From wikipedia about Ethiopia
Ethiopia (Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ) is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa, and officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million people, and the tenth-largest by area, with its 1, 100, 000 km2. The capital is Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia is bordered by
Eritrea to the north,
Sudan and South
Sudan to the west,
Djibouti and
Somalia to the east, and
Kenya to the south. It is also the most populous landlocked country in the world.
Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history, and the Ethiopian dynasty traces its roots to the 2nd century BC. Speaking after his signing the disputed treaty between
Ethiopia and
Italy in 1889, Emperor Menelik II made clear his position: "We cannot permit our integrity as a Christian and civilized nation to be questioned, nor the right to govern our empire in absolute independence. The Emperor of
Ethiopia is a descendant of a dynasty that is 3, 000 years old — a dynasty that during all that time has never submitted to an outsider.
Ethiopia has never been conquered and she never shall be conquered by anyone. ", and Addis Ababa became the location of several international organizations focused on Africa.
Modern
Ethiopia and its current borders are a result of significant territorial reduction in the north and expansion in the south toward its present borders, owing to several migrations and commercial integration as well as conquests, particularly by Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobena. In 1974, the dynasty led by Haile Selassie was overthrown as civil wars intensified. Since then,
Ethiopia has seen a variety of governmental systems.
Ethiopia is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), G-77 and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Today, Addis Ababa is still the headquarters of the African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce (PACCI) and in Africa.
The country is a land of natural contrasts, with waterfalls and volcanic hot springs.
Ethiopia has some of Africa's highest mountains as well as some of the world's lowest points below sea level. The largest cave in Africa is located in
Ethiopia at Sof Omar.
Ethiopia has one of the largest number of rivers in the world while the country's northernmost area at Dallol, Afar is the hottest place year-round anywhere on Earth. There are altogether around 80 different ethnic groups in
Ethiopia today, with the two largest being the Oromo and the Amhara, both of which speak Afro-Asiatic languages. The country is also famous for its Olympic gold medalists, rock-hewn churches and as the place where the coffee bean originated. Currently,
Ethiopia is the top coffee and honey-producing country in Africa, and home to the largest livestock population in Africa.
Ethiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions. It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. It has a Christian majority and a third of the population is Muslim.
Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in
Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement.
Ethiopia, which has Africa's second biggest hydropower potential, is the source of over 85% of the total Nile water flow and contains rich soils, but it nevertheless underwent a series of famines in the 1980s, exacerbated by adverse geopolitics and civil wars, resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands. Slowly, however, the country has begun to recover, and today
Ethiopia has the biggest economy in East Africa (GDP) as the Ethiopian economy is also one of the fastest growing in the world. It is a regional powerhouse in the Horn and east Africa.