Polygamy in Ethiopia

Polygamy in Ethiopia has been formally abolished in the African nation,^[1] and there is no official recognition for polygamous marriages under civil law or any form of customary law. Ethiopia is the only nation in the Horn of Africa that does not grant any form of legal recognition to polygamous marriages.

Despite such illegalities, the practice reportedly remains intact, with several tales of polygamous groupings making international news.^[2] The most recent story covered the life of a polygamous man who is currently married to twelve wives with whom he bore a total of 78 children.^[3]

References

Polygamy in Africa

Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland

Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberanía (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) Western Sahara

Polygamous marriage by country

Performed
legally

Nationwide	Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Bangladesh Brunei Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad CAR Comoros Congo Djibouti Egypt Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia India¹ Indonesia Iran Iraq Jordan Kenya Kuwait Lebanon Libya Malaysia Maldives Mali Mauritania Morocco Myanmar Niger Oman Pakistan Qatar Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore Somalia Sri Lanka¹ Sudan Syria Tanzania Togo Uganda UAE Yemen Zambia

Statewide	Eritrea (Sharia districts)² Nigeria (Sharia states) Palestine Gaza Strip West Bank

Recognized if
performed
legally abroad

Australia (2008)
New Zealand (1980)
United Kingdom (2008; welfare only)

Recognized under
customary law

Other countries
and regions

Legal status
Polygamy
Polygyny
Polyandry
Non-monogamy
Polygamy by country
Marriage practice by country

¹ Illegal in all forms; Muslims exempt
² Regions governed by Sharia
NB: In certain countries and regions, only Muslims may legally contract a polygamous marriage

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