Historical and ethno-linguistic maps of Tigray
Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 6:04 pm
One of the issues in the Tigray war in northern Ethiopia is the territorial control of Tigray’s western zone. It is a part of Tigray that is currently controlled by military forces of the Amhara region, and where large-scale ethnic cleansing has taken place.
As part of the argumentation, cherry-picked historical maps are frequently used.
Professor Jan Nyssen from the department of Physical Geography at Ghent University in Belgium and his team have compiled a dataset of all available historical and ethno-linguistic maps of the area (since the 17th Century), and carried out a meta-analysis. They have specifically focused on timelines of territorial control, as well as consistency in ethno-linguistic maps. The database contains only co-eval maps, i.e. maps that were prepared in the same time period as the geography that is displayed on the very maps.
Direct link to the map database
As part of the argumentation, cherry-picked historical maps are frequently used.
Professor Jan Nyssen from the department of Physical Geography at Ghent University in Belgium and his team have compiled a dataset of all available historical and ethno-linguistic maps of the area (since the 17th Century), and carried out a meta-analysis. They have specifically focused on timelines of territorial control, as well as consistency in ethno-linguistic maps. The database contains only co-eval maps, i.e. maps that were prepared in the same time period as the geography that is displayed on the very maps.
Direct link to the map database