As of November 2021, a civil war is ongoing in Northern Ethiopia. Communication outages are frequent, and due to blockade by the federal government, a famine is developing in the region. All belligerents commit war crimes frequently, including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence against civilians. Please refer to war zone safety if you have genuine reasons to travel to Northern Ethiopia.
Northern Ethiopia is the historic heartland of Ethiopia. Administratively, it consists of most of Amhara, all of Tigray, and the northern part of Afar. Historically, it encompassed the old provinces of Gojjam, Begmender, Tigray and Wollo.
Generally speaking, Northern Ethiopia can be divided into two geographical regions: the highlands to the west, consisting of Amhara and Tigray and containing Ethiopia's highest peak at Ras Dashen, and the Afar lowlands to the east, containing the country's lowest point in the Danakil Depression.
The Ethiopian Highlands are very different from what one might imagine when thinking of East Africa. The landscape, both natural and cultural, is unique to this area, and several endemic species can be found here.
Amharic, the official language and lingua franca of Ethiopia, is spoken natively within the Amhara region. Tigray is the homeland of the Tigrayan people, who speak the Tigrinya language, though most people also speak Amharic as a second language.
The highlands were the centre of the Kingdom of Axum in the first millennium AD, and contain many historic sites such as the many rock-hewn churches of Tigray, the stelae of Axum, the castles of Gondar, and Ethiopia's most popular attraction - Lalibela.