The Afar: Life in One of Earth's Hottest Lands

In the far north-east of Ethiopia, the land drops more than a hundred metres below sea level. Here, in the Danakil Depression, the ground is covered in a crust of salt so white it hurts the eyes; volcanoes smoke on the horizon; and yellow, green and orange mineral pools bubble at Dallol. Temperatures often climb above 45°C. It is one of the hottest and harshest places on Earth. And yet people live here, and have done so for a very long time. They are the Afar.

Who are the Afar?

The Afar are a people of the Horn of Africa, living in a region that spans three countries: north-eastern Ethiopia, where they have their own regional state, Afar Region; south-eastern Eritrea, along the Red Sea coast; and Djibouti, where they make up a large part of the population, alongside the Somali Issa. Their homeland is often called the Afar Triangle.

The Afar speak Qafar af, a Cushitic language, closely related to Saho and more distantly to Somali and Oromo. Most Afar are Muslim, and Islam has been part of their culture for many centuries.

Traditionally, the Afar have been pastoralists, herding camels, goats, sheep and cattle across the dry plains, moving with the seasons in search of water and pasture.

A land of fire and salt

The Afar region is one of the most geologically active places on the planet. It sits where three tectonic plates are pulling apart, slowly splitting the African continent. Its features include:

• Erta Ale, a shield volcano famous for its long-lived lava lake, one of only a handful in the world.
• Dallol, a volcanic area of hot springs and colourful salt formations, sometimes described as one of the hottest inhabited places on Earth in terms of average annual temperature.
• Lake Assal in Djibouti, which lies about 155 metres below sea level, the lowest point in Africa.
• Vast salt flats, left by ancient seas.

The salt caravans

For centuries, the Afar have worked the salt of the Danakil. Around Lake Karum (Lake Asale), salt miners use axes and wooden poles to prise up the salt crust, then cut it into neat rectangular blocks called amole or ganfur. The blocks are loaded onto camels and donkeys and carried in long caravans up into the highlands of Tigray, to towns such as Berahile and Mekele, where they are sold.

In the past, salt bars were so valuable that they served as a form of currency in Ethiopia. Today, the trade continues, though trucks increasingly compete with camels. The salt caravans are one of the most remarkable sights in Africa, but the work is gruelling, done in extreme heat for low pay. The salt trade involves both Afar people and Tigrayan highlanders, whose relations have sometimes been tense.

Society and customs

Afar society is organised into clans and lineages, and traditional law, known as madaa, governs matters such as marriage, inheritance, disputes and compensation for injuries. Elders and clan leaders play important roles in settling conflicts.

The Afar were historically organised into several sultanates, the most important being the Sultanate of Aussa, centred on an oasis along the Awash River, which enjoyed considerable independence into the 20th century.

The Afar are known for their independence and fighting spirit. In the past, they defended their territory fiercely against outsiders, and early European travellers often described them as fearsome. Today, Afar communities face challenges including drought, competition over water and land, and conflict.

Traditional Afar houses, called ari, are dome-shaped huts made of a frame of sticks covered with mats woven from palm leaves. They can be taken apart and carried on camels when the family moves.

The cradle of humankind

The Afar region is also one of the most important places in the world for understanding human origins. In 1974, at Hadar in the Afar region, a team of scientists discovered the fossil skeleton of "Lucy", a member of the species Australopithecus afarensis, who lived about 3.2 million years ago. The species name, afarensis, honours the Afar region. In Amharic, Lucy is known as Dinkinesh, "you are marvellous". Many other important fossils have been found in the region since, making it a key area for research into human evolution.

Neighbours in the Horn

The Afar share the Horn of Africa with many other peoples, including the Somali, the Tigrayans, the Amhara and the Oromo, whose language and culture we explored in our story on the Oromo. Each has its own language, traditions and history, and relations between them have included trade, cooperation and conflict.

Why it matters

The Afar show how human beings can adapt to even the harshest environments. Their knowledge of the land, their camels and their salt trade have allowed them to live where few others could. Their homeland is also a window into Earth's geological forces and into the origins of humanity itself. To learn about the Afar is to learn about resilience, in a land of fire and salt.

Further reading

• I.M. Lewis, Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho (International African Institute, 1955; reprinted HAAN, 1998)
• Kassim Shehim, "Ethiopia, Revolution, and the Question of Nationalities: The Case of the Afar," Journal of Modern African Studies 23, no. 2 (1985)
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Lucy (AL 288-1), Hadar, Ethiopia
• NASA Earth Observatory — Danakil Depression and Erta Ale