The Harari people, also called geyusu (people of the city), are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group originating from the Harari Region

Harari Region

Harari or officially, Harari People's National Regional State is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, covering the homeland of the Harari people...

  located in the eastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

.

Harari Language

The Harari people speak Gey Sinan (language of the city) which is closely related to East Gurage languages and similar to the languages of Zay and Silt'e

Silt'e

Silt'e can refer to a number of subjects:* The Silt'e people of Ethiopia;* The Silt'e language, which they speak;* The Silte Zone, where most live;* Silte , a subunit of where they live....

. With the Egyptian conquest of Harar, numerous words have been taking from the Arabic Language

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

. Gey Sinan was originally written in Arabic and more recently converted into the Ge'ez alphabet. Most Harari people are bilingual in Amharic and Oromo

Oromo

The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...

.

Religion

The Harari people, like the Somali people

Somali people

Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

, are distinctly known as an ethnic group of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 entirely affiliated with only one religion, Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....

.

Diaspora

Composing just under 10% within their own city, Harari people have moved throughout Ethiopia, mainly Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa establishing families and businesses. The Harari people have also spread throughout North America as well mainly living in cities like Washington D.C., Atlanta, Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and Dallas. There is an estimate of about 25-30 thousand Harari peoples worldwide.

Harari enclaves in Addis Ababa

A significant number of Harari in Addis are found within particular enclaves in Addis, mainly around the Mercato area and two enclaves near Vatican and Zaire embassies around Abadir mosque.The enclaves in the Vatican embassy area have some semblance to Jegol in that one would not go there unless he belongs to the household in that neighborhood. This has been physically made possible as the open entrance to the area will lead to a dead end and/or a mosque compound making it impossible to pass through unlike other residential areas.This seems a continuation of the importance of security and closed group mentality in the Harari psyche.