title: Debit card

text: Signing a payment offline entails incurring debt, thus offline payment is not available to minors. However, online transactions are permitted, and since almost all stores have electronic terminals, today also minors can use debit cards. Previously, only cash withdrawal from ATMs was available to minors ("automaattikortti" (ATM card) or Visa Electron).


title: Debit card

text: Carte Bancaire (CB), the national payment scheme, in 2008, had 57.5 million cards carrying its logo and 7.76 billion transactions (POS and ATM) were processed through the e-rsb network (135 transactions per card mostly debit or deferred debit). In 2019, Carte Bancaire had 71.1 million cards carrying its logo and 13.76 billion transactions (POS and ATM) were processed through its network. Most CB cards are debit cards, either debit or deferred debit. Less than 10% of CB cards were credit cards.


title: Debit card

text: Banks in France usually charge annual fees for debit cards (despite card payments being very cost efficient for the banks), yet they do not charge personal customers for chequebooks or processing checks (despite cheques being very costly for the banks). This imbalance dates from the unilateral introduction in France of Chip and PIN debit cards in the early 1990s, when the cost of this technology was much higher than it is now. Credit cards of the type found in the United Kingdom and United States are unusual in France and the closest equivalent is the deferred debit card, which operates like a normal debit card, except that all purchase transactions are postponed until the end of the month, thereby giving the customer between 1 and 31 days of "interest-free" credit. Banks can charge more for a deferred debit card.


title: Debit card

text: Most France debit cards are branded with the CB logo, which assures acceptance throughout France. Most banks now issue Visa or MasterCard co-branded cards, so that the card is accepted on both the CB and the Visa or Mastercard networks.


title: Debit card

text: In France payment cards are commonly called Carte Bleue ("blue card") regardless of their actual brand. Carte Bleue was a card brand acquired in 2010 by Visa which is not used anymore. Until its purchase the main characteristic of Carte Bleue was to benefit from its alliance with Visa which allowed the use of the cards on both networks.


title: Debit card

text: Many smaller merchants in France refuse to accept debit cards for transactions under a certain amount because of the minimum fee charged by merchants' banks per transaction. But more and more merchants accept debit cards for small amounts, due to the increased use of debit cards. Merchants in France do not differentiate between debit and credit cards, and so both have equal acceptance. It is legal in France to set a minimum amount to transactions, but the merchants must display it clearly.


title: Debit card

text: In January 2016, 57.2% of all the debit cards in France also had a contactless payment chip. The maximum amount per transaction was originally set to €20 and the maximum amount of all contactless payments per day is between €50-100 depending on the bank. The per-transaction limit increased to €30 in October 2017. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the per-transaction limit increased to €50 in May 2020 to comply with demands from the French government and the European Banking Authority.


title: Debit card

text: According to French law, banks are liable for any transaction made with a copy of the original card and for any transaction made without a card (on the phone or on the Internet), so banks have to pay back any fraudulent transaction to the card holder if the previous criteria are met. Fighting card fraud is therefore more interesting for banks. As a consequence, French banks websites usually propose an "e-card" service ("electronic (bank) card"), where a new virtual card is created and linked to a physical card. Such virtual card can be used only once and for the maximum amount given by the card holder. If the virtual card number is intercepted or used to try to get a higher amount than expected, the transaction is blocked.


title: Debit card

text: Germany has a dedicated debit card payment system called girocard which is usually co-branded with V Pay or Maestro depending on the issuing bank. In recent years both Visa Debit and Mastercard Debit cards are increasingly more common as well.


title: Debit card

text: Historically, facilities already existed before EFTPOS became popular with the Eurocheque card, an authorization system initially developed for paper checks where, in addition to signing the actual check, customers also needed to show the card alongside the check as a security measure. Those cards could also be used at ATMs and for card-based electronic funds transfer with PIN entry. These are now the only functions of such cards: the Eurocheque system (along with the brand) was abandoned in 2002 during the transition from the Deutsche Mark to the euro. As of 2005, most stores and petrol outlets have EFTPOS facilities. Processing fees are paid by the businesses, which leads to some business owners refusing debit card payments for sales totalling less than a certain amount, usually 5 or 10 euro.


title: Debit card

text: To avoid the processing fees, many businesses resorted to using direct debit, which is then called "electronic" direct debit (, abbr. "ELV"). The point-of-sale terminal reads the bank sort code and account number from the card but instead of handling the transaction through the Girocard network it simply prints a form, which the customer signs to authorise the debit note. However, this method also avoids any verification or payment guarantee provided by the network. Further, customers can return debit notes by notifying their bank without giving a reason. This means that the beneficiary bears the risk of fraud and illiquidity. Some business mitigate the risk by consulting a proprietary blacklist or by switching to Girocard for higher transaction amounts.


title: Debit card

text: Around 2000, an Electronic Purse Card was introduced, dubbed Geldkarte ("money card"). It makes use of the smart card chip on the front of the standard issue debit card. This chip can be charged with up to 200 euro, and is advertised as a means of making medium to very small payments, even down to several euros or cent payments. The key factor here is that no processing fees are deducted by banks. It did not gain the popularity its inventors had hoped for. As of 2020, several partners pulled out of accepting the Geldkarte which is no longer issued and set to be retired altogether in the near future.


title: Debit card

text: Most bank cards in Hong Kong for saving / current accounts are equipped with EPS and UnionPay, which function as a debit card and can be used at merchants for purchases, where funds are withdrawn from the associated account immediately.


title: Debit card

text: EPS is a Hong Kong only system and is widely accepted in merchants and government departments. However, as UnionPay cards are accepted more widely overseas, consumers can use the UnionPay functionality of the bank card to make purchases directly from the bank account.


title: Debit card

text: Visa debit cards are uncommon in Hong Kong. The British banking firm HSBC's subsidiary Hang Seng Bank's Enjoy card and American firm Citibank's ATM Visa are two of the Visa debit cards available in Hong Kong.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards usage in Hong Kong is relatively low, as the credit card penetration rate is high in Hong Kong. In Q1 2017, there are near 20 million credit cards in circulation, about 3 times the adult population. There are 145,800 thousand transaction made by credit cards but only 34,001 thousand transactions made by debit cards.


title: Debit card

text: In Hungary debit cards are far more common and popular than credit cards. Many Hungarians even refer to their debit card ("betéti kártya") mistakenly using the word for credit card ("hitelkártya"). The most commonly used phrase, however, is simply bank card ("bankkártya").


title: Debit card

text: After the demonetization by current government in the December 2016, there has been a surge in cashless transactions, so nowadays you could find card acceptance in most places. The debit card was mostly used for ATM transactions. RBI has announced that fees are not justified so transactions have no processing fees. Almost half of Indian debit and credit card users use Rupay card. Some Indian banks issue Visa debit cards, though some banks (like SBI and Citibank India) also issue Maestro cards. The debit card transactions are routed through Rupay (mostly), Visa or MasterCard networks in India and overseas rather than directly via the issuing bank.


title: Debit card

text: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a new card called RuPay. It is similar to Singapore's NETS and Mainland China's UnionPay.


title: Debit card

text: As the COVID cases in India are surging up, the banking institution has shifted its focus to contactless payment options such as contactless debit card, contactless credit card and contactless prepaid card. The payment methods are changing drastically in India because of social distancing norms and lockdown; people are using more of the digital transactions rather than cash.


title: Debit card

text: Foreign-owned brands issuing Indonesian debit cards include Visa, Maestro, MasterCard, and MEPS. Domestically-owned debit card networks operating in Indonesia include Debit BCA (and its Prima network's counterpart, Prima Debit) and Mandiri Debit.


title: Debit card

text: Iraq's two biggest state-owned banks, Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank, together with the "Iraqi Electronic Payment System (IEPS)" have established a company called International Smart Card, which has developed a national credit card called 'Qi Card', which they have issued since 2008. According to the company's website: 'after less than two years of the initial launch of the Qi card solution, we have hit 1.6 million cardholder with the potential to issue 2 million cards by the end of 2010, issuing about 100,000 card monthly is a testament to the huge success of the Qi card solution. Parallel to this will be the expansion into retail stores through a network of points of sales of about 30,000 units by 2015'.


title: Debit card

text: In Ireland, all debits cards are exclusively Chip and PIN. The market is dominated by Visa Debit cards - the "Top 3" banks in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB all use Visa Debit, as well as the two exiting banks Ulster Bank and KBC. Other financial institutions that maintain a minority stake such as EBS, An Post Money and some credit unions use Mastercard Debit cards. Revolut, with over 2 million customers in Ireland, varies between Mastercard and Visa Debit cards.


title: Debit card

text: Irish debit cards are normally multi-functional and combine ATM card facilities. Some banks will provide ATM cards to vulnerable or elderly customers, but only on request. The practice is rare and it is on a case-by-case basis.


title: Debit card

text: For online purchases, the cards are used together with the bank's mobile app for Strong Customer Authentication as required by the EU's Payment Services Directive (PSD2).


title: Debit card

text: Most Irish debit cards are also enabled for contactless payment for purchases €50 or below, and display the contactless symbol. The limit was previously €30, but was increased to €50 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic to increase card usage in order to minimize the handling of cash.Some banks, such as AIB, do not provide contactless cards to certain account holders, such as those under 18. After 3-5 contactless transactions, the bank will ask the card user to enter their PIN through a Chip and PIN transaction for authentication.


title: Debit card

text: Apple Pay and Google Pay are also embraced as contactless payment methods with many retailers as they use the same contactless technology. However, due to the device's authentication of the user, there is no limit on the purchase amount. In some cases, there are limits of a large amount such as €500, however this may be imposed by the retailer due to technical constraints rather than for security purposes.


title: Debit card

text: The cards are usually processed online, but some cards can also be processed offline depending on the rules applied by the card issuer.


