Editing Axum (section)

{{Short description|Town in Tigray Region, Ethiopia}}
{{About|the modern town|the ancient empire named after it|Aksumite Empire}}
{{Other uses|Axum (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Axum
| native_name = {{resize|75%|[[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]]: ኣኽሱም &nbsp; &nbsp; [[Amharic]]: አክሱም &nbsp; &nbsp;[[Ge’ez]]: አኵስም}};

| other_name = 
| settlement_type = City
| image_skyline = {{multiple image
  |border = infobox | total_width = 300 | perrow = 1/2/3
  | image1 = Axum, Ethiopia (27167570040).jpg
  | image2 = Stelae in Main Stelae Field - Axum (Aksum) - Ethiopia - 02 (8702223458).jpg
  | image3 = Maryam Sion in Axum Nebenbau mit der Bundeslade 2010.jpg
  | image6 = Aksum, palazzo di dungur detto della regina di saba, 10 scalinata.jpg
}}
| image_caption = From top to bottom, left to right: skyline of Axum, Northern Stelae Park, Chapel of the Tablet at the [[Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion]], [[Abba Pantelewon]], farmlands in Axum, ruins of [[Dungur]].
| nickname = 
| motto = 
| pushpin_map = Ethiopia#Africa
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ethiopia##Location within Africa
| pushpin_relief = 1
| coordinates = {{coord|14|7|15|N|38|43|40|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = {{Flag|Ethiopia}}
| subdivision_type2 = [[Regions of Ethiopia|Region]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[List of zones of Ethiopia|Zone]]
| subdivision_name2 = {{Flag|Tigray}}
| subdivision_name3 = [[Central Zone, Tigray|Central]]
| elevation_m = 2131
| population_total = 94515
| population_as_of = 2022
| footnotes = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child = yes
  |ID = 15
  |Year = 1980
  |Criteria = Cultural: i, iv
  }}
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Population Size by Sex, Zone and Woreda |url=http://www.statsethiopia.gov.et/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Population-Size-by-Sex-Zone-and-Wereda-July-2022.pdf |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=Ethiopian Statistics Agency}}</ref>
}}

'''Axum''', also spelled '''Aksum''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|k|s|uː|m|audio=LL-Q33274 (shy)-Reda Kerbouche-aksum.wav}}), is a town in the [[Tigray Region]] of [[Ethiopia]] with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Ethiopia.html |title=City Population }}</ref> It is the site of the historic capital of the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Centre |first1=UNESCO World Heritage |title=Axum |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/15 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=23 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Axum is located in the [[Central Zone, Tigray|Central Zone]] of the Tigray Region, near the base of the [[Adwa]] mountains. It has an elevation of {{convert|2131|m|abbr=off}} and is surrounded by [[La'ilay Maychew]], a separately administered [[List of districts in the Tigray Region|woreda of the Tigray region]].

In 1980, [[UNESCO]] added Axum's archaeological sites to its list of [[World Heritage Site]]s due to their historic value. Prior to the beginning of the [[Tigray War]] in 2020, Axum was a leading tourist destination for foreign visitors.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kristos |first=Mihret G |date=2023-05-26 |title=Analysis: Axum, Ethiopia’s top tourist destination reels from impacts of devastating war |url=https://addisstandard.com/analysis-axum-ethiopias-top-tourist-destination-reels-from-impacts-of-devastating-war/ |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=Addis Standard |language=en-US}}</ref>