Traditionally, they inhabit the territory in Eritrea bounded by the bay of Erafayle (ዓራፋሊ) in the east, the Laacasi Gade (ላዐሲ ጋደ) valleys in the south, and the Eritrean highlands to the west (the Shimejana district on the eastern flank of the South- or Debub region in what was formerly known as Akele Guzai province).

It has about 250,000 speakers in total and four main dialects:[clarification needed] Northern dialect, mainly spoken by Casawurta (ዓሳኣዉርታ), Tharuuca (ጣሩዓ), Casabat Care (ዓሳባት ካረ), etc.

; Central dialect is mainly spoken by Faqhat Xarak (ፋቃት ሓራክ) of Minifere (ሚኒ ፊረ); Southern dialect mainly spoken by Minifire (ሚኒ ፊረ), Xazo (ሓዞ/ዶ), Dabrti-meela ዳብሪ መላ), Irob (ኢሮብ), Sancafe (ሳንዓፈ).

[2] The Saho also use the Arabic (special now Latin letters)[clarification needed] to document their history and render information.

[4] Saho is so closely related to the Cushitic Afar language, spoken as a mother tongue by the Afar people, that some linguists regard the two tongues as dialects of a single "Saho–Afar language".