title: Debit card

text: A number of card issuers also provide prepaid debit card accounts primarily for use as gift cards / vouchers or for added security and anonymity online, e.g. CleverCards. These may be disposable or reloadable and are predominately MasterCard branded. One4All vouchers, a popular voucher given particularly to employees by companies at Christmas time, are another type of a prepaid debit card used. However, it is limited to retailers that specifically opt-in to using One4All cards as a payment method and are neither Visa nor Mastercard branded.


title: Debit card

text: Laser was launched by the Irish banks in 1996 as an extension of the existing ATM and Cheque guarantee card systems that had existed for many years. When the service was added, it became possible to make payments with a multifunctional card that combined ATM, cheque and debit card and international ATM facilities through MasterCard Cirrus or Visa Plus and sometimes the British Link ATM system. Their functionality was similar to the British Switch card.


title: Debit card

text: The system first launched as a swipe & sign card and could be used in Ireland in much the same way as a credit card and were compatible standard card terminals (online or offline, although they were usually processed online). They could also be used in cardholder-not-present transactions over the phone, by mail or on the internet or for processing recurring payments. Laser also offered 'cash back' facilities where customers could ask retailers (where offered) for an amount of cash along with their transaction. This service allowed retailers to reduce volumes of cash in tills and allowed consumers to avoid having to use ATMs. Laser adopted EMV 'Chip and PIN' security in 2002 in common with other credit and debit cards right across Europe. In 2005, some banks issued customers with Lasers cards that were co-branded with Maestro. This allowed them to be used in POS terminals overseas, internet transactions were usually restricted to sites that specifically accepted Laser.


title: Debit card

text: Since 2006, Irish banks have progressively replaced Laser with international schemes, primarily Visa Debit and by 28 February 2014 the Laser Card system had been withdrawn entirely and is no longer accepted by retailers.


title: Debit card

text: The Israel bank card system is somewhat confusing to newcomers, comprising a blend of features taken from different types of cards. What may be referred to as a credit card, is most likely to be a deferred debit card on an associated bank current account, the most common type of card in Israel, somewhat like the situation in France, though the term "debit card" is not in common usage. Cards are nearly universally called "cartis ashrai" (כרטיס אשראי), literally, "credit card", a term which may bely the card's characteristics. Its main feature may be a direct link to a connected bank account (through which they are mostly issued), with the total value of the transactions made on the card being debited from the bank account in full on a regular date once a month, without the option to carry the balance over; indeed certain types of transactions (such as online and/or foreign currency) may be debited directly from the connected bank account at the time of the transaction. Any such limited credit enjoyed is a result of the customer's assets and credibility with the bank, and not granted by the credit card company. The card usually enables immediate ATM cash withdrawals & balance inquiries (as debit cards do), instalment & deferred charge interest free transactions offered by merchants (also applicable in Brazil), interest bearing instalment plans/deferred charge/revolving credit which is transaction specific at the point of sale (though granted by the issuer, hence the interest), and a variety of automated/upon request types of credit schemes including loans, some of which revolve or resemble the extended payment options sometimes offered by charge cards.


title: Debit card

text: Thus the "true" debit card is not so common in Israel, though it has existed since 1994. It is offered by two credit companies in Israel: One is ICC, short for "Israeli Credit Cards" (referred to as "CAL", an acronym formed from its abbreviation in Hebrew), which issues it in the form of a Visa Electron card valid only in Israel. It is offered mainly through the Israel Post (post office) bank (which is not allowed, by regulation, to offer any type of credit) or through Israel Discount Bank, its main owner (where it is branded as "Discount Money Key" card). This branded Israel Discount Bank branded debit card also offered as valid worldwide card, either as Visa Electron or MasterCard Debit cards. The second & more common debit card is offered by the Isracard consortium to its affiliate banks and is branded "Direct". It is valid only in Israel, under its local private label brand, as "Isracard Direct" (which was known as "Electro Cheque" until 2002 and while the local brand Isracard is often viewed as a MasterCard for local use only). Since 2006, Isracard has also offered an international version, branded "MasterCard Direct", which is less common. These two debit card brands operate offline in Israel (meaning the transaction operates under the credit cards systems & debited officially from the cardholder account only few days later, after being processed—though reflected on the current account immediately). In 2014 the Isracard Direct card (a.k.a. the valid only in Israel version) was relaunched as Isracash, though the former subbrand still being marketed and replaced ICC Visa Electron as Israel Post bank debit card.


title: Debit card

text: Overall, banks routinely offer deferred debit cards to their new customers, with "true" debit cards usually offered only to those who cannot obtain credit. These latter cards are not attractive to the average customer since they attract both a monthly fee from the credit company and a bank account fee for each day's debits. Isracard Direct is by far more common than the ICC Visa Electron debit card. Banks who issue mainly Visa cards will rather offer electronic use, mandate authorized transaction only, unembossed version of Visa Electron deferred debit cards (branded as "Visa Basic" or "Visa Classic") to its customers—sometimes even in the form of revolving credit card.


title: Debit card

text: Credit/debit card transactions in Israel are not PIN based (other than at ATMs) and it is only in recent years that EMV chip smart cards have begun to be issued, with the Bank of Israel in 2013 ordering the banks and credit card companies to switch customers to credit cards with the EMV security standard within 3.5 years.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards are quite popular in Italy. There are both classic and prepaid cards. There are two Italian interbank networks, Bancomat and PagoBancomat: Bancomat is the commercial brand for the cash withdrawal circuit, while PagoBancomat is used for POS transactions. Nowadays many debit cards use Visa or Mastercard circuit, while the debit cards which use Bancomat/PagoBancomat circuits are co-badged with Maestro or V-Pay.


title: Debit card

text: There is another national circuit, Postamat, that is used by the debit and prepaid cards offered by the national post service, Poste Italiane, mainly for the cash withdrawal in the post-office ATM.


title: Debit card

text: In Japan people usually use their , originally intended only for use with cash machines, as debit cards. The debit functionality of these cards is usually referred to as , and only cash cards from certain banks can be used. A cash card has the same size as a Visa/MasterCard. As identification, the user will have to enter their four-digit PIN when paying. J-Debit was started in Japan on 6 March 2000. However, J-Debit has not been that popular since then.


title: Debit card

text: Suruga Bank began service of Japan's first Visa Debit in 2006. Rakuten Bank, formally known as Ebank, offers a Visa debit card.


title: Debit card

text: In Kuwait, all banks provide a debit card to their account holders. This card is branded as KNET, which is the central switch in Kuwait. KNET card transactions are free for both customer and the merchant and therefore KNET debit cards are used for low valued transactions as well. KNET cards are mostly co-branded as Maestro or Visa Electron which makes it possible to use the same card outside Kuwait on any terminal supporting these payment schemes.


title: Debit card

text: In Malaysia, the local debit card network is operated by the Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation (MyClear), which had taken over the scheme from MEPS in 2008. The new name for the local debit card in Malaysia is MyDebit, which was previously known as either bankcard or e-debit. Debit cards in Malaysia are now issued on a combo basis where the card has both the local debit card payment application as well as having that of an International scheme (Visa or MasterCard). All newly issued MyDebit combo cards with Visa or MasterCard have the contactless payment feature. The same card also acts as the ATM card for cash withdrawals.


title: Debit card

text: In Mexico, many companies use a type of debit card called a payroll card (tarjeta de nómina), in which they deposit their employee's payrolls, instead of paying them in cash or through checks. This method is preferred in many places because it is a much safer and secure alternative compared to the more traditional forms of payment.


title: Debit card

text: In the Netherlands using EFTPOS is known as "pinnen" (pinning), a term derived from the use of a personal identification number (PIN). PINs are also used for ATM transactions, and the term is used interchangeably by many people, although it was introduced as a marketing brand for EFTPOS. The system was launched in 1987, and in 2010 there were 258,585 terminals throughout the country, including mobile terminals used by delivery services and on markets. All banks offer a debit card suitable for EFTPOS with current accounts.


title: Debit card

text: PIN transactions are usually free to the customer, but the retailer is charged per-transaction and monthly fees. Equens, an association with all major banks as its members, runs the system, and until August 2005 also charged for it. Responding to allegations of monopoly abuse, it has handed over contractual responsibilities to its member banks through who now offer competing contracts. The system is organised through a special banking association Currence set up specifically to coordinate access to payment systems in The Netherlands. Interpay, a legal predecessor of Equens, was fined €47,000,000 in 2004, but the fine was later dropped, and a related fine for banks was lowered from €17 million to €14 million. Per-transaction fees are between 5–10 cts, depending on volume.


title: Debit card

text: Credit card use in the Netherlands is very low, and most credit cards cannot be used with EFTPOS, or charge very high fees to the customer. Debit cards can often, though not always, be used in the entire EU for EFTPOS. Most debit cards are Mastercard Maestro cards. Visa's V Pay cards are also accepted at most locations.


title: Debit card

text: In 2011, spending money using debit cards rose to €83,000,000,000 whilst cash spending dropped to €51,000,000,000 and credit card spending grew to €5,000,000,000.


title: Debit card

text: Electronic Purse Cards (called Chipknip) were introduced in 1996, but have never become very popular. The system was abolished at the end of 2014.


title: Debit card

text: EFTPOS (electronic fund transfer at point of sale) in New Zealand is highly popular. In 2006, 70 percent of all retail transactions were made by EFTPOS, with an average of 306 EFTPOS transactions being made per person. At the same time, there were 125,000 EFTPOS terminals in operation (one for every 30 people), and 5.1 million EFTPOS cards in circulation (1.27 per capita).


title: Debit card

text: The system involves the merchant swiping (or inserting) the customer's card and entering the purchase amount. Point of sale systems with integrated EFTPOS often send the purchase total to the terminal and the customer swipes their own card. The customer then selects the account they wish to use: Current/Cheque (CHQ), Savings (SAV), or Credit Card (CRD), before entering in their PIN. After a short processing time in which the terminal contacts the EFTPOS network and the bank, the transaction is approved (or declined) and a receipt is printed. The EFTPOS system is used for credit cards as well, with a customer selecting Credit Card and entering their PIN, or for older credit cards without loaded PIN, pressing OK and signing their receipt with identification through matching signatures. Fixed EFTPOS terminals today use internet protocol connections to contact the EFTPOS network, but some businesses use the public switched telephone network, either via dedicated phone lines or sharing the merchant's voice line (especially in smaller businesses).


