Axum or Aksum is a city and separate woreda in northern Ethiopia that was the original capital of the kingdom of Axum. It has a population of 56,500 (2010). Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from about 400 BC into the 10th century. The kingdom was also arbitrarily identified as Abyssinia, Ethiopia, and India in medieval writings. In 1980 UNESCO added Aksum's archaeological sites to its list of World Heritage Sites due to their historical value.