Ethiopia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Amharic ኢትዮጵያ Ityopp'ya) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation on the continent, or indeed in the world. Unique among African countries, Ethiopia maintained independence during the Scramble for Africa, and continued to do so except for a 5 year period when it was under Italian occupation. Ethiopia was historically called Abyssinia. The English name "Ethiopia" is derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Æthiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Æthiops ‘an Ethiopian’ -- sometimes parsed by Westerners as a purely Greek term meaning "of burnt (αιθ-) visage (ὄψ)"; however, older Ethiopian sources state that the name is derived from "'Ityopp'is", a son of Cush, son of Ham who according to legend founded the city of Aksum.
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National motto: — | |||||
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Official language | Amharic | ||||
Capital | Addis Ababa | ||||
President | Girma Wolde-Giorgis | ||||
Prime Minister | Meles Zenawi | ||||
Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 26th 1,127,127 km² 0.7% |
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Population -Total -Density |
Ranked 16th 73,053,286 60.0/km² |
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Currency | Birr (ETB) | ||||
Time zone | UTC +3 | ||||
National anthem | Wodefit Gesgeshi, Widd Innat Ityopp'ya (March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia) | ||||
Internet TLD | .et | ||||
Calling Code | 251 |
Contents |
History
- Main article: History of Ethiopia
The Kingdom of Aksum, the first verifiable kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia, rose during the first century AD. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his time. It was in the early 4th century that a Syro-Greek castaway, Frumentius, was taken to the court and eventually converted king Ezana to Christianity, thereby making it official. For this accomplishment, he received the title "Abba Selama". At various times, including a period in the 6th century, Axum controlled most of modern-day Yemen just across the Red Sea.
The line of rulers descended from the Axumite kings was broken several times: first by the Jewish Queen Gudit around 950, then by the Zagwe dynasty. Around 1270, the Solomonid dynasty came to control Ethiopia, claiming descent from the kings of Axum. They called themselves Neguse Negest ("King of Kings," or Emperor), basing their claims on their direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba.
During the reign of Emperor Lebna Dengel, Ethiopia made its first successful diplomatic contact with a European country, Portugal. This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Somali General and Imam, Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (called "Grany", or "the Left-handed"), Portugal responded to Lebna Dengel's plea for help with an army of 400 men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule. However, Jesuit missionaries eventually offended the Orthodox faith of the local Ethiopians, and in the mid-17th century Emperor Fasilidos expelled these missionaries. At the same time, the Oromo people began to question the Ethiopian Christian authorities in the Abyssinian territories, and demanded to keep their own religion.
All of this contributed to Ethiopia's isolation during the 1700s. The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by warlords like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray. Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that concluded an alliance between the two nations; however, it was not until the reign of Tewodros II that Ethiopia began to take part in world affairs once again.
The 1880s were marked by the European colonization of Africa and some modernisation, when the Italians began to vie with the British for influence in bordering regions. Assab, a port near the southern entrance of the Red Sea, was bought from the local sultan in March 1870 by an Italian company, which by 1882 led to the Italian colony of Eritrea. Conflicts between the two countries resulted in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, whereby the Ethiopians surprised the world by defeating the colonial power and remaining independent. Italy and Ethiopia signed a provisional treaty of peace on October 26, 1896.
The early 20th century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I, who undertook the rapid modernization of Ethiopia — interrupted only by the brief Italian occupation (1936–1941). British and patriot Ethiopian troops liberated the Ethiopian homeland in 1941, and Ethiopia's regained sovereignty was recognised by Britain upon the signing of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in December 1944.
Haile Selassie's reign came to an end in 1974, when a pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg", deposed him and established a one-party socialist state. The ensuing regime suffered several bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and a massive refugee problem. In 1977 Somalia attacked Ethiopia in the Ogaden War, but Ethiopia defeated them with Cuban military assistance the following year. The Derg regime was finally defeated in 1991 by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of rebel forces. In 1993, the Province of Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia, following a referendum, ending more than 20 years of armed conflict. In 1994, a constitution was adopted, that led to Ethiopia's first multiparty elections in the following year. In May 1998, a dispute over the undemarcated border with Eritrea led to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War that lasted until June 2000. This has hurt the nation's economy, but strengthened the ruling coalition. On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held another multiparty election, and resulted in the EPRDF's disputed return to power. In early June and again in November, police under the command of the EPRDF shot and killed demonstrators who were protesting the alleged election fraud.
