Ethiopia << ee thee OH pee uh >> is a country in northeastern Africa. Much of Ethiopia consists of rugged mountains and a high plateau. Addis Ababa is Ethiopia’s capital and largest city.
The name Ethiopia comes from a Greek word meaning burned faces. The ancient Greeks used the word to refer to lands south of Egypt—including modern Ethiopia—where people had darker skin than the Greeks or most Egyptians. Ethiopia was formerly called Abyssinia, a name derived from the Yemeni term Habashat, which means the country of mixed population. More than 80 ethnic groups, speaking dozens of different languages, live in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations. According to tradition, the first emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik I, was the son of the Biblical queen of Sheba and King Solomon of ancient Israel. Later Ethiopian rulers of the Solomonic dynasty claimed descent from the queen of Sheba and Solomon. This dynasty ruled Ethiopia until 1974, when a military coup (take-over) established a socialist government. Military leaders controlled the government until they were overthrown by rebels in 1991. Ethiopia adopted a new constitution in 1994.
Government
National government
of Ethiopia consists of a two-house legislature, a prime minister, and a president. The legislature is called the Federal Parliamentary Assembly. It consists of the House of Federation and the House of People’s Representatives. Ethiopia’s states elect the members of the House of Federation. The people elect the members of the House of People’s Representatives. The House of People’s Representatives chooses the prime minister, who heads the government. Both houses of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly choose the president, who serves a mainly ceremonial role.
Local government.
Ethiopia is divided into 12 states and 2 cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The states were created on the basis of the ethnic groups living in them. Each state has its own parliamentary assembly chosen through local elections.
Loading the player...Ethiopia national anthem
Courts.
The Federal Supreme Court is Ethiopia’s highest court. It hears appeals from the Federal High Court, the second highest court.
Armed forces.
Ethiopia has an army and an air force. Members of the armed forces must be at least 18 years of age.
People
Ethnic and language groups.
The government classifies Ethiopians into groups based on the main language they speak. Major ethnic and language groups include the Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayan peoples.
The Oromo make up the largest ethnic and language group. They speak a language called Oromiffa or Afaan Oromo, an African language related to Somali. The Oromo live in nearly every part of the country. Amhara and Tigrayan peoples of the northern plateau speak Amharic—the nation’s official language—and Tigrinya, respectively. These languages belong to the same language family as Arabic and Hebrew.
Other important ethnic and language groups in Ethiopia include the Somali, who live in the southeast, and the Afar, who live in the east and northeast. Many Ethiopians speak more than one language, including English and other Ethiopian and European languages.
Ge’ez (also called Ethiopic) is an ancient Ethiopian language. In the past, all Ethiopian Bibles were written in it. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church still uses Ge’ez in ceremonies.
Way of life.
Most Ethiopians live in rural areas as either farmers or livestock herders. Many small farmers use an ancient wooden plow called a maresha and oxen to plow their fields. They grow crops for sale, such as coffee, and various cereal crops, such as barley, corn, wheat, and a tiny local grain called teff. Livestock herders raise camels, cattle, goats, and sheep. They travel from place to place to find food for their animals. Ethiopians in cities and towns work for the government, hold jobs in businesses and industries, or run shops. 
Poverty in Ethiopia is widespread. Each year, many rural men and women move to towns and cities to seek jobs and a better life. Medical care, electric power, schools, and clean water supplies are part of what attracts rural Ethiopians to cities.
Styles of houses vary widely in Ethiopia. Many houses in rural areas are round with walls constructed of wooden poles and mud plaster. These houses have roofs of thatch or iron. In Tigray areas, many dwellings are rectangular and made of stone. Addis Ababa and other cities have tall office buildings, multistory apartment houses, large villas, and mixed neighborhoods of stone, brick, mud, and cement houses.
In rural areas, many men and women wear a white cotton cloth called a shamma. Men wear a shamma over a shirt, and women wear it over a dress. In towns and cities, many people wear clothing similar to that worn in Europe and North America. In southern Ethiopia, some people wear traditional clothing made of leather or a colorful cloth used as a shawl and a waist wrap.
Ethiopians eat a wide variety of foods based on a diet of injera. This large flat bread is made of fermented flour from teff or other grains. In addition, Ethiopians eat barley, corn, or wheat, which are roasted or boiled. Ethiopians in some areas eat a bread made from the root of ensete, a plant that resembles a banana tree. Popular beverages include beer, coffee, tea, and thin yogurt.
Favorite sports in Ethiopia include soccer, volleyball, and genna, a game similar to field hockey. Ethiopians also enjoy playing card games, as well as a local kind of chess and other board games. Holidays include special celebrations from both the Christian and Islamic faiths.
Religion.