title: Debit card

text: Virtually all retail outlets have EFTPOS facilities, so much that retailers without EFTPOS have to advertise so. In addition, an increasing number of mobile operator, such as taxis, stall holders and pizza deliverers have mobile EFTPOS systems. The system is made up of two primary networks: EFTPOS NZ, which is owned by VeriFone and Paymark Limited (formerly Electronic Transaction Services Limited), which is owned by ANZ Bank New Zealand, ASB Bank, Westpac and the Bank of New Zealand. The two networks are intertwined and highly sophisticated and secure, able to handle huge volumes of transactions during busy periods such as the lead-up to Christmas: on 24 December 2012, the Paymark network alone recorded an average of 132 transactions per second between 12:00 and 13:00. Network failures are rare, but when they occur they cause massive disruption, resulting in major delays and loss of income for businesses.


title: Debit card

text: Depending on the user's bank, a fee may be charged for use of EFTPOS. Most youth accounts (the minimum age to obtain an EFTPOS card from most banks in New Zealand is 13 years) and an increasing number of 'electronic transaction accounts' do not attract fees for electronic transactions, meaning the use of Eftpos by younger generations has become ubiquitous and subsequently cash use has become rare. Typically merchants don't pay fees for transactions, most only having to pay for the equipment rental.


title: Debit card

text: One of the disadvantages of New Zealand's well-established EFTPOS system is that it is incompatible with overseas systems and non-face-to-face purchases. In response to this, many banks since 2005 have introduced international debit cards such as Maestro and Visa Debit which work online and overseas as well as on the New Zealand EFTPOS system.


title: Debit card

text: Many Nigerians regard Debit cards as ATM cards because of its features to withdraw money directly from the ATM.


title: Debit card

text: According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, Debit Cards can be issued to customers having Savings /Current Accounts. There are three major types of Debit card in Nigeria: MasterCard, Verve, and Visa card. These Debit cards companies have other packages they offer in Nigeria like Naira MasterCard platinum, Visa Debit (Dual currency), GTCrea8 Card, SKS Teen Card, etc. All the packages depend on your Bank.


title: Debit card

text: In the Philippines, all three national ATM network consortia offer proprietary PIN debit. This was first offered by Express Payment System in 1987, followed by Megalink with Paylink in 1993 then BancNet with the Point-of-Sale in 1994.


title: Debit card

text: Express Payment System or EPS was the pioneer provider, having launched the service in 1987 on behalf of the Bank of the Philippine Islands. The EPS service has subsequently been extended in late 2005 to include the other Expressnet members: Banco de Oro and Land Bank of the Philippines. They currently operate 10,000 terminals for their cardholders.


title: Debit card

text: Megalink launched Paylink EFTPOS system in 1993. Terminal services are provided by Equitable Card Network on behalf of the consortium. Service is available in 2,000 terminals, mostly in Metro Manila.


title: Debit card

text: BancNet introduced their point of sale system in 1994 as the first consortium-operated EFTPOS service in the country. The service is available in over 1,400 locations throughout the Philippines, including second and third-class municipalities. In 2005, BancNet signed a Memorandum of Agreement to serve as the local gateway for China UnionPay, the sole ATM switch in China. This will allow the estimated 1.0 billion Chinese ATM cardholders to use the BancNet ATMs and the EFTPOS in all participating merchants.


title: Debit card

text: Visa debit cards are issued by Union Bank of the Philippines (e-Wallet & eon), Chinatrust, Equicom Savings Bank (Key Card & Cash Card), Banco de Oro, HSBC, HSBC Savings Bank, Sterling Bank of Asia (Visa ShopNPay prepaid and debit cards) and EastWest Bank. Union Bank of the Philippines cards, EastWest Visa Debit Card, Equicom Savings Bank & Sterling Bank of Asia EMV cards which can also be used for internet purchases. Sterling Bank of Asia has released its first line of prepaid and debit Visa cards with EMV chip.


title: Debit card

text: MasterCard debit cards are issued by Banco de Oro, Security Bank (Cashlink & Cash Card) and Smart Communications (Smart Money) tied up with Banco de Oro. MasterCard Electronic cards are issued by BPI (Express Cash) and Security Bank (CashLink Plus).


title: Debit card

text: Originally, all Visa and MasterCard based debit cards in the Philippines are non-embossed and are marked either for "Electronic Use Only" (Visa/MasterCard) or "Valid only where MasterCard Electronic is Accepted" (MasterCard Electronic). However, EastWest Bank started to offer embossed Visa Debit Cards without the for "Electronic Use Only" mark. Paypass Debit MasterCard from other banks also have embossed labels without the for "Electronic Use Only" mark. Unlike credit cards issued by some banks, these Visa and MasterCard-branded debit cards do not feature EMV chips, hence they can only be read by the machines through swiping.


title: Debit card

text: By 21 March 2016, BDO has started issuing sets of Debit MasterCards having the EMV chip and is the first Philippine bank to have it. This is a response to the BSP's monitor of the EMV shift progress in the country. By 2017, all Debit Cards in the country should have an EMV chip on it.


title: Debit card

text: In Poland, the first system of electronic payments was operated by Orbis, which later was changed to PolCard in 1991 (which also issued its own cards) and then that system was bought by First Data Poland Holding SA. In the mid-1990s international brands such as Visa, MasterCard, and the unembossed Visa Electron or Maestro were introduced.


title: Debit card

text: Visa Electron and Maestro work as a standard debit cards: the transactions are debited instantly, although it may happen on some occasions that a transaction is processed with some delay (hours, up to one day). These cards do not possess the options that credit cards have.


title: Debit card

text: In the late 2000s, contactless cards started to be introduced. The first technology to be used was MasterCard PayPass, later joined by Visa's payWave. This payment method is now universal and accepted almost everywhere. In an everyday use this payment method is always called Paypass.


title: Debit card

text: In the mid-2010s, Polish banks started to replace unembossed cards with embossed electronic cards such as Debit MasterCard and Visa Debit, allowing the customers to own a card that has all qualities of a credit card (given that credit cards are not popular in Poland).


title: Debit card

text: There are also some banks that do not possess an identification system to allow customers to order debit cards online.


title: Debit card

text: In Portugal, debit cards are accepted almost everywhere: ATMs, stores, and so on. The most commonly accepted are Visa and MasterCard, or the unembossed Visa Electron or Maestro. Regarding Internet payments debit cards cannot be used for transfers, due to its unsafeness, so banks recommend the use of 'MBnet', a pre-registered safe system that creates a virtual card with a pre-selected credit limit. All the card system is regulated by SIBS, the institution created by Portuguese banks to manage all the regulations and communication processes properly. SIBS' shareholders are all the 27 banks operating in Portugal.


title: Debit card

text: In addition to Visa, MasterCard and American Express, there are some local payment systems based in general on smart card technology.


title: Debit card

text: Nearly every transaction, regardless of brand or system, is processed as an immediate debit transaction. Non-debit transactions within these systems have spending limits that are strictly limited when compared with typical Visa or MasterCard accounts.


title: Debit card

text: In Saudi Arabia, all debit card transactions are routed through Saudi Payments Network (mada), the only electronic payment system in the Kingdom and all banks are required by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to issue cards fully compatible with the network. It connects all point of sale (POS) terminals throughout the country to a central payment switch which in turn re-routes the financial transactions to the card issuer, local bank, Visa, Amex or MasterCard.


title: Debit card

text: All Serbian banks issue debit cards. Since August 2018, all owners of transactional accounts in Serbian dinars are automatically issued a debit card of the national brand "DinaCard". Other brands (VISA, MasterCard and Maestro) are more popular, better accepted and more secure, but must be requested specifically as additional cards. Debit cards are used for cash withdrawal at ATMs as well as store transactions.


title: Debit card

text: Singapore's debit service is managed by the Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), founded by Singapore's leading banks and shareholders namely DBS, Keppel Bank, OCBC and its associates, OUB, IBS, POSB, Tat Lee Bank and UOB in 1985 as a result of a need for a centralised e-Payment operator.


title: Debit card

text: However, due to the banking restructuring and mergers, the local banks remaining were UOB, OCBC, DBS-POSB as the shareholders of NETS with Standard Chartered Bank to offer NETS to their customers. However, DBS and POSB customers can use their network ATMs on their own and not be shared with UOB, OCBC or SCB (StanChart). The mega failure of 5 July 2010 of POSB-DBS ATM Networks (about 97,000 machines) made the government to rethink the shared ATM system again as it affected the NETS system too.


title: Debit card

text: In 2010, in line with the mandatory EMV system, Local Singapore Banks started to reissue their Debit Visa/MasterCard branded debit cards with EMV Chip compliant ones to replace the magnetic stripe system. Banks involved included NETS Members of POSB-DBS, UOB-OCBC-SCB along with the SharedATM alliance (NON-NETS) of HSBC, Citibank, State Bank of India, and Maybank. Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) is also a SharedATM alliance member. Non branded cards of POSB and Maybank local ATM Cards are kept without a chip but have a Plus or Maestro sign which can be used to withdraw cash locally or overseas.


title: Debit card

text: Singapore also uses the e-purse systems of NETS CASHCARD and the CEPAS wave system by EZ-Link and NETS.


title: Debit card

text: There are two kinds of debit cards are in South Korea; 'Debit card' Issued by bank, and 'Check card' Issued by card company. Debit cards are only accepted in debit networks such as Shinsegae and e-mart. Check cards are accepted in every stores accept credit cards. Korean debit cards do not accept offline Debit(credit) transactions domestically, so every transactions must made by real time.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards are accepted in a relatively large number of stores, both large and small, in Spain. Banks often offer debit cards for small fees in connection with a checking account. These cards are used more often than credit cards at ATMs because it is a cheaper alternative.


