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81-714: Negus is the word for "king" in the Ethiopian Semitic languages and a title which was usually bestowed upon a regional ruler by the Negusa Nagast , or "king of kings," in pre-1974 Ethiopia . Negus is a noun derived from the Ge'ez Semitic root ngś , meaning "to reign". The title Negus literally translated to Basileus ( Greek : βασιλεύς) in Ancient Greek , which was seen many times on Aksumite currency . The title has subsequently been used to translate

162-525: A Marxist-Leninist state . The abolition of feudalism , increased literacy , nationalization , and sweeping land reform including the resettlement and villagization from the Ethiopian Highlands became priorities. After a power struggle in 1977, Mengistu Halie Mariam gained undisputed leadership of the Derg. In 1977, Somalia, which had previously been receiving assistance and arms from

243-490: A British mission that concluded with an alliance between the two nations, but it was not until 1855 that the Amhara kingdoms of northern Ethiopia (Gondar, Gojjam , and Shewa ) were briefly united after the power of the emperor was restored beginning with the reign of Tewodros II . Tewodros II began a process of consolidation, centralisation, and state-building that would be continued by succeeding emperors. This process reduced

324-490: A Sades or the sixth sound እ as in incorporate and the graph ጰ has no equivalent in English or Latin graphs. Ethiopis is believed to be the twelfth direct descendant of Adam. His father is identified as Kush, while his grandfather is known as Kam. In the 15th-century Ge'ez Book of Axum , the name is ascribed to a legendary individual called Ityopp'is . He was an extra-biblical son of Cush, son of Ham , said to have founded

405-621: A judicial system. In April 1993, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia after a national referendum . In May 1998, a border dispute with Eritrea led to the Eritrean–Ethiopian War , which lasted until June 2000 and cost both countries an estimated $ 1 million a day. This had a negative effect on Ethiopia's economy, and a border conflict between the two countries would continue until 2018 . As of 2018, further civil war in Ethiopia continues, mainly due to destabilization of

486-467: A mild climate year round. With temperatures fairly uniform year round, the seasons in Addis Ababa are largely defined by rainfall: a dry season from October to February, a light rainy season from March to May, and a heavy rainy season from June to September. The average annual rainfall is approximately 1,200 millimetres (47 in). There are on average seven hours of sunshine per day. The dry season

567-485: A similar elevation to Addis Ababa and have a comparable climate. In less elevated regions, particularly the lower lying Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands in the east of Ethiopia, the climate can be significantly hotter and drier. Dallol , in the Danakil Depression in this eastern zone, has the world's highest average annual temperature of 34 °C (93.2 °F). Ethiopia is vulnerable to many of

648-409: A study published in the journal Science , this dwelling is proof of the earliest permanent human occupation at high altitude yet discovered. Thousands of animal bones, hundreds of stone tools, and ancient fireplaces were discovered, revealing a diet that featured giant mole rats . Evidence of some of the earliest known stone-tipped projectile weapons (a characteristic tool of Homo sapiens ),

729-641: Is below. Ethiopia 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 1,104,300 square kilometres (1,104,300 square kilometres (426,400 sq mi)). As of 2024 , it

810-645: Is home to around 132 million inhabitants, making it the 10th-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

891-509: Is now Ethiopia , others northeast out of Africa into Canaan , Syria and the Mesopotamian valley. The division of Ethiopic into northern and southern branches was proposed by Cohen (1931) and Hetzron (1972) and garnered broad acceptance, but has been challenged by Rainer Voigt, who concludes that the northern and southern languages are closely related. Hudson (2013) recognises five primary branches of Ethiosemitic. His classification

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972-464: Is now Tigray Region and Eritrea. According to the medieval Book of Axum , the kingdom's first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. Aksum would later at times extend its rule into Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea. The Persian prophet Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his era, during the 3rd century. It is also believed that there

1053-547: Is now thought to have been minor, limited to a few localities, and disappearing after a few decades or a century. It may have been a trading or military colony in alliance with the Ethiopian civilization of Dʿmt or some other proto-Axumite state. After the fall of Dʿmt during the 4th century BC, the Ethiopian plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms. In the 1st century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum emerged in what