Most Ethiopians are either Christians or Muslims. About 40 percent of the people belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a Christian faith related to the Coptic, Greek, and Russian Orthodox churches.
A small group of Jewish Ethiopians called the Falasha or Beta Israel lived in the northeast highlands. The group practiced an old form of Judaism. The Falasha left Ethiopia to take up citizenship in the Jewish state of Israel. They left in two main waves, one in the mid-1980’s and the other in the 1990’s. However, other Jews known as Falash Mura remained in Ethiopia. These people are descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity in the 1800’s to avoid persecution. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the government of Israel allowed some Falash Mura to immigrate to Israel.
Education.
Ethiopian children are not required by law to attend school. About 45 percent of the children attend elementary school, but less than 15 percent attend high school. The main national university is Addis Ababa University. There are also several regional, state, and private universities.
The arts.
Much of the country’s art is related to the Ethiopian Orthodox religion. In the past, many artists painted church walls with Biblical scenes and pictures of saints. Artists also illustrated religious manuscripts with elaborate decorations. Writers created religious poetry and other sacred works in the Ge’ez language. 
Since the early 1900’s, Ethiopian writers have produced novels, plays, and poetry in Amharic and other modern Ethiopian languages. Modern artists have created murals, paintings, and stained-glass windows that incorporate European and American styles.
Land and climate
The Ethiopian Plateau covers much of the western and central parts of the country. Lowlands surround the plateau.
The Ethiopian Plateau
spreads out over about two-thirds of the country. It lies between 6,000 and 10,000 feet (1,800 and 3,000 meters) above sea level. Most of Ethiopia’s people live on the plateau, which has the country’s best agricultural land. Most of the plateau receives more than 40 inches (102 centimeters) of rain annually. Average temperatures on the plateau range from about 72 °F (22 °C) in areas below 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) to less than 60 °F (16 °C) at higher altitudes.
The Great Rift Valley, which runs north and south through eastern Africa, divides the plateau into two large sections. The sections are further divided by deep, spectacular river gorges and high mountain ranges. Ethiopia’s highest mountain, Ras Dashen, rises 15,158 feet (4,620 meters) above sea level on the plateau.
The lowlands.
The Ethiopian Plateau slopes downward in all directions toward lowland regions. Most of the lowland areas have an average temperature of about 80 °F (27 °C) and receive less than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain a year. The Denakil Depression, which lies below sea level in northeastern Ethiopia, is one of the hottest places in the world. Temperatures there sometimes rise above 120 °F (49 °C). The lowlands are thinly populated because of the hot, dry climate and because the soil is poor for farming.
Rivers and lakes.
Ethiopia’s chief rivers include the Awash, Baro, Blue Nile (called Abay in Ethiopia), Genale, Omo, and Wabe Shebele. Lake Tana, the country’s largest lake, lies in the northwest. A number of lakes extend through southern Ethiopia along the Great Rift Valley. The lakes include Abaya and Ziway. 
Animal life and vegetation.
A wide variety of animals live in Ethiopia. Some of these animals live nowhere else. They include an antelope called the walia ibex and the Simien fox, also known as the Simien jackal or Ethiopian wolf. Coffee originated in the forests of southwest Ethiopia. Teff and several other types of crops also had their origins in the country. The most common tree in Ethiopia is the eucalyptus, which was imported from Australia in the 1890’s.
Economy
Ethiopia is one of Africa’s poorest and least developed countries. Agriculture is the country’s chief economic activity and employs most of its workers. Service industries, especially banking, government, insurance, retail trade, tourism, and transportation also contribute much to Ethiopia’s economy.
Agriculture.
Many Ethiopian farmers produce goods chiefly for their own use. Grain crops include corn, sorghum, teff, and wheat. Many farmers in the southwest grow coffee plants. Other crops grown for sale include khat, oilseeds, and sugar cane. The leaves of khat produce a feeling of well-being when chewed. Most farmers also raise cattle, chickens, goats, and sheep.
Although agriculture is widespread in Ethiopia, farming methods are inefficient. Many farmers struggle just to raise enough food for their families. Droughts occur from time to time and sometimes result in famine.
Manufacturing
accounts for a small percentage of both Ethiopia’s economic production and its employment. The country produces cement, leather products, processed foods, and textiles.
International trade.
Ethiopia imports much more than it exports. Coffee, gold, leather products, oilseeds, and vegetables rank among Ethiopia’s chief exports. Imports include food, machinery, motor vehicles, and petroleum products. Ethiopia’s chief trading partners include China, Germany, India, Italy, and Saudi Arabia.
Transportation and communication.
Most of Ethiopia’s roads are unpaved. A railroad connects Addis Ababa with the port city of Djibouti, in the country also called Djibouti. Addis Ababa also has an international airport. Much of Ethiopia’s international trade takes place through Djibouti.