title: Debit card

text: Most banks issue major-brand debit cards that can be used internationally such as Visa, MasterCard and JCB, often with contactless functionality. Payments at brick-and-mortar stores generally require a signature except for contactless payments.


title: Debit card

text: A separate, local debit system, known as Smart Pay, can be used by the majority of debit and ATM cards, even major-brand cards. This system is available only in Taiwan and a few locations in Japan as of 2016. Non-contactless payments require a PIN instead of a signature. Cards from a few banks support contactless payment with Smart Pay.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards are widely accepted from different debit card issuers including the Network International local subsidiary of Emirates Bank.


title: Debit card

text: In the UK debit cards (an integrated EFTPOS system) are an established part of the retail market and are widely accepted by both physical and internet stores. The term EFTPOS is not widely used by the public; "debit card" is the generic term used. Debit cards issued are predominantly Visa Debit, with Debit Mastercard becoming increasingly common. Maestro, Visa Electron and UnionPay are also in circulation. Banks do not charge customers for EFTPOS transactions in the UK, but some retailers used to make small charges, particularly for small transaction amounts. However, the UK Government introduced legislation on 13 January 2018 banning all surcharges for card payments, including those made online and through services such as PayPal. The UK has converted all debit cards in circulation to Chip and PIN (except for Chip and Signature cards issued to people with certain disabilities and non-reloadable prepaid cards), based on the EMV standard, to increase transaction security; however, PINs are not required for Internet transactions (though some banks employ additional security measures for online transactions such as Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code), nor for most contactless transactions.


title: Debit card

text: In the United Kingdom, banks started to issue debit cards in the mid-1980s to reduce the number of cheques being used at the point of sale, which are costly for the banks to process; the first bank to do so was Barclays with the "Barclays Connect" card. As in most countries, fees paid by merchants in the UK to accept credit cards are a percentage of the transaction amount, which funds cardholders' interest-free credit periods as well as incentive schemes such as points or cashback. For consumer credit cards issued within the EEA, the interchange fee is capped at 0.3%, with a cap of 0.2% for debit cards, although the merchant acquirers may charge the merchant a higher fee. Most debit cards in the UK lack the advantages offered to holders of UK-issued credit cards, such as free incentives (points, cashback etc.; the Tesco Bank debit card was one exception), interest-free credit and protection against defaulting merchants under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Almost all establishments in the UK that accept credit cards also accept debit cards. Some merchants, for cost reasons, accept debit cards but not credit cards, and some smaller retailers only accept card payments for purchases above a certain value, typically £5 or £10.


title: Debit card

text: The 21st century has seen an increase in Challenger banks in the United Kingdom, with benefits including fee-free overseas spending. Notable challenger banks include Monzo, Revolut and Starling Bank.


title: Debit card

text: It is the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union federating eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.


title: Debit card

text: GIM-UEMOA is the regional switch federating more than 120 members (banks, microfinances, electronic money issuers, etc.). All interbank cards transactions between banks in the same country or between banks in two different countries UEMOA zone are routed and cleared by GIM-UEMOA. The settlement is done on Central Bank RTGS.


title: Debit card

text: GIM-UEMOA also provides some processing products and services to more than 50 banks in UEMOA zone and out of UEMOA zone.


title: Debit card

text: In the U.S., EFTPOS is universally referred to simply as "debit". The largest pre-paid debit card company is Green Dot Corporation, by market capitalization. The same interbank networks that operate the ATM network also operate the POS network. Most interbank networks, such as Pulse, NYCE, MAC, Tyme, SHAZAM, STAR, and so on, are regional and do not overlap, however, most ATM/POS networks have agreements to accept each other's cards. This means that cards issued by one network will typically work anywhere they accept ATM/POS cards for payment. For example, a NYCE card will work at a Pulse POS terminal or ATM, and vice versa. Debit cards in the United States are usually issued with a Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express logo allowing use of their signature-based networks. In 2018, there were 5.836 billion debit cards in circulation in the U.S., and 71.7% were prepaid cards.


title: Debit card

text: U.S. Federal law caps the liability of a U.S. debit card user in case of loss or theft at US$50 if the loss or theft is reported to the issuing bank in two business days after the customer notices the loss. Most banks will, however, set this limit to $0 for debit cards issued to their customers which are linked to their checking or savings account. Unlike credit cards, loss or theft reported more than two business days after being discovered is capped at $500 (vs. $50 for credit cards), and if reported more than 60 calendar days after the statement is sent all the money in the account may be lost.


title: Debit card

text: The fees charged to merchants for offline debit purchases vs. the lack of fees charged to merchants for processing online debit purchases and paper checks have prompted some major merchants in the U.S. to file lawsuits against debit-card transaction processors, such as Visa and MasterCard. In 2003, Visa and MasterCard agreed to settle the largest of these lawsuits for $2 billion and $1 billion, respectively.


title: Debit card

text: Some consumers prefer "credit" transactions because of the lack of a fee charged to the consumer/purchaser. A few debit cards in the U.S. offer rewards for using "credit". However, since "credit" transactions cost more for merchants, many terminals at PIN-accepting merchant locations now make the "credit" function more difficult to access


title: Debit card

text: As a result of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, U.S. merchants can now set a minimum purchase amount for credit card transactions, as long as it does not exceed $10.


title: Debit card

text: In the United States, an FSA debit card only allow medical expenses. It is used by some banks for withdrawals from their healthcare FSAs (Flexible Savings Account) medical savings accounts (MSA), and health savings accounts (HSA) as well. They have Visa or MasterCard logos, but cannot be used as "debit cards", only as "credit cards". Furthermore, they are not accepted by all merchants that accept debit and credit cards, but only by those that specifically accept FSA debit cards. Merchant codes and product codes are used at the point of sale (required by law by certain merchants by certain states in the U.S.) to restrict sales if they do not qualify. Because of the extra checking and documenting that goes on, later, the statement can be used to substantiate these purchases for tax deductions. In the occasional instance that a qualifying purchase is rejected, another form of payment must be used (a check or payment from another account and a claim for reimbursement later). In the more likely case that non-qualifying items are accepted, the consumer is technically still responsible, and the discrepancy could be revealed during an audit. A small but growing segment of the debit card business in the U.S. involves access to tax-favored spending accounts such as FSAs, HRAs, and HSAs. Most of these debit cards are for medical expenses, though a few are also issued for dependent care and transportation expenses.


title: Debit card

text: Traditionally, FSAs (the oldest of these accounts) were accessed only through claims for reimbursement after incurring, and often paying, an out-of-pocket expense; this often happens after the funds have already been deducted from the employee's paycheck. (FSAs are usually funded by payroll deduction.) The only method permitted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to avoid this "double-dipping" for medical FSAs and HRAs is through accurate and auditable reporting on the tax return. Statements on the debit card that say "for medical uses only" are invalid for several reasons: (1) The merchant and issuing banks have no way of quickly determining whether the entire purchase qualifies for the customer's type of tax benefit; (2) the customer also has no quick way of knowing; often has mixed purchases by necessity or convenience; and can easily make mistakes; (3) extra contractual clauses between the customer and issuing bank would cross-over into the payment processing standards, creating additional confusion (for example if a customer was penalized for accidentally purchasing a non-qualifying item, it would undercut the potential savings advantages of the account). Therefore, using the card exclusively for qualifying purchases may be convenient for the customer, but it has nothing to do with how the card can actually be used. If the bank rejects a transaction, for instance, because it is not at a recognized drug store, then it would be causing harm and confusion to the cardholder. In the United States, not all medical service or supply stores are capable of providing the correct information so an FSA debit card issuer can honor every transaction-if rejected or documentation is not deemed enough to satisfy regulations, cardholders may have to send in forms manually.


title: Debit card

text: One difference between FSAs and HSAs is the matter of yearend and rollovers: FSAs began as per calendar year, although by 2013 rollovers were introduced.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards are accepted in a relatively large number of stores, both large and small in Uruguay; but their use has so far remained low as compared to credit cards at ATMs. Since August 2014, with the Financial Inclusion Law coming into force, end consumers obtain a 4% VAT deduction for using debit cards in their purchases.


title: Debit card

text: There has been a lack of cash due to the Venezuelan economic crisis and thus the demand for and use of debit cards has increased greatly in recent years. One reason why a noticeable percentage of businesses have closed is a lack of payment terminals. The most used brands are Maestro (debit card) and Visa Electron.


title: Keshi (singer)

text: Casey Luong (born November 4, 1994), known mononymously by his stage name Keshi (stylized in all lowercase), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Known for his distant falsetto vocals and textural instrumentals, he has accumulated over one billion streams with songs such as "Like I Need U", "2 Soon" and "Right Here".


title: Keshi (singer)

text: Luong was born in Houston, Texas, to Vietnamese parents and grew up in Sugar Land. Despite living in an ethnically diverse community with a large Asian population, he recalls that he often felt out of place and disconnected from his heritage while growing up, as others around him were mostly ethnically Chinese. When he was 13, he began learning the guitar after picking it up from his grandfather. He began teaching himself the instrument while using his grandfather's Vietnamese music book. Another one of his motivations for learning guitar came from watching Drake Bell on the Nickelodeon TV show Drake & Josh. He cites John Mayer and Ed Sheeran as his biggest influences as a kid.


title: Keshi (singer)

text: He graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin. He then worked as an oncology nurse at the Texas Medical Center for two years.


title: Keshi (singer)

text: The stage name "Keshi" comes from the childhood name that his fiancé's parents gave him. They have been childhood friends since 5th grade. Whenever he visited, her parents would call him "Keshi", which they still do to this day.


