Saho (peuple)

The Saho are a Cushitic ethnic group from Eritrea, and they also inhabit some parts of northern Ethiopia. They speak Saho as a mother tongue. According to Abdulkader Saleh Mohammad, most of the Saho (like the Afar and the Somali) have a primordial view of their own ethnicity, and claim to be descended from Arabian immigrants; this in turn allows for an identification with the family of Muhammad, and for an association of their history with that of the Near East. The societal structure is patrilineal and hierarchic, with society vertically organized in tribes and clans and families. The tribe (meela, kisho, or qabila) is organized into sub-tribes (gaysha, harak, or are) or clans (dik or are), but these two concepts are not always clearly distinguished, which are the most important strata because they indicate an individual's "personal descent or origin". Family descent is memorized going back at least 30 or 40 generations. Also memorized and narrated are laws and customs, and consanguinity plays an important role in these traditions, indicating again the primordial quality of tribal and ethnic identity. Most Saho are pastoralists that also engage in some agriculture but a few groups are settled farmers. The total population of the Saho is unclear due to conflicting figures. However, most Saho reside in Eritrea. According to a 2015 estimate, the total population ranges anywhere from 250,000 to 650,000. According to Saho groups, they estimated that the population of Sahos in Eritrea was about 206,000 as of 2016. They represent about 4% of the population of Eritrea as of 2021. A 2012 estimate placed the Saho-speaking population of Ethiopia at 37,000. According to Ethnologue, there are approximately 220,000 total Saho speakers as of 2015. Most are concentrated in Eritrea with the remainder inhabiting Ethiopia. Within Eritrea, the Saho primarily reside in the Southern and Northern Red Sea regions. The Saho people speak the Saho language as a mother tongue.