Bilen

Encyclopedia : B : BI : BIL : Bilen

The Bilen, Blin or Bilin are an African ethnic group of south-central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren, and south toward Asmara, the capital city. The Bilen are agriculturalists. Their population is about 96,000. About thirty percent of their population are Christian, primarily Orthodox, while the other seventy percent are 20th century converts to Islam.

Blin is also the name of their language, an Agaw language. Sixty percent of the Christians have some understanding of Tigrinya. Seventy percent of the Muslims also use Tigre. Other spoken languages include Arabic (among the youth), Nara, and Kunama.

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