title: Keshi (singer)

text: He created the moniker "Keshi" and began to share music via his SoundCloud page around 2017. He credited watching YouTube tutorials for teaching him how to write, produce, and engineer his music. Initially, he was in doubt of his abilities and musical direction, but slowly his distinct style, which relies on his dreamy vocals combined with lo-fi beats and guitar, garnered more attention and popularity. In 2019, he quit his job as a nurse and flew to New York City to sign with Island Records. His decision to quit nursing and the pursuit of music was ultimately made due to his realization that the fear of missed opportunities exceeded his fear of failure. From there, his first singles attracted millions of listeners upon release.


title: Keshi (singer)

text: He cites John Mayer, Frank Ocean, The 1975, Drake, and Bryson Tiller as some of his greatest musical influences.


title: Fasting

text: Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see "Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3–5 hours after eating).


title: Fasting

text: A diagnostic fast refers to prolonged fasting from 1 to 100 hours (depending on age) conducted under observation to facilitate the investigation of a health complication, usually hypoglycemia. Many people may also fast as part of a medical procedure or a check-up, such as preceding a colonoscopy or surgery, or before certain medical tests. Intermittent fasting is a technique sometimes used for weight loss that incorporates regular fasting into a person's dietary schedule. Fasting may also be part of a religious ritual, often associated with specifically scheduled fast days, as determined by the religion.


title: Fasting

text: Fasting may have different results on health in different circumstances. To understand whether loss of appetite (anorexia) during illness was protective or detrimental, researchers in the laboratory of Ruslan Medzhitov at Yale School of Medicine gave carbohydrate to mice with a bacterial or viral illness, or deprived them of carbohydrate. They found that carbohydrate was detrimental to bacterial sepsis. But with viral sepsis or influenza, nutritional supplementation with carbohydrates was beneficial, decreasing mortality, whereas denying glucose to the mice, or blocking its metabolism, was lethal. The researchers put forth hypotheses to explain the findings and called for more research on humans to determine whether our bodies react similarly, depending on whether an illness is bacterial or viral.


title: Fasting

text: Alternate-day fasting (alternating between a 24-hour "fast day" when the person eats less than 25% of usual energy needs, followed by a 24-hour non-fasting "feast day" period) has been shown to improve cardiovascular and metabolic biomarkers similarly to a calorie restriction diet in people who are overweight, obese or have metabolic syndrome.


title: Fasting

text: A 2021 review found that moderate alternate-day fasting for two to six months was associated with reductions of body weight, body mass index, and cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight or obese adults.


title: Fasting

text: Fasting is always practised prior to surgery or other procedures that require general anesthesia because of the risk of pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents after induction of anesthesia (i.e., vomiting and inhaling the vomit, causing life-threatening aspiration pneumonia). Additionally, certain medical tests, such as cholesterol testing (lipid panel) or certain blood glucose measurements require fasting for several hours so that a baseline can be established. In the case of a lipid panel, failure to fast for a full 12 hours (including vitamins) will guarantee an elevated triglyceride measurement.


title: Fasting

text: In one review, fasting improved alertness, mood, and subjective feelings of well-being, possibly improving overall symptoms of depression, and boosting cognitive performance.


title: Fasting

text: Intermittent fasting for periods shorter than 24 hours has been shown to be effective for weight loss in obese and healthy adults and to maintain lean body mass.


title: Fasting

text: In rare occurrences, dry fasting can lead to the potentially fatal refeeding syndrome upon reinstatement of food intake due to electrolyte imbalance.


title: Fasting

text: Fasting was historically studied on population under famine and hunger strikes, which led to the alternative name of "starvation diet", as a diet with 0 calories intake per day.


title: Fasting

text: Fasting is often used to make a political statement, to protest, or to bring awareness to a cause. A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt, or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. A "spiritual fast" incorporates personal spiritual beliefs with the desire to express personal principles, sometimes in the context of social injustice.


title: Fasting

text: The political leader Gandhi undertook several long fasts as political and social protests. Gandhi's fasts had a significant impact on the British Raj and the Indian population generally.


title: Fasting

text: In Northern Ireland in 1981, a prisoner, Bobby Sands, was part of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, protesting for better rights in prison. Sands had just been elected to the British Parliament and died after 66 days of not eating. 100,000 people attended his funeral, and the strike ended only after nine other men died. In all, ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days.


title: Fasting

text: César Chávez undertook several spiritual fasts, including a 25-day fast in 1968 promoting the principle of nonviolence and a fast of 'thanksgiving and hope' to prepare for pre-arranged civil disobedience by farm workers. Chávez regarded a spiritual fast as "a personal spiritual transformation". Other progressive campaigns have adopted the tactic.


title: Fasting

text: Fasting is practiced in various religions. Examples include Lent in Christianity; Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Fast of Esther, Tzom Gedalia, the Seventeenth of Tamuz, and the Tenth of Tevet in Judaism. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from sun up until sundown.


title: Fasting

text: Details of fasting practices differ. Eastern Orthodox Christians fast during specified fasting seasons of the year, which include not only the better-known Great Lent, but also fasts on every Wednesday and Friday (except on special holidays), together with extended fasting periods before Christmas (the Nativity Fast), after Easter (the Apostles Fast) and in early August (the Dormition Fast). Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) generally abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period on the first Sunday of each month. Like Muslims, they refrain from all drinking and eating unless they are children or are physically unable to fast. Fasting is also a feature of ascetic traditions in religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Mahayana traditions that follow the Brahma's Net Sutra may recommend that the laity fast "during the six days of fasting each month and the three months of fasting each year". Members of the Baháʼí Faith observe a Nineteen Day Fast from sunrise to sunset during March each year.


title: Fasting

text: Although practitioners of alternative medicine promote "cleansing the body" through fasting, the concept of "detoxification“ is marketing myth with few scientific basis for its rationale or efficacy.


title: Fasting

text: During the early 20th century, fasting was promoted by alternative health writers such as Hereward Carrington, Edward H. Dewey, Bernarr Macfadden, Frank McCoy, Edward Earle Purinton, Upton Sinclair and Wallace Wattles. All of these writers were either involved in the natural hygiene or new thought movement. Arnold Ehret's pseudoscientific Mucusless Diet Healing System espoused fasting.


title: Fasting

text: Linda Hazzard, a notable quack doctor, put her patients on such strict fasts that some of them died of starvation. She was responsible for the death of more than 40 patients under her care.


title: Fasting

text: In 1911, Upton Sinclair authored "The Fasting Cure", which made sensational claims of fasting curing practically all diseases, including cancer, syphilis, and tuberculosis. Sinclair has been described as "the most credulous of faddists" and his book is considered an example of quackery. In 1932, physician Morris Fishbein listed fasting as a fad diet and commented that "prolonged fasting is never necessary and invariably does harm".


title: Tigray Region

text: The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is the fifth-largest by area, the fifth-most populous, and the fifth-most densely populated of the 11 regional states.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray's official language is Tigrinya, similar to that spoken in Eritrea just to the North. The estimated population as of 2019 is 5,443,000. The majority of the population (c. 80%) are farmers, contributing 46% to the regional gross domestic product (2009). The highlands have the highest population density, especially in eastern and central Tigray. The much less densely populated lowlands comprise 48% of Tigray's area. Like many parts of Africa, Tigray is far from a religious monolith. Despite the historical identification of Ethiopia with Orthodox Christianity, the presence of Islam in Ethiopia is as old as the religion itself. The most recent Ethiopian census, collected in 2007, estimates that Muslims make up 34% of the rapidly growing national population. Although the percentage of Muslims in Tigray is only 5 to 10%, it has historically been Islam’s doorway to the region and to Africa at large. 96% of Tigrayans are Orthodox Christian.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, the Amhara Region to the south and the Afar Region to the east and southeast. Towns in Tigray include: Mekelle, Adigrat, Axum, Shire, Humera, Adwa, Addi Remets, Alamata, Wukro, Maychew, Sheraro, Abiy Addi, Korem, Qwiha, Atsbi, Hawzen, Mekoni, Dansha, Adi Gudom, Sheraro, Indabaguna, Mai Tsebri, and Zalambessa.


title: Tigray Region

text: The government of Tigray consists of the executive branch, led by the president, Debretsion Gebremichael; the legislative branch, which comprises the state council; and the judicial branch, which is led by the state supreme court. In early November 2020, a conflict between the Tigray Region, involving the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government began, in which Eritrea took part on the side of the federal government, rapidly escalating into the Tigray War and destabilizing the region.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray is often regarded as the cradle of Ethiopian civilization. Its landscape has many historic monuments. Three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in Ethiopia through the Red Sea and then Tigray.


title: Tigray Region

text: Given the presence of a large temple complex and fertile surroundings, the capital of the 3,000-year-old kingdom of Dʿmt may have been near present-day Yeha. Dʿmt developed irrigation schemes, used the plough, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons. Some modern historians, including Stuart Munro-Hay, Rodolfo Fattovich, Ayele Bekerie, Cain Felder, and Ephraim Isaac consider this civilization to be indigenous, although Sabaean-influenced due to the latter's dominance of the Red Sea. Others, including Joseph Michels, Henri de Contenson, Tekletsadik Mekuria, and Stanley Burstein, have viewed Dʿmt as the result of a mixture of Sabaean and indigenous peoples. The most recent research, however, shows that Ge'ez, the ancient Semitic language spoken in Tigray, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in ancient times, is not likely to have been derived from Sabaean. There is evidence of a Semitic-speaking presence in Tigray, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia at least as early as 2000 BC. It is now believed that Sabaean influence was minor, limited to a few localities and disappearing after a few decades or a century, It may have represented a trading or military colony, in some sort of symbiosis or military alliance with the civilization of Dʿmt or some other proto-Aksumite state.


title: Tigray Region

text: After the fall of Dʿmt in the 5th century BC, the plateau came to be dominated by smaller, unknown successor kingdoms. This lasted until the rise of one of these polities during the first century BC, the Aksumite Kingdom, which succeeded in reunifying the area and is, in effect, the ancestor of medieval and modern states in Eritrea and Ethiopia using the name "Ethiopia" as early as the 4th century.


title: Tigray Region

text: The Kingdom of Aksum was a trading empire rooted in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. It existed from approximately 100–940 AD, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period c. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD.


title: Tigray Region

text: According to the "Book of Axum", Axum's first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. The capital was later moved to Aksum in northern Ethiopia.


title: Tigray Region

text: The Empire of Aksum, at its height, at times extended across most of present-day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The capital city of the empire was Axum, now in northern Ethiopia. Today a smaller community, the city of Axum was once a bustling metropolis and a cultural and economic hub. Two hills and two streams lie on the east and west expanses of the city; perhaps providing the initial impetus for settling this area. Along the hills and plain outside the city, the Aksumites had cemeteries with elaborate grave stones, which are called stelae, or obelisks. Other important cities included Yeha, Hawulti-Melazo, Matara, Adulis, and Qohaito, the last three of which are now in Eritrea. By the reign of Endubis in the late 3rd century, Aksum had begun minting its own currency and was named by Mani as one of the four great powers of his time, along with China and the Sassanid and Roman empires. It converted to Christianity in 325 or 328 under King Ezana and was the first state to use the image of the cross on its coins.


title: Tigray Region

text: In the 14th century the Tigrinya-speaking lands (Tigray-Mareb Melash) were divided into two provinces, separated by the Mereb River, by the newly enthroned Amhara emperors. The governor of the northern province received the title Bahre Negash (Ruler of the sea), whereas the governor of the southern province was given the title of Tigray Mekonen (Lord of Tigray). The Portuguese Jesuit Emanuele Baradas's work titled "Do reino de Tigr", written in 1633–34, states that the "Reino de Tigr" (Kingdom of Tigray) extended from Hamasien to Temben, from the borders of Dankel to the Adwa mountain. He also stated that Tigray-Mereb Melash was divided into 24 smaller political units (principalities), twelve of which were located south of the Mereb and governed by the Tigray Mekonen, based in Enderta. The other twelve were located north of the Mereb, under the authority of the Bahre Negash, based in the district of Serae.


title: Tigray Region

text: The "Book of Aksum", likely written and compiled before the 15th century, shows a traditional schematic map of Tigray with the city of Aksum at its center, surrounded by the 13 principal provinces: "Tembien, Shire, Serae, Hamasien, Bur, Sam’a, Agame, Amba Senayt, Garalta, Enderta, Sahart and Abergele."


title: Tigray Region

text: During the Middle Ages, the position of Tigray Mekonnen ("Governor of Tigray") was established to rule over the area. Other districts included Akele Guzay (now part of Eritrea), and the kingdom of the Bahr negus, who ruled much of what is now Eritrea and Shire district and town in Western Tigray. At the time when Tigray Mekonnen existed simultaneously with that of Bahr negus, their frontier seems to have been the Mareb River, which is currently constitutes the border between the Ethiopian province of Tigray and Eritrea.


title: Tigray Region

text: After the loss of power of the Bahr negus in the aftermath of Bahr negus Yeshaq's rebellions, By the unsettled Zemene Mesafint period ("Era of the Princes"), both designations had declined to little more than empty titles, and the lord who succeeded them used (and received from the Emperor) the title of either Ras or Dejazmach, beginning with Ras Mikael Sehul. Rulers of Tigray such as Ras Wolde Selassie alternated with others, chiefly those of Begemder or Yejju, as warlords to maintain the Ethiopian monarchy during the Zemene Mesafint.


title: Tigray Region

text: In the mid-19th century, the lords of Tembien and Enderta managed to establish an overlordship of Tigray. One of its members, Dejazmach Kahsay Mercha, ascended the imperial throne in 1872 under the name Yohannes IV. Following his 1889 death in the Battle of Metemma, the Ethiopian throne came under the control of the king of Shewa, and the center of power shifted south and away from Tigray.


title: Tigray Region

text: In 1943, open resistance broke out all over southern and eastern Tigray under the slogan, "there is no government; let's organize and govern ourselves". Throughout Enderta Awraja, including Mekelle, Didibadergiajen, Hintalo, Saharti, Samre and Wajirat, Raya Awraja, Kilte-Awlaelo Awraja and Tembien Awraja, local assemblies, called gerreb, were formed. The gerreb sent representatives to a central congress, called the shengo, which elected leaders and established a military command system. Although the first Woyane rebellion of 1943 had shortcomings as a prototype revolution, historians agree that it involved a fairly high level of spontaneity and peasant initiative. It demonstrated considerable popular participation and reflected widely shared grievances. The uprising was specifically directed against the central Shoan Amhara regime of Haile Selassie I, rather than the Tigrayan imperial elite.


title: Tigray Region

text: After the February 1974 popular revolution, the first signal of any mass uprising was the actions of the soldiers of the 4th Brigade of the 4th Army Division in Nagelle in southern Ethiopia. The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, or the Derg (Ge'ez "Committee"), was officially announced 28 June 1974 by a group of military officers. The committee elected Major Mengistu Haile Mariam as its chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as its vice-chairman. In July 1974, the Derg obtained key concessions from the emperor, Haile Selassie, which included the power to arrest not only military officers but government officials at every level. Soon both former Prime Ministers Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold and Endalkachew Makonnen, along with most of their cabinets, most regional governors, many senior military officers and officials of the Imperial court were imprisoned. In August 1974, after a proposed constitution creating a constitutional monarchy was presented to the emperor, the Derg began a program of dismantling the imperial government in order to forestall further developments in that direction. The Derg deposed and imprisoned the emperor on 12 September 1974.


title: Tigray Region

text: In addition, the Derg in 1975 nationalized most industries and private and somewhat secure urban real-estate holdings. But mismanagement, corruption, and general hostility to the Derg's violent rule, coupled with the draining effects of constant warfare with the separatist guerrilla movements in Tigray, led to a drastic fall in general productivity of food and cash crops. In October 1978, the Derg announced the National Revolutionary Development Campaign to mobilize human and material resources to transform the economy, which led to a Ten-Year Plan (1984/1985-1993/1994) to expand agricultural and industrial output, forecasting a 6.5% growth in GDP and a 3.6% rise in per capita income. Instead per capita income declined 0.8% over this period. Famine scholar Alex de Waal observes that while the famine that struck the country in the mid-1980s is usually ascribed to drought, "closer investigation shows that widespread drought occurred only some months after the famine was already under way". Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription, and political repression, and went to live in neighboring countries and all over the Western world, creating an Ethiopian diaspora.


title: Tigray Region

text: Toward the end of January 1991, a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) captured Gondar, the ancient capital city, Bahar Dar, and Dessie.


title: Tigray Region

text: John Young, who visited the area several times in the early 1990s, attributes this delay in part to "central budget restraint, structural readjustment, and lack of awareness by government bureaucrats in Addis Ababa of conditions in the province", but notes "an equally significant obstacle was posed by an entrenched, and largely Amhara-dominated, central bureaucracy which used its power to block government-authorised funds from reaching Tigray". At the same time, a growing urban middle class of traders, businessmen and government officials emerged that was suspicious of and distant from the victorious EPRDF.


title: Tigray Region

text: In 1998, war erupted between Eritrea and Ethiopia over a portion of territory that had been administered as part of Tigray, which included the town of Badme. A 2002 United Nations decision awarded much of this land to Eritrea, but Ethiopia did not accept the ruling until 2018, when a bilateral agreement ended the border conflict. The text of this agreement has not been publicly availed.


title: Tigray Region

text: Between 2018 and 2020, as part of a reform aimed to deepen and strengthen decentralisation, woredas were reorganised, and new boundaries established. As smaller towns had been growing, they had started providing a larger range of services, such as markets and even banks, that encouraged locals to travel there rather than to their formal woreda centre. However, these locals still had to travel to their local woreda centre for most local government services - often in a different direction. In 2018 and 2019, after multiple village discussions that were often vigorous in the more remote areas, 21 independent urban administrations were added and other boundaries re-drawn, resulting in an increase from 35 to 88 woredas in January 2020.


title: Tigray Region

text: Following the 2020 Tigray regional election, after months of preparation with the Eritrean army, as demonstrated by the Eritrean president visiting the Ethiopian air force on October 14 2020, the Ethiopian military launched attacks on the government of Tigray headquarters in Mekelle on 4 November, marking the beginning of the Tigray War. Ethiopian troops as well as Amhara militia advanced through southern Tigray, while Eritrean troops occupied border towns in northern Tigray. Amhara militias took over parts of western Tigray.


title: Tigray Region

text: Warfare, the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia, and a locust outbreak all contributed to an emergency food situation in the region in January 2021. Two million people faced food shortages; the situation was particularly dire in Shire Inda Selassie, where there are 100,000 refugees. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network said parts of central and eastern Tigray are likely in emergency phase 4, a step below famine.


title: Tigray Region

text: A 2006 national statistics report stated the land area as . The 2011 National Statistics gave an area of , but the sum of the figures it gave for the Tigray zones was substantially different, rendering the 2011 report internally inconsistent. The figure of 50,079 km is supported by the Google Maps area calculator.


title: Tigray Region

text: The East African Orogeny led to the growth of a mountain chain in the Precambrian (up to 800 Ma [million years ago]), which was largely eroded afterwards. Around 600 Ma, the Gondwana break-up led to the presence of tectonic structures and a Palaeozoic planation surface, that extents to the north and west of the Dogu'a Tembien massif.


title: Tigray Region

text: Subsequently, there was the deposition of sedimentary and volcanic formations, from older (at the foot of the massif) to younger, near the summits. From Palaeozoic to Triassic, Tigray was located near the South Pole. The (reactivate) Precambrian extensional faults guided the deposition of glacial sediments (Edaga Arbi Glacials and Enticho Sandstone). Later alluvial plain sediments were deposited (Adigrat Sandstone). The break-up of Gondwana (Late Palaeozoic to Early Triassic) led to an extensional tectonic phase, what caused the lowering of large parts of the Horn of Africa. As a consequence a marine transgression occurred, leading to the deposition of marine sediments (Antalo Limestone and Agula Shale). The region has an estimated 3.89 billion tons of mostly "excellent" quality oil shale.


