Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia የኢትዮጵያ ፌደራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ (Amharic) | |
---|---|
Anthem: ወደፊት ገስግሺ ፣ ውድ እናት ኢትዮጵያ (English: "March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia") | |
![]() | |
ISO 3166 code | ET |
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the Northeast, East and Southeast, Kenya to the South, South Sudan to the West, and Sudan to the Northwest. Ethiopia covers a land area of 1,112,000 square kilometres (472,000 sq. miles). , it is home to around 129 million inhabitants, making it the 13th-most populous country in the world, the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on Earth. The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometres west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates.
Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. 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 civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330, and Islam arrived by the first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, the Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts of Ethiopia until being overthrown by Yekuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba under their son Menelik I. By the 14th century, the empire had grown in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories; most notably, the Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century. Emperor Tewodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia. (Full article...)
The attack on the United States embassy in Addis Ababa was an assault against the chancery of the embassy of the United States to the Ethiopian Empire by shiftas. It occurred in early May 1936 following the collapse of the Ethiopian government and the departure of Emperor Haile Selassie from the city prior to the Italian conquest of Addis Ababa. The attack forced the temporary abandonment of the compound and the evacuation of its personnel by the British Army.
American diplomatic and consular staff, supported by Italian troops, returned to reoccupy the chancery several days following their evacuation. In the United States, American minister Cornelius Van Hemert Engert was recognized for his actions leading the defense of the chancery, though the administration of Franklin Roosevelt would come under public criticism for not better providing for its protection. (Full article...)Countries
Africa • Countries • Eritrea • African military history task force
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: