until modernity, while others only existed temporarily, shaped for the needs of newly appointed governors. Historical provinces are Shire, Adyabo, Haramat (with Hawzen), Geralta, Tembien (or Weri mallash, its border river Weri separating it from Tigray proper), Agame (including the Irob mountains), Sira (in the 20th century replaced by the Kelette Awlealo awrajja), Wemberta (with Asbi and Dara), Enderta (historically including the Arho saltplains of the Afar lowlands, with the Balgada, the controller of the salt trade), Sehart, Selewa, Wejjarat, Rayya Azebo (submitted only in the 19th century by atse Yohannes IV), and in the west Sellemt and Wälqayt (originally encompassing only the Western Tigray highlands), and finally, the Mezega lowlands including the former Muslim sultanate in the west successively included into the sphere of influence of Welqayt. Some smaller territories were at times independent from the rulers of these greater provinces; the exact boundaries could change quickly following the political (and military) fortunes of their rulers.

The spiritual core of Tigray was and is Aksum. Even if being formally under the rulership of the central province (Tigray proper), the town enjoyed a special status, as a free city with its own self-government. Its administrators were the, a governor appointed by the Ethiopian ruler, and the , the mayor elected by the male members of the seven "Aksumite clans" of Aksum,. These encompassed the entire whole indigenous city population, who was not to pay any taxes. The represented the sphere of the Ethiopian state and often descended from the local leading families; if he was a layman, he appointed an (speaker of the ) for the administration of church issues. Aksum as the guardian of the Tables of the Law (, also identified as ; Ark of Covenant) was regarded as "a church". On this ground, its priests did not allow atse Yohannes IV to permanently establish his royal (camp) there, who therefore used Mekelle as his capital. The city population managed to defend their traditional self-government - with the being independent from the - even throughout the 20th century politics of centralization by atse Haile Selassie I.