- See also: Rulers and Heads of State of Ethiopia
Politics
- Main article: Politics of Ethiopia
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Politics of Ethiopia |
Politics of Ethiopia |
The election of Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly-chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995. Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections, ensuring a landslide victory for the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so.
The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995. The first President was Negasso Gidada. The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities. Ethiopia today has 9 semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues. Under the present government, Ethiopians enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history, although some fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press, are, in practice, somewhat circumscribed.
Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections. The incumbent President is Girma Wolde-Giorgis.
Since 1991, Ethiopia has established warm relations with the United States and western Europe and has sought substantial economic aid from Western countries and World Bank. In 2004, the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages [1].
Ethiopia held another general election in May 2005, though concerns were raised about vote rigging and intimidation on the part of the ruling EPRDF coalition. In June 2005, with the results of the election still unclear, a group of unarmed university students protested these alleged discrepancies despite a ban on protests imposed on the government, which resulted in the arrest of hundreds of protesters. On June 8, police shot 22 people in Addis Ababa. On September 5, 2005, the National Elections Board of Ethiopia released the final election results in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained its control of the government, but opposition parties increased their share of parliamentary seats. Protests of the results, beginning November 1 have prompted more than 2,000 arrests and have been subject to live gunfire from government forces, killing at least 42 people.
See also: Foreign relations of Ethiopia
Regions
Main article: Subdivisions of Ethiopia
Ethiopia has been divided by the EPRDF into 9 ethnically-based administrative regions (kililoch; singular: kilil):
- Afar
- Amhara
- Benishangul-Gumaz
- Gambela
- Harari
- Oromia
- Somali
- Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region
- Tigray
Additionally, there are two chartered cities (astedader akababiwoch, singular: astedader akababi): Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Ethiopia
Ethiopia is 1,127,127 km² in size, and is the major portion of the Horn of Africa, which is the eastern-most part of the African landmass. Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semidesert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns. Elevation and geographic location produce three climatic zones: the cool zone above 2,400 meters where temperatures range from near freezing to 16°C; the temperate zone at elevations of 1,500 to 2,400 meters with temperatures from 16°C to 30°C; and the hot zone below 1,500 meters with both tropical and arid conditions and daytime temperatures ranging from 27°C to 50°C. The normal rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September (longer in the southern highlands) preceded by intermittent showers from February or March; the remainder of year generally dry.
Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has a large number of endemic species, notably the Gelada Baboon, the Walia Ibex and the Ethiopian wolf (or Simien fox).
Economy
Main article: Economy of Ethiopia
Ethiopia remains one of Africa's poorest nations: many Ethiopians rely on food aid from abroad.
After the 1974 revolution, the economy of Ethiopia was run as a socialist economy: strong state controls were implemented, and a large part of the economy was transferred to the public sector, including most modern industry and large-scale commercial agriculture, all agricultural land and urban rental property, and all financial institutions. Since mid-1991, the economy has evolved toward a decentralized, market-oriented economy, emphasizing individual initiative, designed to reverse a decade of economic decline. In 1993, gradual privatization of business, industry, banking, agriculture, trade, and commerce was underway.
Agriculture accounts for almost 41 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 80 percent of exports, and 80 percent of the labor force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly of a subsistence nature, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g., beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia's livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa, and as of 1987 accounted for about 15 percent of the GDP.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Ethiopia
Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members.
Semitic-speaking Ethiopians (as well as some Eritreans) collectively refer to themselves as Abesha or Habesha, though others reject these names on the basis that they refer only to certain ethnicities [2]. The name is said to have originally signified "mixture", i.e. of HAm with (BE) SHem, as applied to tribes of partly Cushitic and partly Semitic extraction. The Arabic form of this term is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia," the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages.[3]
The Axumite Kingdom was one of the first nations to officially adopt Christianity, when St. Frumentius of Tyre converted Ezana of Axum during the fourth century CE. Islam in Ethiopia dates back almost to the founding of the religion; in 616, a band of Muslims were counseled by the Prophet Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Abyssinia, which was ruled by, in the Prophet's estimation, a pious Christian king. Moreover, Islamic tradition states that Bilal, one of the foremost companions of the Prophet Muhammad, was from present-day Ethiopia. A small group of Jews, the Beta Israel, lived in Ethiopia for centuries, though most emigrated to Israel in the last decades of the 20th century. There are numerous indigenous African religions in Ethiopia. In general, most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit lowland regions.