1134-401: Is surrounded by lowlands, steppes , or semi-desert. There is a great diversity of terrain with wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlement patterns. Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country, ranging from the deserts along the eastern border to the tropical forests in the south to extensive Afromontane in the northern and southwestern parts. Lake Tana in the north

1215-489: Is the country's largest economic sector, accounting for over 37% of the gross domestic product as of 2022. However, in terms of per capita income and the Human Development Index , the country is regarded as poor, with high rates of poverty , poor respect for human rights , widespread ethnic discrimination , and a literacy rate of only 49%. Tradition holds that the name Ethiopia (ኢትዮጵያ) comes from

1296-786: Is the most widely professed faith in the country, with significant minorities of the adherents of Islam and a small percentage to traditional faiths . This sovereign state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24 , the Non-Aligned Movement , the Group of 77 , and the Organisation of African Unity . Addis Ababa is the headquarters of the African Union , the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry ,

1377-570: Is the source of the Blue Nile . It also has many endemic species, notably the gelada , the walia ibex and the Ethiopian wolf ("Simien fox"). The wide range of altitude has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas, and this has helped to encourage the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation. The nation is a land of geographical contrasts, ranging from the vast fertile west, with its forests and numerous rivers, to

1458-508: Is the sunniest time of the year, though even at the height of the rainy season in July and August there are still usually several hours per day of bright sunshine. The average annual temperature in Addis Ababa is 16 °C (60.8 °F), with daily maximum temperatures averaging 20–25 °C (68.0–77.0 °F) throughout the year, and overnight lows averaging 5–10 °C (41.0–50.0 °F). Most major cities and tourist sites in Ethiopia lie at

1539-615: The Aksumite Empire , indicates that Aksum's ruler governed an area that was flanked to the west by the territory of Ethiopia and Sasu. The Aksumite King Ezana eventually conquered Nubia the following century, and the Aksumites thereafter appropriated the designation "Ethiopians" for their own kingdom. In the Ge'ez version of the Ezana inscription, Aἰθίοπες is equated with the unvocalized Ḥbšt and Ḥbśt (Ḥabashat), and denotes for

1620-689: The East African campaign in 1941. The country was placed under British military administration , and then Ethiopia's full sovereignty was restored with the signing of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in December 1944. On 24 October 1945, Ethiopia became a founding member of the United Nations . In 1952, Haile Selassie orchestrated a federation with Eritrea . He dissolved this in 1962 and annexed Eritrea, resulting in

1701-467: The Eritrean War of Independence . Haile Selassie also played a leading role in the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Opinion within Ethiopia turned against Haile Selassie, owing to the worldwide 1973 oil crisis causing a sharp increase in gasoline prices starting on 13 February 1974, leading to student and worker protests. The feudal oligarchical cabinet of Aklilu Habte-Wold

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1782-510: 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. From 1878 onwards, Emperor Menelik II launched a series of conquests known as Menelik's Expansions , which resulted in

1863-540: The Ethiopian–Adal War , but was ultimately defeated at the 1543 Battle of Wayna Daga . By the 16th century, an influx of migration by ethnic Oromo into northern parts of the region fragmented the empire's power. Embarking from present-day Guji and Borena Zone , the Oromos were largely motivated by several folkloric conceptions—beginning with Moggaasaa and Liqimssa —many of whom related to their raids. This persisted until gada of Meslé. According to Abba Bahrey ,

1944-528: 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. Within Ethiopia is a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley , which runs generally southwest to northeast and

2025-555: The Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco have since been dated to an earlier period, about 300,000 years ago, while Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) from southern Ethiopia is the oldest anatomically modern Homo sapiens skeleton currently known (196 ± 5 kya). According to some linguists, the first Afroasiatic -speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic era from the family's proposed urheimat ("original homeland") in

2106-747: The Mahdist War allied to Britain, Turkey, and Egypt against the Sudanese Mahdist State. In 1887, Menelik II , king of Shewa , invaded the Emirate of Harar after his victory at the Battle of Chelenqo . On 10 March 1889, Yohannes IV was killed by the Sudanese Khalifah Abdullah's army whilst leading his army in the Battle of Gallabat . Ethiopia, in roughly its current form, began under the reign of Menelik II, who

