It experienced 9.4% economic growth from 2010 to 2020. Ethiopia is considered an emerging power and developing country.
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 NGOs focused on Africa. This sovereign state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24 (G-24), the Non-Aligned Movement, the G77 and the Organisation of African Unity. Christianity and Islam are the main faith traditions observed in Ethiopia. Ethiopia suffered from prolonged and unsolved inter-ethnic clashes and political instability marked by democratic backsliding.Įthiopia is a multi-ethnic state with over 80 different ethnic groups. After the collapse of Derg in 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) dominated the country with a new constitution and ethnic-based federalism. The Derg, a Soviet-backed military junta, took power in 1974 after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty, ruled the country nearly 17 years with a vicious civil war. In 1941, the British army together with Ethiopian Arbegnoch unit liberated Ethiopia amidst the Second World War. In 1935, Ethiopia was occupied by Fascist Italy and annexed with Italian possessed Eritrea and Somaliland, later forming Italian East Africa. Externally, Menelik defeated the Italian colonists in 1896 during the Scramble for Africa leaving Ethiopia and Liberia independent African nations. Įthiopia in its current border and multinational state was formed under conquests of Emperor Menelik II. By the 14th century, the empire grew its prestige through territorial expansion until mid-18th century decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint, and Ethiopia was reunified and modernized by Emperor Tewodros II in 1855. The Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts until being overthrown by Yekuno Amlak in 1270 inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and its Solomonic line dynasty claimed descent from the Biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba under their son Menelik I. After the collapse of Aksum, a variety of kingdoms thrived in what is known Ethiopia. Christianity arrived in the 4th-century and Islam was introduced in the 7th-century. In antiquity, the Kingdom of D'mt was established in the north frontier of Ethiopia, while the Kingdom of Aksum maintained unified civilization in the region. Prehistoric Ethiopia was the home of various Afroasiatic and Nilotic tribes and cultures. Īnatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out to the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period.
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. It is home to 117 million inhabitants and is the 12th-most populous country in the world and the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria. Ethiopia has a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). It shares borders with Eritrea and Djibouti to the north, Somalia to the east and northeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.Įthiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa.