Harari people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 45,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Harari | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Sunni, Sufi) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Afar, Amhara, Silt'e, Zay, Somali, Oromo, Argobba |
The Harari people (Arabic: هراري, Harari: ሐረሪ), also called Geyusu ("People of the City"), are an ethnic group inhabiting the Horn of Africa. Members traditionally reside in the city of Harar, situated in the Harari Region of eastern Ethiopia. They speak Harari, a member of the Semitic subfamily within the Afroasiatic family.
Harar was originally inhabited by the Harla people. Upon the arrival of Arab cleric Abadir in the 10th century, he was met by the Harla, Gaturi and Argobba tribes. The walls built around the city of Harar during the reign of Emir Nur, helped preserve Harari identity from being assimilated by the Oromo. According to Ulrich Braukämper, Harla-Harari semitic group were most likely active in the region prior to the Adal Sultanate's Islamic invasion of Ethiopia.
Among the assimilated peoples were Arab Muslims that arrived during the start of the Islamic period, as well as Argobba and other migrants that were drawn to Harar's well-developed culture. Braukämper also posits that a Semitic-speaking people akin to the Harari may have inhabited a stretch of land between the Karkaar Mountains, the middle Awash and the Jijiga region, although he concedes that there is no linguistic proof to confirm this. He further suggests that the Great Oromo Migrations may have effectively split this putative ethnolinguistic block to the Lake Zway islands, Gurage territory, and Harar. Following the decline of the Adal Sultanate's ascendancy in the area, a large number of the Harari were in turn reportedly absorbed into the Oromo community.
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