Axum or Aksum (Tigrinya: ኣኽሱም? /'aq͡χʼsum/, Amharic: አክሱም? /'aksum/) is a city in the northern part of Ethiopia. The town has a population of 56,500 residents (2010), and is governed as an urban wäräda.The original capital of the Kingdom of Aksum, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Africa. Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from about 400 BC into the 10th century.