Portal:Ethiopia

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
የኢትዮጵያ ፌደራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ (Amharic)
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia የኢትዮጵያ ፌደራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ (Amharic)
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	Anthem: ; ወደፊት ገስግሺ ፣ ውድ እናት ኢትዮጵያ; (English: "March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia");
ISO 3166 code	ET

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Introduction

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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 East, 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). As of 2024^[update], it is home to around 109 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...)

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Ethiopian historiography includes the ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern disciplines of recording the history of Ethiopia, including both native and foreign sources. The roots of Ethiopian historical writing can be traced back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum (c. AD 100 – c. 940). These early texts were written in either the Ethiopian Ge'ez script or the Greek alphabet, and included a variety of mediums such as manuscripts and epigraphic inscriptions on monumental stelae and obelisks documenting contemporary events. The writing of history became an established genre in Ethiopian literature during the early Solomonic dynasty (1270–1974). In this period, written histories were usually in the form of royal biographies and dynastic chronicles, supplemented by hagiographic literature and universal histories in the form of annals. Christian mythology became a linchpin of medieval Ethiopian historiography due to works such as the Orthodox Kebra Nagast. This reinforced the genealogical traditions of Ethiopia's Solomonic dynasty rulers, which asserted that they were descendants of Solomon, the legendary King of Israel.

Ethiopian historiographic literature has been traditionally dominated by Christian theology and the chronology of the Bible. There was also considerable influence from Muslim, pagan and foreign elements from within the Horn of Africa and beyond. Diplomatic ties with Christendom were established in the Roman era under Ethiopia's first Christian king, Ezana of Axum, in the 4th century AD, and were renewed in the Late Middle Ages with embassies traveling to and from medieval Europe. Building on the legacy of ancient Greek and Roman historical writings about Ethiopia, medieval European chroniclers made attempts to describe Ethiopia, its people, and religious faith in connection to the mythical Prester John, who was viewed as a potential ally against Islamic powers. Ethiopian history and its peoples were also mentioned in works of medieval Islamic historiography and even Chinese encyclopedias, travel literature, and official histories. (Full article...)

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Kebede at the 2007 Amsterdam Marathon

Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa (Amharic: ፀጋየ ከበደ ዎርዶፋ; born 15 January 1987) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including marathons. He quickly rose to become a prominent distance runner after his international debut at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2007. In his second year of professional running, he won the Paris Marathon, the Fukuoka Marathon and the marathon bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the 2009 season he established himself as one of Ethiopia's top athletes: he came second in the London Marathon and at his first World Championships in Athletics he took the bronze medal in the marathon. He retained his Fukuoka Marathon title at the end of 2009, running the fastest ever marathon race in Japan. He won the 2010 London Marathon – his first World Marathon Major – and the 2013 London Marathon. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Ethiopia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Axumite stelae in the northern part of Ethiopia, dating well over a thousand years, serve as a remembrance of Ethiopia's past architecture. (from Ethiopia)
Image 2The Addis Ababa Science Museum of Art and Science serves as the country's biggest hub which showcases the country's newest innovations (from Ethiopia)
Image 3The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam currently under construction is set to be the largest dam in Africa (from Ethiopia)
Image 4Mengistu Haile Mariam was sentenced to death in absentia for committing crimes during his rule (from Ethiopia)
Image 5Aksumite currency of the Aksumite king Endubis, 227–35, at the British Museum. (from Ethiopia)
Image 6The African Union Headquarters located in Addis Ababa since its conception, Ethiopia is a founding member to the AU (from Ethiopia)
Image 7Declining child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Ethiopia since 1950 (from Ethiopia)
Image 8Fasil Ghebbi, one of the key castles of the Gondarine period. (from Ethiopia)
Image 9A Walia Ibex in Simien Mountains National Park, one of the national symbols of Ethiopia, found only in the north of the country (from Ethiopia)
Image 10Addis Ababa seen from the air, 2024 (from Ethiopia)
Image 11Over 5 million residents live in Addis Ababa the epicenter of the nation's economy (from Ethiopia)
Image 12Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) training under AMISOM, 2021 (from Ethiopia)
Image 13Ethiopian civil conflict: territorial control as of September 2023 (from Ethiopia)
Image 14Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 (from Ethiopia)
Image 15Sheger Park is the largest park in the country, hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year since its opening (from Ethiopia)
Image 16Abebe Bikila, Ethiopia's first Olympic gold medalist (from Ethiopia)
Image 17The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation former headquarters in Addis Ababa (from Ethiopia)
Image 18Emperor Haile Selassie I with U.S. President Roosevelt during the end of World War II (from Ethiopia)
Image 19Ethiopian troops sent by the government under the Emperor Haile Selassie I during the Korean War fighting for South Korean independence (from Ethiopia)
Image 20The Church of Saint George, Lalibela a pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church; the site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela". (from Ethiopia)
Image 21Relief map of Ethiopia (from Ethiopia)
Image 22A Homo sapiens idaltu hominid skull (from Ethiopia)
Image 23The Federal Supreme Court is the highest court determining constitutionality of ordeals in the nation (from Ethiopia)
Image 24Giyorgis of Segla, prolific religious author in the Late Middle Ages (from Ethiopia)
Image 25The Ethiopian Empire during the Middle Ages (from Ethiopia)
Image 26This meal consisting of injera and several kinds of wat (stew) is typical of Ethiopian cuisine. (from Ethiopia)
Image 27House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly (from Ethiopia)
Image 28An Ethiopian logistics shipping cargo docked at the Red Sea (from Ethiopia)
Image 29Development of GDP per capita (from Ethiopia)
Image 30Addis Ababa seen at nighttime, the financial epicenter of the country (from Ethiopia)
Image 31Yared in a piece of 15th century Ethiopian sacred art holding a mequamia (prayer stick) (from Ethiopia)
Image 32Cultural performance in Addis Ababa (from Ethiopia)
Image 33Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (bottom row, fourth from left) in G8 Group meeting in 2007 (from Ethiopia)
Image 34The Blue Nile falls during winter provides over 86 percent of the Nile river's water coming from melted snow in the Simien mountains below 0. (from Ethiopia)
Image 35Köppen climate classification of Ethiopia (from Ethiopia)
Image 36The Empire of Axum at its peak in the 6th century. (from Ethiopia)
Image 37Map of regions and zones of Ethiopia (from Ethiopia)
Image 38Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin in 1980s one of Ethiopia's renowned writers (from Ethiopia)
Image 39Entrance of Addis Ababa University (from Ethiopia)
Image 40An Orthodox bible dated at least 1,500 years, being the oldest illustrated bible in the world, depicts Corinthian pillars (from Ethiopia)

