Akele Guzai in the context of "Bur Province"

The Tigrinya people (Tigrinya: ትግርኛ, romanized: Təgrəñña, pronounced [tɨɡrɨɲːä] ), also known as the Biher-Tigrinya (ብሄረ ትግርኛ, bəherä Təgrəñña) or Kebessa, are a Tigrinya-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the highlands of Eritrea, specifically the historical provinces of Hamasien, Akele Guzai and Seraye.

Tigray Province (Tigrinya: ትግራይ), also known as Tigre (Amharic: ትግሬ tigrē), was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlaid the present day Afar and Tigray regions. Akele Guzai borders with the Tigray province. It encompassed most of the territories of Tigrinya-speakers (and a few minority groups) in Ethiopia. Tigray was separated from the northern Tigrinya speaking territories by the Mareb River, now serving as the state border to Eritrea, bordering Amhara region in the south.

The great majority of inhabitants were Orthodox Christians (95.5% in 1994), with the exception of a small, but important Muslim subgroup (Jeberti) and a few Catholics (mainly Irob). Protestantism is only a very recent urban phenomenon. Despite a general impression of ethnic and cultural homogeneity, there were a few ethnic minorities, especially at the borders of Tigray, belonging to a non-Tigrinya groups, such as the Saho-speaking Irob at the north-eastern border to Eritrea, the people|Raya in the south-east, the Agaw-speaking H̬amta in Abergele north of Wag, a few Kunama in the Habesha Kunama woreda east of Humera, and scattered peripheral groups in the western lowlands across the tekeze, such as the Chare of the Sellim Bet (related with the Gumuz) and Tukrir in the Humera area.

Hamasien (Tigrinya: ሓማሴን) (Ge'ez ሓማሴን) was a historical province including and surrounding Asmara, part of modern Eritrea. In 1996 the province was divided and distributed largely to the modern Maekel region, with smaller parts being distributed amongst the Debub, Northern Red Sea, Gash-Barka, and Anseba regions.

Hamasien was located northwest of Akele Guzai and northeast of Seraye. Traditionally being the center of the Eritrean highlands, it is the locality of the city of Asmara (the capital of Eritrea).

Seraye is the name of a former province of Eritrea. It has since been incorporated primarily into the Debub Region, though some western districts have become part of the Gash-Barka Region. The province was located west of Akele Guzai, south of Hamasien and north of Tigray.