Several daily newspapers are published in Amharic, English, and Tigrinya. The government controls the country’s television station and most of its radio stations.
History
Early days.
Some of the oldest fossil fragments of human ancestors have been found in Ethiopia. They date from about 5 million years ago.
By about 1000 B.C., farmers in Ethiopia had domesticated a number of crops, including such grains as millet, sorghum, and teff. The plow was already the major agricultural tool by that time. In addition, there is evidence that Ethiopians controlled water and used irrigation.
The Aksum Kingdom
was the first important state in what is now Ethiopia. It was well established by the A.D. 200’s. Its capital was the city of Aksum. The Aksum Kingdom gained much wealth through trade with Arabia, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, and Rome. The Aksumites exported gold, ivory, and spices. Aksum reached its height of power in the 300’s under King Ezana. He made Christianity the official religion of Aksum.
In the late 600’s, Aksum’s power fell sharply after Muslims gained control of Arabia, the Red Sea, and the coast of northern Africa. The Muslims put an end to the foreign trade of Christian Aksum.
The Zagwé dynasty.
In 1137, the Zagwé dynasty rose to power on the Ethiopian Plateau. The Zagwé rulers had their capital at Roha—now called Lalibela. During the reign of the Zagwé emperors, 11 magnificent churches were carved out of solid rock at Roha. The churches still stand. In 1270, Yekuno Amlak overthrew the Zagwé dynasty. After the 1500’s, the Ethiopian Empire broke up into a number of small kingdoms.
Menelik II,
who became emperor in 1889, reunified the old Ethiopian Empire by gaining control of many of the small kingdoms. In 1896, at the Battle of Adwa, Menelik defeated an Italian army that had occupied a part of Ethiopia called Eritrea. This victory earned him much respect and increased his power in Ethiopia.
Under Menelik, Ethiopia engaged in its own colonial expansion and nearly doubled its territory to the south and east. Menelik made Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia. He began the construction of a railway linking Addis Ababa to Djibouti. Menelik also established the first modern schools and hospitals in Ethiopia.
In 1913, Lij Iyasu, Menelik’s grandson, became emperor of Ethiopia. He introduced political reforms that threatened the power of the traditional ruling class. A military coup removed Lij Iyasu from power in 1916. France, Italy, and the United Kingdom supported the coup because they feared Lij Iyasu might side against them in World War I (1914-1918). Zawditu, Menelik’s daughter, then became empress of Ethiopia. She ruled with the help of Ras Tafari, the son of Menelik’s cousin. Tafari was named heir to the throne.
Haile Selassie.
Zawditu died in 1930. Tafari then became emperor and took the name Haile Selassie I. He continued Menelik’s policy of modernizing Ethiopia. In 1931, he gave the country its first written constitution. 
Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 in an attempt to expand its colonies in Africa. In 1936, the Italians conquered Addis Ababa, and Haile Selassie fled to the United Kingdom. Italy aided Ethiopia’s development by building a network of roads. However, Italian rule was harsh, and Ethiopians rose up against it. Some Ethiopians used guerrilla tactics, such as sudden raids and other small-scale attacks. In 1941, during World War II, British troops helped the Ethiopians drive the Italians out of Ethiopia. Haile Selassie then returned to the throne.
Eritrea, a province along the Red Sea, had been captured by Italy in the 1880’s. In the late 1940’s, Eritrean and Ethiopian nationalists debated whether Eritrea should be an independent nation or a federation with Ethiopia. In 1952, Ethiopia regained control of the area when Eritrea was joined with Ethiopia in a federation. In 1961, civil war broke out in Eritrea. The following year, the Eritrean parliament dissolved the federation under pressure from Ethiopia.
The Ogaden region of southeastern Ethiopia also became a trouble spot in the 1960’s. The government of neighboring Somalia claimed the region, which Menelik had conquered in the 1890’s. Many Somali people had always lived there, and they revolted against Ethiopian rule. In the late 1970’s, Ethiopia and Somalia fought over the Ogaden region.
Military take-over.
In the 1960’s, many Ethiopians became dissatisfied with Haile Selassie’s government. They demanded better living conditions for the poor and an end to government corruption. In 1972 and 1973, severe drought led to famine in northern Ethiopia. Haile Selassie’s critics claimed that he ignored victims of the famine. In 1974, Ethiopian military leaders removed the emperor from power and took over the government.
The military government adopted socialist policies and established close relations with the Soviet Union. In 1975, the government began large-scale land reform, breaking up the huge estates of the former nobility. The government claimed ownership of this land. The military leaders also killed many of their Ethiopian opponents. In the late 1970’s, insurgents in the Tigray region in the north called for independence from the central government.