title: Tigray Region

text: At the end of the Mesozoic tectonic phase, a new (Cretaceous) planation took place. After that, the deposition of continental sediments (Amba Aradam Formation) indicates the presence of less shallow seas, probably caused by a regional uplift. At the beginning of the Caenozoic, there was a relative tectonic quiescence, during which the Amba Aradam Sandstones were partially eroded, which led to the formation of a new planation surface.


title: Tigray Region

text: In the Eocene, the Afar plume, a broad regional uplift, deformed the lithosphere, leading to the eruption of flood basalts. Three major formations may be distinguished: lower basalts, interbedded lacustrine deposits and upper basalts. Almost at the same time, the Mekelle Dolerite intruded into the Mesozoic sediments, following joints and faults.


title: Tigray Region

text: A new magma intrusion occurred in the Early Miocene, which gave rise to phonolite plugs, mainly in the Adwa area and also in Dogu’a Tembien. The present geomorphology is marked by deep valleys, eroded as a result of the regional uplift. Throughout the Quaternary, deposition of alluvium and freshwater tufa occurred in the valley bottoms.


title: Tigray Region

text: In Tigray, there are two main fossil-bearing geological units. The Antalo Limestone (upper Jurassic) is the largest. Its marine deposits comprise mainly benthic marine invertebrates. Also, the Tertiary lacustrine deposits, interbedded in the basalt formations, contain a range of silicified mollusc fossils.


title: Tigray Region

text: In the Antalo Limestone: large "Paracenoceratidae" cephalopods (nautilus); "Nerineidae" indet.; sea urchins; Rhynchonellid brachiopod; crustaceans; coral colonies; crinoid stems.


title: Tigray Region

text: In the Tertiary silicified lacustrine deposits: "Pila (gastropod)"; "Lanistes" sp.; "Pirenella conica"; and land snails ("Achatinidae" indet.).


title: Tigray Region

text: All snail shells, both fossil and recent, are called "t’uyo" in Tigrinya language, which means ‘helicoidal’.


title: Tigray Region

text: Overall, the region is semi-arid. The wet season lasts only for a couple of months. The farmers are adapted to this, but the problem arises when rains are less than normal. Another major challenge is providing water to urban areas. Smaller towns, but particularly Mekelle, face endemic water shortages. Reservoirs have been built, but their management is sub-optimal.


title: Tigray Region

text: Besides elephants in Western Tigray and the endemic gelada baboon on the highest mountains, large mammals in the region, with scientific (italics), English and Tigrinya language names, are:


title: Tigray Region

text: The most common pest rodents with widespread distribution in agricultural fields and storage areas are three Ethiopian endemic species: the Dembea grass rat ("Arvicanthis dembeensis", sometimes considered a subspecies of "Arvicanthis niloticus"), Ethiopian white-footed rat ("Stenocephalemys albipes"), and Awash multimammate mouse ("Mastomys awashensis").


title: Tigray Region

text: Bats occur in natural caves, church buildings and abandoned homesteads. The large colony of bats that roosts in Zeyi cave comprises "Hipposideros megalotis" (Ethiopian large-eared roundleaf bat), "Hipposideros tephrus", and "Rhinolophus blasii" (Blasius's horseshoe bat).


title: Tigray Region

text: With its numerous exclosures, forest fragments and church forests, Tigray is a birdwatcher's paradise. Detailed inventories list at least 170 bird species, including numerous endemic species.


title: Tigray Region

text: Species belonging to the Afrotropical Highland Biome occur in the dry evergreen montane forests of the highland plateau but can also occupy other habitats. Wattled Ibis can be found feeding in wet grassland and open woodland. Black-winged Lovebird, Banded Barbet, Golden-mantled or Abyssinian Woodpecker, Montane White-eye, Rüppell's Robin-chat, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher and Tacazze Sunbird are found in evergreen forest, mountain woodlands and areas with scattered trees including fig trees, "Euphorbia abyssinica" and "Juniperus procera". Erckel's spurfowl, Dusky Turtle Dove, Swainson's or Grey-headed Sparrow, Baglafecht Weaver, African Citril, Brown-rumped Seedeater and Streaky Seedeater are common Afrotropical breeding residents of woodland edges, scrubland and forest edges. White-billed Starling and Little Rock Thrush can be found on steep cliffs; Speckled or African rock pigeon and White-collared Pigeon in gorges and rocky places but also in towns and villages.


title: Tigray Region

text: Species belonging to the Somali-Masai Biome. Hemprich's Hornbill and White-rumped Babbler are found in bushland, scrubland and dense secondary forest, often near cliffs, gorges or water. Chestnut-Winged or Somali Starling and Rüppell's Weaver are found in bushy and shrubby areas. Black-billed wood hoopoes have some red at the base of the bill or an entirely red bill in this area.


title: Tigray Region

text: Species belonging to the Sudan-Guinea Savanna Biome: Green-backed eremomela and Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver.


title: Tigray Region

text: Species that are neither endemic nor biome-restricted but that have restricted ranges or that can be more easily seen in Ethiopia than elsewhere in their range: Abyssinian Roller is an Ethiopian relative of Lilac-breasted Roller, which is an intra-tropical breeding migrant of south and east Africa, and of European Roller, an uncommon Palearctic passage migrant. Black-billed Barbet, Yellow-breasted Barbet and Grey-headed Batis are species from the Sahel and Northern Africa but also occur in Acacia woodlands in the area.


title: Tigray Region

text: The most regularly observed raptor birds in crop fields in Tigray are Augur buzzard ("Buteo augur"), Common Buzzard ("Buteo buteo"), Steppe Eagle ("Aquila nipalensis"), Lanner falcon ("Falco biarmicus"), Black kite ("Milvus migrans"), Yellow-billed kite ("Milvus aegyptius") and Barn owl ("Tyto alba").


title: Tigray Region

text: Birdwatching can be done particularly in exclosures and forests. Eighteen bird-watching sites have been inventoried in Enderta and Degua Tembien and mapped.


title: Tigray Region

text: Like other Regions in Ethiopia, Tigray is subdivided into administrative zones, and further into "woredas" or districts. Up to January 2020, these were the "woredas" of Tigray:


title: Tigray Region

text: In 2018 and 2019, after multiple village discussions that were often vigorous in the more remote areas, 21 independent urban administrations were added and other boundaries re-drawn, resulting in an increase from 35 to 88 "woredas" in January 2020:


title: Tigray Region

text: Mekelle, home to Mekelle University, Mekelle Institute of Technology, Microlink College, Nile College, and Mekelle College of Teacher Education is the capital of Tigray, near the geographic center of the state.


title: Tigray Region

text: Of the 10 largest cities in Tigray, Maychew has the highest elevation at 2479 meter above sea level. Plenty of smaller towns, like Atsbi and Edaga Hamus are located at even higher elevations. Of the large cities, Humera is located at the lowest altitude (585 m).


title: Tigray Region

text: The executive branch is headed by the Chief Administrator of Tigray. The current president is Debretsion Gebremichael, a TPLF member, elected in 2018 and again in 2020. A Vice President of Tigray succeeds the president in the event of any removal from office, and performs any duties assigned by the president. The current vice president is Dr. Addis Alem Balema. The other elected constitutional offices in the executive branch are the Regional Health Bureau ("Ato" Hagos Godefy), Educational Bureau ("Ato" Gebre'egziabher), Auditor General ("Ato" Alemseged Kebedew), and 12 other officials.


title: Tigray Region

text: There are three levels of the Tigray state judiciary. The lowest level is the court of common pleas: each woreda maintains its own constitutionally mandated court of common pleas, which maintain jurisdiction over all justiciable matters. The intermediate-level court system is the district court system. Four courts of appeals exist, each retaining jurisdiction over appeals from common pleas, municipal, and county courts in an administrative zone. A case heard in this system is decided by a three-judge panel, and each judge is elected.


title: Tigray Region

text: The highest-ranking court, the Tigray Supreme Court, is Tigray's "court of last resort". A seven-justice panel composes the court, which, by its own discretion, hears appeals from the courts of appeals, and retains original jurisdiction over limited matters. The chief judge is called the President of Tigray Supreme Court ("W/ro" Hirity Miheretab).


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray is represented by 38 representatives in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia House of Peoples' Representatives. But currently after the illegitimate postponement of the national election of Ethiopia Tigray has pulled it representative from the House of House of Peoples' Representatives and has no representation in the Federal parliament .


title: Tigray Region

text: Based on the 2007 census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the Tigray Region has a population of 4,316,988, of whom 2,126,465 are men and 2,190,523 women; urban inhabitants number 844,040 or 19.55% of the population. With an estimated area of 84,722 km, the region had an estimated density of 51 people per km. In the entire region 992,635 households were counted, for an average of 4.4 people per household, with urban households having on average 3.4 and rural households 4.6.


title: Tigray Region

text: In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the region's population was 3,136,267, of whom 1,542,165 were men and 1,594,102 women; urban inhabitants numbered 621,210, or 14% of the population.


title: Tigray Region

text: According to the CSA, , 53.99% of the total population had access to safe drinking water, of whom 42.68% were rural inhabitants and 97.28% were urban. Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for Tigray include: 31.6% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 67.5% and for women 33.7%; and the infant mortality rate is 67 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, less than the national average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants' first month of life.


title: Tigray Region

text: With 96.55% of the local population, the region is predominantly inhabited by the Tigrinya-speaking Tigrayan people. The Tigrinya language belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Most other residents hail from other Afro-Asiatic-speaking communities, including the Amhara, Irob, Afar, Agaw and Oromo. Partly assimilated Oromo live in remoter villages in Raya Azebo and Alamata (woreda), whereas there are Agaw in Abergele (woreda). There are also Nilo-Saharan-speaking Kunama as well.


