Ethiopia

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ (Amharic)
Ye'ītiyop'iya Fēdēralawī Dēmokirasīyawī Rīpebilīki
Anthem: 
ወደፊት ገስግሺ ፣ ውድ እናት ኢትዮጵያ
(English: "March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia")
Location of Ethiopia
Capital
and largest city
Addis Ababa
9°1′N 38°45′E / 9.017°N 38.750°E / 9.017; 38.750
Official languagesAfar
Amharic
Oromo
Somali
Tigrinya[1][2][3]
Ethnic groups
(2007 census[5][6])
Religion
(2016[7])
  • 31.3% Islam
  • 0.6% traditional faiths
  • 0.8% others / none
Demonym(s)Ethiopian
GovernmentFederal parliamentary republic[8]
• President
Sahle-Work Zewde
Abiy Ahmed
Temesgen Tiruneh
Tewodros Mihret
LegislatureFederal Parliamentary Assembly
House of Federation
House of Peoples' Representatives
Formation
• Dʿmt
980 BC
400 BC
1270
7 May 1769
11 February 1855
1904
9 May 1936
31 January 1942
• Derg
12 September 1974
22 February 1987
28 May 1991
21 August 1995
Area
• Total
1,112,000[9] km2 (429,000 sq mi) (26th)
• Water (%)
0.7
Population
• 2023 estimate
127,955,823[10] (13th)
• 2007 census
73,750,932[6]
• Density
92.7/km2 (240.1/sq mi) (123rd)
GDP (PPP)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $393.297 billion[11] (55th)
• Per capita
Increase $3,719[11] (159th)
GDP (nominal)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $192.013 billion[11] (59th)
• Per capita
Increase $1,787.176[11] (159th)
Gini (2015)Negative increase 35.0[12]
medium
HDI (2021)Increase 0.498[13]
low (175th)
CurrencyBirr (ETB)
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideright
Calling code+251
ISO 3166 codeET
Internet TLD.et

Ethiopia,[a] officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east and southeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest.[b][14] Ethiopia covers a land area of 1,112,000 square kilometres (472,000 sq. miles).[15] As of 2023, it is home to around 128 million inhabitants, making it the 13th-most populous country in the world, the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on Earth.[16][17] The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometres west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates.[18]

Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period.[19][20][21][22][23] Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family.[24] Ethiopia is Africa's oldest independent country and one of the oldest in the world with over 3000 years of history. Apart from a five-year occupation by Mussolini's Italy, Ethiopia has never been colonised.[25][26][27] In 980 BC, the Kingdom of D'mt extended its realm over Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia, while the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330,[28] and Islam arrived by the first Hijra in 615.[29] After the collapse of Aksum in 960, the Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts of Ethiopia until being overthrown by Yekuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba under their son Menelik I. By the 14th century, the empire had grown in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories; most notably, the Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century. Emperor Tewodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia.[30]

From 1878 onwards, Emperor Menelik II launched a series of conquests known as Menelik's Expansions, which resulted in the formation of Ethiopia's current border. Externally, during the late 19th century, Ethiopia defended itself against foreign invasions, including from Egypt and Italy; as a result, Ethiopia preserved its sovereignty during the Scramble for Africa. In 1936, Ethiopia was occupied by Fascist Italy and annexed with Italian-possessed Eritrea and Somaliland, later forming Italian East Africa. In 1941, during World War II, it was occupied by the British Army, and its full sovereignty was restored in 1944 after a period of military administration. The Derg, a Soviet-backed military junta, took power in 1974 after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty, and ruled the country for nearly 17 years amidst the Ethiopian Civil War. Following the dissolution of the Derg in 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) dominated the country with a new constitution and ethnic-based federalism. Since then, Ethiopia has suffered from prolonged and unsolved inter-ethnic clashes and political instability marked by democratic backsliding. From 2018, regional and ethnically based factions carried out armed attacks in multiple ongoing wars throughout Ethiopia.[31]

Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with over 80 different ethnic groups. Christianity is the most widely professed faith in the country, with significant minorities of the adherents of Islam and a small percentage to traditional faiths. This sovereign state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77, and the Organisation of African Unity. Addis Ababa is the headquarters of the African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Standby Force and many of the global non-governmental organizations focused on Africa. Ethiopia became a full member of BRICS in 2024.[32] Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries but is sometimes considered an emerging power,[33][34] having the fastest economic growth in Sub-Saharan African countries because of foreign direct investment in expansion of agricultural and manufacturing industries;[35] agriculture is the country's largest economic sector, accounting for 36% of the gross domestic product as of 2020.[36] However, in terms of per capita income and the Human Development Index,[37] the country is regarded as poor, with high rates of poverty,[38] poor respect for human rights, widespread ethnic discrimination, and a literacy rate of only 49%.[39]

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  5. ^ "Table 2.2 Percentage distribution of major ethnic groups: 2007" (PDF). Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results. Population Census Commission. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 2007Census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Ethiopia- The World Factbook". www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Zenawism as ethnic-federalism" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Overview About Ethiopia - Embassy of Ethiopia". 25 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Ethiopia Population (Live)". worldometer.info. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Ethiopia)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Gini Index coefficient". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. ^ Ethiopia EO (30 July 2023). "Overview Of Ethiopia". Embassy Of Ethiopia Washington.
  15. ^ Ethiopia EO (30 July 2023). "About Ethiopia". Embassy Of Ethiopia Washington.
  16. ^ "Population Projections for Ethiopia 2007–2037". www.csa.gov.et. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Ethiopia". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 24 September 2022. (Archived 2022 edition)
  18. ^ "Ethiopia". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  19. ^ Kessler DF (2012). The Falashas: a Short History of the Ethiopian Jews. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-283-70872-2. OCLC 819506475.
  20. ^ Hopkin M (16 February 2005). "Ethiopia is top choice for cradle of Homo sapiens". Nature. doi:10.1038/news050214-10.
  21. ^ Li J, Absher D, Tang H, Southwick A, Casto A, Ramachandran S, Cann H, Barsh G, Feldman M, Cavalli-Sforza L, Myers R (2008). "Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-Wide Patterns of Variation". Science. 319 (5866): 1100–04. Bibcode:2008Sci...319.1100L. doi:10.1126/science.1153717. PMID 18292342. S2CID 53541133.
  22. ^ "Humans Moved From Africa Across Globe, DNA Study Says". Bloomberg News. 21 February 2008. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  23. ^ Kaplan K (21 February 2008). "Around the world from Addis Ababa". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  24. ^ Blench R (2006). Archaeology, Language, and the African Past. AltaMira Press. pp. 150–163. ISBN 978-0-7591-0466-2.
  25. ^ "Ethiopia country profile". 2 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Ethiopia". November 2023.
  27. ^ "Ethiopia | People, Flag, Religion, Capital, Map, Population, War, & Facts | Britannica". 31 October 2023.
  28. ^ Moore DH (1936). "Christianity in Ethiopia". Church History. 5 (3): 271–284. doi:10.2307/3160789. ISSN 0009-6407. JSTOR 3160789. S2CID 162029676.
  29. ^ Abbink J (1998). "An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 11 (2): 109–124. doi:10.1080/13696819808717830. hdl:1887/9486. ISSN 1369-6815. JSTOR 1771876.
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  31. ^ BBC Staff (3 November 2020). "Ethiopia attack: Dozens 'rounded up and killed' in Oromia state". BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia formally join BRICS". Daily News Egypt. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
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