The ethnicity's population is reported to be 172,000, according to the 1994 national census; the latest available national census, the one performed in 2007, does not list them as a separate group. However, only 1,625 people still speak Qimant, and it is considered endangered, as most children speak Amharic; likewise, adherence to the traditional religion has dropped substantially, as most of the population has converted to Christianity. Converts often consider themselves to have become Amhara. Historically, there was a constant effort to assimilate the Qemant people to the Amhara people. This resulted in the alarming decrease of the number of people who speak the Qemant language. In the 2007 Ethiopian Census, the Qemant people were not counted as a separate ethnic group. This is one of the most extreme examples of the efforts to assimilate the Qemant to the Amhara, and thus deny the ethnic identity of the Qemant people.