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Selected pictures

Image 1

Haile Selassie I was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. The heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, he is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history. Selassie is revered as the religious symbol for God incarnate among the Rastafari movement, whose name comes from Ras (literally "Head," an Ethiopian title equivalent to Duke), and Tafari Makonnen, Selassie's pre-coronation name.

Photo credit: American Colony, Jerusalem
Image 2

The black-headed lapwing (Vanellus tectus tectus) is a resident breeder located across sub-Saharan Africa, living in locations ranging from Senegal to Ethiopia.

Photo credit: Charles J. Sharp
Image 3

The black-chested snake eagle (Circaetus pectoralis) is a large African bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and Beaudouin's snake eagles, to which it is closely related. As well as feeding on snakes, which may be swallowed while still alive, it feeds on lizards, small mammals, frogs and insects. It typically perches in an elevated position ready to swoop silently to capture its prey, before returning to its perch to eat.

Photo credit: Charles J. Sharp
Image 4

The plains zebra (Equus quagga, subspecies Grant's zebra pictured) is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Angola and eastern South Africa. The plains zebra is mid-sized, smaller on average than the other two zebra species, and thick-bodied with relatively short legs. Adults of both sexes can stand from 1.1 to 1.47 m (3.6 to 4.8 ft) high at the shoulder, are 2 to 2.5 m (6.6 to 8.2 ft) long (excluding the tail), and weigh 175 to 387 kg (386 to 853 lb), with males slightly heavier than females.

Photo credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Image 5

Saint George (died 23 April 303) was a soldier of Cappadocian Greek origin. A member of Roman emperor Diocletian's Praetorian Guard, he was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He is immortalised in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon and his feast day is celebrated on 23 April. Saint George is claimed as their patron saint by England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Catalonia and several other nation states, as well as by various cities, universities, professions and organisations.

Painting credit: Carlo Crivelli

Did you know - load new batch

... that Liberian paramount chief Tamba Taylor worked as a tailor and claimed to have sewn clothes for Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie and Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah?
... that the government of Ethiopia's SNNP Region supported local governments calling for a referendum to secede from the region?
... that Aguil Chut-Deng took 22 child refugees from South Sudan to Ethiopia during civil war so that they could attend school?
... that Quintin Johnstone advocated giving control of an American-governed law school to native Ethiopians?

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In the news

25 August 2024 –: At least thirteen people are killed and at least 14 others remain missing after a boat carrying Ethiopian and Yemeni migrants from Djibouti sinks off the coast of Taiz Governorate, Yemen. (Al Jazeera)

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