A Church in Mek'ele, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Menelik II Palace, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Did you know?
Anatomically modern humans emerged in what is now Ethiopia. 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 civilisation in the region for 900 years. Christianity arrived to the kingdom in 330 AD, while Islam gained influence during the first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, the Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts of Ethiopia.
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Wukro Chirkos Church, Wukro, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Entoto Maryam Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Names
Tradition holds that the name Ethiopia (ኢትዮጵያ) comes from the name of the first King of Ethiopia, Ethiop, or Ethiopis.
Ayele Berkerie explains: According to an Ethiopian tradition, the term Ethiopia is derived from the word Ethiopis, a name of the Ethiopian king, the seventh in the ancestral lines. Metshafe Aksum or the Ethiopian Book of Aksum identifies Itiopis as the twelfth king of Ethiopia and the father of Aksumawi. The Ethiopians pronounce Ethiopia እትዮጵያ with a Sades or the sixth sound እ as in incorporate and the graph ጰ has no equivalent in English or Latin graphs.
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Tower of the Fasilides Palace in the Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Merkato, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
History
Several important finds have propelled Ethiopia and the surrounding region to the forefront of palaeontology. The oldest hominid discovered to date in Ethiopia is the 4.2 million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus (Ardi) found by Tim D. White in 1994. The most well-known hominid discovery is Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy). Known locally as Dinkinesh, the specimen was found in the Awash Valley of Afar Region in 1974 by Donald Johanson, and is one of the most complete and best-preserved adult Australopithecine fossils ever uncovered. Lucy's taxonomic name refers to the region where the discovery was made. This hominid is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago.
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A clothing shop in Mek'ele, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Merkato, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Geography
At 1,104,300 square kilometres (426,372.61 sq mi), Ethiopia is the world's 26th-largest country, comparable in size to Bolivia. It lies between the 3rd parallel north and the 15th parallel north and longitudes 33rd meridian east and 48th meridian east.
The major portion of Ethiopia lies in the Horn of Africa, which is the easternmost part of the African landmass. The territories that have frontiers with Ethiopia are Eritrea to the north and then, moving in a clockwise direction, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan.
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Sign in Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Merkato, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Government and politics
Ethiopia is a federal parliamentary republic, wherein the Prime Minister is the head of government, and the President is the head of state but with largely ceremonial powers. Executive power is exercised by the government and federal legislative power vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The House of Federation is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature with 108 seats, and the lower chamber is the House of Peoples' Representatives (HoPR) with 547 seats.
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Houses in Gheralta Massif, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Merkato, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Economy
Ethiopia registered the fastest economic growth under Meles Zenawi's administration.
According to the IMF, Ethiopia was one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, registering over 10% economic growth from 2004 through 2009. It was the fastest-growing non-oil-dependent African economy in the years 2007 and 2008. In 2015, the World Bank highlighted that Ethiopia had witnessed rapid economic growth with real domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 10.9% between 2004 and 2014.
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Demographics
Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world. Its total population has grown substantially in recent decades, rising from 38.1 million in 1983 to 135 M in 2025. The 2050 Ethiopia population forecast is 225 M. According to UN estimations in 2013, life expectancy had improved substantially over time, with male life expectancy reported to be 56 years and for women 60 years.
Ethiopia's population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans.
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Culture
The culture of Ethiopia is diverse, formed by the interaction of Semitic, Cushitic and less populous Nilo-Saharan speaking peoples since the first millennium BCE. The dominant Semitic-speaking groups, such as the Tigrayans, Amharas and Gurage, are distinguished by their feudal traditions, hierarchical structure and agrarian life. This is rooted partly in South Arabian culture as a result of return migration, while the southern Cushitic (Oromo and Somali) are strong adherents to egalitarianism and pastoral life. Other traditions from the Kafficho, Sidamo, and Afar peoples are also present.
Wikipedia: Ethiopia – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0