title: Tigray Region

text: The working language is Tigrinya. Saho and Kunama are also spoken, and people in urban areas are also able to speak Amharic.


title: Tigray Region

text: An important aspect of the agricultural work in Tigray after the end of the 1991 civil war was to minimize the problems of drought. In the past, Tigray was covered with forests and had a micro-climate that favoured the rains. Subsequently, the forests were cut down, usually to impoverish the population during the wars. Consequently, Tigray achieved a fair amount of rainfall during the rainy season, from August to September, but quickly lost these waters downstream. In the process the fertile soil of the fields eroded. After a few weeks of rain, the country again dried up.


title: Tigray Region

text: The government undertook two projects in Tigray. The first was the construction of terraces which, with the agreement and help of local communities, go up to the tops of the mountains at 2,500 metres. The goal was to prevent the rainfall flowing away immediately so that it could be conserved for the agricultural season. On the highest terraces were planted trees, mainly eucalyptus, the dominant tree in Ethiopia and native to Australia. These plants created a new microclimate. The terracing method was very simple but required good organization. Long stretches of the fields were terraced by the villagers using stone walls from stones that erosion had exposed. The rains eroding the still non-terraced ground formed mudslides that were held by the topmost walls, which permitted construction of a new terrace field and another wall with uncovered stones, creating new ground terraced farmland every year.


title: Tigray Region

text: Another endeavour involved the construction of small reservoirs for local irrigation. As rains last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season. The dams needed to create these basins are typically an embankment of a few hundreds of meters, closing off one part of a valley, with a maximum height of 20 metres. Each took months of work, in which people carried earth on their back, and with assistance of donkeys. Generally 2,000–3,000 people — men, women and children — carried the earth in simple baskets.


title: Tigray Region

text: Overall, these reservoirs suffer from rapid siltation. Part of the water that could be used for irrigation is lost through seepage; the positive side-effect is that this contributes to groundwater recharge.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray holds numerous exclosures, areas that are set aside for regreening. Logging and livestock grazing are not allowed there. Besides effects on biodiversity, water infiltration, protection from flooding, sediment deposition, carbon sequestration, people commonly have economic benefits from these exclosures through grass harvesting, beekeeping and other non-timber forest products. The local inhabitants also consider it as "land set aside for future generations". In Dogu'a Tembien, several exclosures are managed by the EthioTrees project. They have as an additional benefit that the villagers receive carbon credits for the sequestered CO, as part of a carbon offset programme. The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities; it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, conservation in the exclosures, or a store for incense.


title: Tigray Region

text: The CSA estimated in 2005 that farmers in Tigray had a total of 2,713,750 cattle (representing 7.0% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 72,640 sheep (0.42%), 208,970 goats (1.61%), 1,200 horses (less than 0.1%), 9,190 mules (6.24%), 386,600 asses (15.43%), 32,650 camels (7.15%), 3,180,240 poultry of all species (10.3%), and 20,480 beehives (0.47%). Cattle are an essential component in the dominant grain-plough agricultural system. In the rainy season, a large part of the cattle herds are in transhumance.


title: Tigray Region

text: A distinctive feature of Tigray are its rock-hewn churches. Similar in design to those of Lalibela in the Amhara Region, these churches are found in four or five clusters – Gheralta, Teka-Tesfay, Atsbi and Tembien – with Wukro sometimes included. Some of the churches are considered earlier than those of Lalibela, perhaps dating from the eighth century. Mostly monolithic, with designs partly inspired by classical architecture, they are often located at the top of cliffs or steep hills, for security. For example, Tigray's ancient Debre Damo monastery is accessible only by climbing a rope 25 metres up a sheer cliff.


title: Tigray Region

text: Looting has become a major issue in the Tigray Region, as archaeological sites have become sources for construction materials and ancient artifacts used for everyday purposes by local populations.


title: Tigray Region

text: The area is famous for a single rock sculptured 23 meter long obelisk in Axum as well as for other fallen obelisks. The Axum treasure site of ancient Tigrayan history is a major landmark. Yeha is another important local landmark that is little-known outside the region.


title: Tigray Region

text: A major north–south road corridor goes through Tigray. This is facilitated by Highway 2 which goes from Adigrat to Addis Ababa and Highway 3 which goes from Shire to Addis Ababa.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray has one international airport and four commercial airports. The international airport is Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) near Mekelle. The region's four other commercial airports are Shire Airport (SHC), Humera Airport (HUE), Dansha Airport, and Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU), which serves Axum.


title: Tigray Region

text: Mekelle 70 Enderta F.C. (Tigrinya: ጋንታ መቐለ 70 እንደርታ) is an Ethiopian football club based in the capital, Mekelle. They are a member of the Ethiopian Football Federation and currently play in the top division of Ethiopian football, the Ethiopian Premier League. They are known by the nickname the "Lion of Judah" (ምዓም ኣንበሳ /ምዓም አናብስት/ኣናብስቶቹ). The club won its first Ethiopian Premier League title in the 2018–2019 Ethiopian Premier League Season.


title: Tigray Region

text: Shire Indasillasie F.C. (Tigrinya: ጋንታ ስሑል ሽረ, also known as Sihul Shire FC) is an Ethiopian football club based in Shire. They are a member of the Ethiopian Football Federation and play in the Ethiopian Premier League, the first division of football in Ethiopia.


title: Tigray Region

text: Mekele City, Suhul Shire, and Adigrat University football clubs were Tigray-based clubs among the 14 clubs to participate in the Ethiopian Premier League in 2020/2021. However, due to the war, they were replaced by other clubs from the League one rank below the Ethiopian Premier League.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigrayans are known for their good performance in circus and road cycling. For many years cyclists from this region have been dominant in Ethiopian cycle championships. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay is one of the best Ethiopian cyclists and the first Ethiopian to participate in the Tour de France.


title: Tigray Region

text: At the regional level, the Tigray Education Bureau governs primary and secondary educational institutions. At the municipal level, there are approximately 300 school districts region-wide.


title: Tigray Region

text: Tigray is home to Ethiopia's most extensive church libraries that are found in the eastern and central zones of the region. There are several ongoing digitization projects to preserve previous historical texts.


title: Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner

text: The murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, also known as the Freedom Summer murders, the Mississippi civil rights workers' murders, or the Mississippi Burning murders, refers to events in which three activists were abducted and murdered in the city of Philadelphia, Mississippi, in June 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement. The victims were James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi, and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner from New York City. All three were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They had been working with the Freedom Summer campaign by attempting to register African Americans in Mississippi to vote. Since 1890 and through the turn of the century, southern states had systematically disenfranchised most black voters by discrimination in voter registration and voting.


text: The three men had traveled from Meridian to the community of Longdale to talk with congregation members at a black church that had been burned; the church had been a center of community organization. The trio was arrested following a traffic stop for speeding outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, escorted to the local jail, and held for a number of hours. As the three left town in their car, they were followed by law enforcement and others. Before leaving Neshoba County, their car was pulled over. The three were abducted, driven to another location, and shot to death at close range. The bodies of the three men were taken to an earthen dam where they were buried.


text: The disappearance of the three men was initially investigated as a missing persons case. The civil rights workers' burnt-out car was found near a swamp three days after their disappearance. An extensive search of the area was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), local and state authorities, and four hundred United States Navy sailors. Their bodies were not discovered until seven weeks later, when the team received a tip. During the investigation it emerged that members of the local White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office, and the Philadelphia Police Department were involved in the incident.


text: The murder of the activists sparked national outrage and an extensive federal investigation, filed as "Mississippi Burning" (MIBURN), which later became the title of a 1988 film loosely based on the events. In 1967, after the state government refused to prosecute, the United States federal government charged eighteen individuals with civil rights violations. Seven were convicted and received relatively minor sentences for their actions. Outrage over the activists' disappearances helped gain passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


text: The trio were shot and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan because Chaney was African-American and Goodman and Schwerner were both Jewish.


text: Forty-one years after the murders took place, one perpetrator, Edgar Ray Killen, was charged by the state of Mississippi for his part in the crimes. In 2005 he was convicted of three counts of manslaughter and was given a 60-year sentence. On June 20, 2016, federal and state authorities officially closed the case, ending the possibility of further prosecution. Killen died in prison in January 2018.


text: In the early 1960s, the state of Mississippi, as well as other local and state governments in the American South, defied federal direction regarding racial integration. Recent Supreme Court rulings had upset the Mississippi establishment, and White Mississippian society responded with open hostility. White supremacists used tactics such as bombings, murders, vandalism, and intimidation in order to discourage black Mississippians and their supporters from the Northern and Western states. In 1961, Freedom Riders, who challenged the segregation of interstate buses and related facilities, were attacked on their route. In September 1962, the University of Mississippi riots had occurred in order to prevent James Meredith from enrolling at the school.


text: The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a Ku Klux Klan splinter group based in Mississippi, was founded and led by Samuel Bowers of Laurel. As the summer of 1964 approached, white Mississippians prepared for what they perceived was an invasion from the north and west. College students had been recruited in order to aid local activists who were conducting grassroots community organizing, voter registration education and drives in the state. Media reports exaggerated the number of youths expected. One Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) representative is quoted as saying that nearly 30,000 individuals would visit Mississippi during the summer. Such reports had a "jarring impact" on white Mississippians and many responded by joining the White Knights.


text: In 1890, Mississippi had passed a new constitution, supported by additional laws, which effectively excluded most black Mississippians from registering or voting. This status quo had long been enforced by economic boycotts and violence. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) wanted to address this problem by setting up Freedom Schools and starting voting registration drives in the state. Freedom schools were established in order to educate, encourage, and register the disenfranchised black citizens. CORE members James Chaney, from Mississippi, and Michael Schwerner, from New York City, intended to set up a Freedom School for black people in Neshoba County to try to prepare them to pass the comprehension and literacy tests required by the state.