Severe drought again led to famine in the mid-1980’s, mainly in the northern part of the country. About 1 million people died as a result. In 1987, Ethiopia adopted a constitution that provided for a return to civilian government. A parliament was elected, but the country’s military leaders continued to hold power. Lieutenant Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam became president.
The late 1900’s.
In the 1980’s, Ethiopia’s government continued to face rebellions in the Eritrea and Tigray regions. In 1991, rebels consisting of Eritrean, Tigrayan, and Oromo liberation forces defeated President Mengistu and his army. In May 1991, the rebels, chiefly from the province of Tigray, established the Transitional Government of Ethiopia. The Eritrean rebels established a separate government, and Eritrea gained independence in 1993. At that time, however, part of the border between the two countries was not clearly defined. 
In 1994, Ethiopia adopted a new constitution. In 1995, the country held its first multiparty parliamentary elections. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnic parties that had dominated the government since 1991, won elections in 1995 and in 2000. Coalition leader Meles Zenawi was chosen prime minister after both elections.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bloody war over disputed land from 1998 to 2000, when the two sides signed a peace treaty. The treaty established a commission to determine the border between the two countries. The commission issued a border ruling in 2002. However, Ethiopia objected to the ruling, and the border remained in dispute. In 2005, a commission of an international court blamed Eritrea for starting the border war. Both Eritrea and Ethiopia began troop build-ups along the border. In 2009, the commission ruled that Eritrea owed Ethiopia $10 million. Both countries accepted the ruling. In June 2018, Ethiopia said it would accept the boundary commission’s 2002 decision and would return disputed areas to Eritrea. The next month, Ethiopia and Eritrea signed another peace agreement, formally ending the state of war between them. In September 2018, the first of several crossing points on the long-disputed border between the two countries were temporarily opened.
Recent developments.
Droughts again struck Ethiopia in the early 2000’s. Millions of people faced starvation.
In May 2005, elections were held. Prime Minister Zenawi’s EPRDF claimed victory. However, opponents argued that the election had been rigged, and protests erupted. On June 8, security forces in Addis Ababa opened fire on protesters, killing dozens of them. The opposition continued to dispute the results. About 100 members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly boycotted the Assembly. In November, more election protests turned violent. Over 190 people died in the June and November protests.
In 2006, an Ethiopian court convicted former President Mengistu in absentia (while absent) of genocide. Mengistu has been living in Zimbabwe since 1991.
Also in 2006, Ethiopia sent troops to aid Somali government forces in fighting back an Islamic militia that had gained control of southern Somalia. In 2007, African Union peacekeeping forces, which also included Ethiopian troops, entered Somalia. Since then, both troops from Ethiopia and African Union forces have fought Islamic militants, as well as clan factions, in Somalia.
The EPRDF increased its parliamentary majority following elections in 2010. Opposition parties again claimed that the results were fraudulent. Zenawi died in 2012. His deputy, Hailemariam Desalegn, succeeded him as prime minister. The EPRDF remained in power following parliamentary elections in 2015. In February 2018, Desalegn stepped down. In March, the ruling coalition elected Abiy Ahmed as chairman of the EPRDF. The following month, the House of People’s Representatives elected Abiy as the new prime minister. In 2019, the parties of the EPRDF coalition merged to form one party, the Prosperity Party. Also in 2019, Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on ending the border conflict with Eritrea, and for his democratic reforms within Ethiopia. Nevertheless, he faced significant challenges. As he worked to unify the country, some of Ethiopia’s many ethnic minorities began to demand greater regional autonomy.
In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed soon after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All 157 people on board were killed in the worst accident ever experienced by the state-owned airline. After an extensive investigation, it was determined that software on the Boeing 737 Max aircraft that was meant to prevent a stall instead put the plane into a nose dive, causing the crash.
In 2020, Ethiopia faced a humanitarian crisis as successive waves of billions of locusts swarmed East Africa. The locusts destroyed crops and pastureland and forced thousands of people to flee their villages.
Also in 2020, fighting broke out in Ethiopia’s northern state of Tigray. Abiy ordered air strikes against armed forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that ruled the region. Abiy claimed that the pro-TPLF forces had attacked government military camps. Tensions between pro-TPLF forces and the government simmered after the TPLF refused to join the EPRDF coalition that brought Abiy to power. Abiy also sent government troops into Tigray, as did neighboring Eritrea. By mid-2021, thousands of Tigrayans had died in the conflict, and more than a million others had been displaced.
In elections held in 2021, the Prosperity Party won a majority of seats in the House of People’s Representatives. Abiy remained prime minister. In March 2022, Abiy declared a truce to stop the fighting in Tigray, to which the TPLF agreed. The truce lasted only five months before fighting resumed. A peace treaty signed in November ended the conflict. Also in 2022, a severe drought led to famine in Ethiopia.