Languages
Ethiopia has 84 indigenous languages. Some of these are:
English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Ethiopia
In April 2005, the Axum obelisk, one of Ethiopia's religious and historical treasures, was returned to Ethiopia by Italy [4]. Italian troops seized the obelisk in 1937 and took it to Rome. Italy agreed to return the obelisk in 1947 in a UN agreement.
Ethiopia is the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movement, that believes Ethiopia is Zion. Rastafari view Emperor Haile Selassie I as Jesus, the human incarnation of God.
Date | English name | Local name | Remarks |
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January 7 | Orthodox Christmas Day | Genna | |
January 19 | Feast of Epiphany | Timket | |
February 2 | Feast of the Sacrifice | Eid ul-Adha | varies; this date is for 2005 |
March 2 | Adwa Day | Ye'adowa B'al | |
April 21 | Birthday of The Prophet Muhammad | Mawlid | varies; this date is for 2005 |
April 29 | Orthodox Good Friday | Siqlet (Crucifixion) | varies; this date is for 2005 |
May 1 | Orthodox Easter | Fasika | varies; this date is for 2005 |
May 2 | Easter Monday (public holiday) | varies; this date is for 2005 | |
May 5 | Patriots' Day | Arbegnoch Qen | |
May 28 | National Day | Downfall of Derg Regime | |
August 18 | Buhe | ||
September 11 | Ethiopian New Year | Inqut'at'ash | |
September 27 | Finding of the True Cross | Meskel | |
November 3 | End of Ramadan | Eid ul-Fitr | varies; this date is for 2005 |
Miscellaneous topics
- List of Ethiopian companies
- Military of Ethiopia
- Monarchies of Ethiopia
- National parks in Ethiopia
- Communications in Ethiopia
- Transportation in Ethiopia
External links
Relief Organizations
Government
- Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington DC information about the Ethiopian government
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
- Ministry of Information of Ethiopia
- The Crown Council of Ethiopia official monarchy site
- The Parliament of Ethiopia official site
News
- Addis Tribune newspaper with a weekly online edition
- allAfrica - Ethiopia news
- Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) government agency
- Nazret.com Ethiopian news portal
- Ethiopian Review
- Helm Magazine art, culture, fashion and talent from Ethiopia
- Walta Information Center news
Overviews
- BBC News - Country profile: Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Treasures - History, Culture, Language, Religion - Ethiopia
- CIA - The World Factbook: Ethiopia
- Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Ethiopia 2000
- Library of Congress - Country Study: Ethiopia most data as of July 1991
Directories
- Ethio Search Ethiopian on-line directory and search engine
- LookSmart - Ethiopia directory category
- Open Directory Project - Ethiopia directory category
- Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Ethiopia directory category
- The Index on Africa - Ethiopia directory category
- University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Ethiopia directory category
- Yahoo! - Ethiopia directory category
Tourism
- Ethiopian Tourism Commission government agency
- Travel guide to Ethiopia from Wikitravel
Portals
- CyberEthiopia.com (Ethiopic)
- Ethiopian Reporter
- EthioSearch.com (Amharic and English)
- EthioIndex.com (News, Directory, Forums)
- EthioZena.net
- myethiopia.info
Other
- Amharic software store download free Unicode standard Geez software
- ElectionsInfo.com - Forum
- Ethiopundit blog of "Eclectic Ethiopian & Ethio-American Commentary"
- rastafarian.nl - Ethiopia
- Tezeta.org
- Ethio Networks website developers in Amharic
References
- This article incorporates public domain text from the Library of Congress Country Studies.
- Pankhurst, Dr. Richard. "History of Northern Ethiopia - and the Establishment of the Italian Colony or Eritrea". Civic Webs Virtual Library. URL accessed on March 25, 2005.
- This article incorporates information from The World Factbook, which is in the public domain.
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