Ethiopia

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This article is about the country of Ethiopia. For other uses, see Ethiopia
(disambiguation) and Ethiopian (disambiguation).
This article contains several patronymic names rather than family names. These persons are
addressed by their given name, and not by their inherited name.

Coordinates: 8°N 38°E

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ

Qafar af: ityoppiah federalih demokrasih ummuno

Afaan Oromo (Oromo): Rippabliikii Federaalawaa Dimokraatawaa Itiyoophiyaa

Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiga Federaalka Itoobiya

Tigrinya: ናይኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ

Flag

Emblem

Anthem:
ወደፊት ገስግሺ፣ ውድ እናት ኢትዮጵያ
March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia

MENU

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Capital Addis Ababa

and largest city 9°1′N 38°45′E

Official languages Amharic (federal)[1]

Regional languages  Afar
 Amharic
 Gurage
 Harari
 Oromo
 Tigrinya
 Sidamo
  Somali
 Wolaytta

Foreign languages  English[2]

 Italian[3][4]
 Arabic[5]

Religion Christianity (62.7%)

Islam (33.9%)
Traditional faiths (2.7%)
Others (0.6%)[6]

Demonym(s) Ethiopian

Government Federal dominant-

partyparliamentary republic

• President Sahle-Work Zewde

• Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali

Legislature Federal Parliamentary Assembly

• Upper house House of Federation

• Lower house House of Peoples' Representatives

Formation

• Dʿmt c. 980 BCE

• Kingdom of Aksum c. 100 CE
• Zagwe Dynasty 900
• Ethiopian Empire 1137
• Italian Ethiopia 1936
• Derg 1974
• People's Democratic Republic of 1987
Ethiopia
• Current constitution August 1995

Area
• Total 1,104,300[7] km2(426,400 sq mi) (28th)
• Water (%) 0.7

Population
• 2016 estimate 102,403,196[8] (12th)
• 2007 census 73,750,932[9]
• Density 92.7/km2 (240.1/sq mi) (123rd)

GDP (PPP) 2019 estimate

• Total $244.526 billion[10]
• Per capita $2,556[10]

GDP (nominal) 2019 estimate

• Total $88.170 billion[10]
• Per capita $921[10]

Gini (2011) 33.6[11]

medium

HDI (2017) 0.463[12]

 low · 173rd

Currency Birr (ETB)

Time zone UTC+3 (EAT)

Driving side right

Calling code +251

ISO 3166 code ET

Internet TLD .et

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text in this article correctly.

Ethiopia (/ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/; Amharic: ኢትዮጵያ, ʾĪtyōṗṗyā, listen (help·info), Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ, Oromo:
Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (የኢትዮጵያ
ፌዴራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ, yeʾĪtiyoṗṗya Fēdēralawī Dēmokirasīyawī Rīpebilīk, listen (help·info)), is
a country in the northeastern part of Africa, known as the Horn of Africa. It shares borders
with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalilandand Somalia to the east, Kenya to the
south, South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest. With over 102 million
inhabitants,[8] Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most
populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres
(420,000 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies a few miles west of the East
African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates.[5]
Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia.[13] It
is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and
places beyond.[14][15][16] According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the
Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era.[17] Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BCE, Ethiopia's
governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history. Oral literature tells that the monarchy
was founded by the Solomonic dynasty of the Queen of Sheba, under its first king, Menelik I.[18] In the
first centuries , the Kingdom of Aksummaintained a unified civilization in the region,[19][20][21][22] followed by
the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137. During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was one of
two nations to retain its sovereignty from long-term colonialism by a European colonial power. Many
newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colors. The country
was occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia (part of the Italian East Africa) until it was
liberated during World War II. Ethiopia was also the first independent member from Africa of the 20th-
century League of Nations and the United Nations.[23] In 1974, the Ethiopian monarchy under Haile
Selassie was overthrown by the Derg, a communist military government backed by the Soviet Union.
In 1987, the Derg established the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, but it was overthrown in
1991 by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has been the ruling political
coalition since.
Ethiopia and Eritrea use the ancient Ge'ez script, which is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the
world.[24] The Ethiopian calendar, which is approximately seven years and three months behind
the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A majority of the population adheres
to Christianity (mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and P'ent'ay) and the
historical Kingdom of Aksum was one of the first states to officially adopt the religion, whereas around
a third follows Islam (primarily Sunni). The country is the site of the Migration to Abyssinia and the
oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known
as Bete Israel, also resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s.[25][26] Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around
80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans.
Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches.
Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern
regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken by the nation's Nilotic ethnic minorities. Oromo is the
most populous language by native speakers, while Amharic is the most populous by number of total
speakers and serves as the working language in the federal government and as the lingua franca of
the country. Ge'ez remains important as a liturgical language, both for the Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and for the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews).
The nation is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests, and numerous rivers, and
the world's hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are the largest continuous
mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves contains the largest cave on the continent.
Ethiopia also has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa.[27] Additionally, the sovereign
state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24 (G-24), the Non-Aligned Movement, G-77 and
the Organisation of African Unity. Its capital city Addis Ababa serves as 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. In
the 1970s and 1980s, Ethiopia experienced civil conflicts and communist purges, which hindered
its economy. The country has since recovered and now has the largest economy (by GDP) in East
Africa, having the largest population in the region.[28][29][30]