2187-472: The Merawi massacre in early 2024, which left 50 to 100 residents deaths in Merawi town in Amhara. 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

2268-676: 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

2349-721: The Nile Valley , or the Near East . The majority of scholars today propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in northeast Africa because of the higher diversity of lineages in that region, a telltale sign of linguistic origin. In 2019, archaeologists discovered a 30,000-year-old Middle Stone Age rock shelter at the Fincha Habera site in Bale Mountains at an elevation of 3,469 metres (11,381 feet) above sea level. At this high altitude, humans are susceptible both to hypoxia and to extreme weather. According to

2430-562: The Omo remains , were excavated in the southwestern Omo Kibish area and have been dated to the Middle Paleolithic , around 200,000 years ago. Additionally, skeletons of Homo sapiens idaltu were found at a site in the Middle Awash valley. Dated to approximately 160,000 years ago, they may represent an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens , or the immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans. Archaic Homo sapiens fossils excavated at

2511-536: The Red Terror , a violent political repression campaign by the Derg against various opposition groups. In 1987, the Derg dissolved itself and established the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) upon the adoption of the 1987 Constitution of Ethiopia . A 1983–85 famine affected around 8 million people, resulting in 1 million dead. Insurrections against authoritarian rule sprang up, particularly in

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2592-557: The Sahara that were then known within the Ecumene (habitable world). The earliest mention of the term is found in the works of Homer , where it is used to refer to two people groups, one in Africa and one in the east from eastern Turkey to India. This Greek name was borrowed into Amharic as ኢትዮጵያ, ʾĪtyōṗṗyā . In Greco - Roman epigraphs, Aethiopia was a specific toponym for ancient Nubia . At least as early as c.  850 ,

2673-613: The USSR , invaded Ethiopia in the Ogaden War , capturing part of the Ogaden region. Ethiopia recovered it after it began receiving massive military aid from the Soviet bloc countries. By the end of the seventies, Mengistu presided over the second-largest army in all of sub-Saharan Africa , as well as a formidable air force and navy. In 1976–78, up to 500,000 were killed as a result of

2754-654: The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa , the African Standby Force and many of the global non-governmental organizations focused on Africa. Ethiopia became a full member of BRICS in 2024. Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries but is sometimes considered an emerging power , having the fastest economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries because of foreign direct investment in expansion of agricultural and manufacturing industries; agriculture

2835-740: The Zemene Mesafint or "Age of Princes," a period of isolation. Emperors became figureheads, controlled by regional lords and noblemen like Ras Mikael Sehul, Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigray, and by the Yejju Oromo dynasty of the Wara Sheh , including Ras Gugsa of Yejju . Before the Zemene Mesafint, Emperor Iyoas I had introduced the Oromo language ( Afaan Oromo ) at court, replacing Amharic. Ethiopian isolationism ended following

2916-495: The colours of the pan-African flag with green, yellow and red stripes in representation of pan-Africanist ideology. The early 20th century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari) . He came to power after Lij Iyasu was deposed, and undertook a nationwide modernization campaign from 1916 when he was made a Ras and Regent ( Inderase ) for the Empress Regnant Zewditu , and became

2997-587: The de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire. Following Zewditu's death, on 2 November 1930, he succeeded her as emperor. In 1931, Haile Selassie endowed Ethiopia with its first-ever Constitution in emulation of Imperial Japan's 1890 Constitution . The independence of Ethiopia was interrupted by the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , beginning when it was invaded by Fascist Italy in early October 1935, and by subsequent Italian rule of

3078-647: 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,

3159-542: The rulers of Shewa until the reign of Sahle Selassie , when he and his successors adopted the royal title as well. Sometime during the development of the Ethio-Semitic language family "m-l-k," the original triconsonantal root for king, was elevated to the generic word for "god" in the form of the broken plural "ʾämlak/ʔamlāk." During this time period the semitic term for a ruler or lord, n-g-s, began to mean "king." In an ancient Aramaic inscription mentioning

3240-500: The Aksumite population to shift into the southern region and establish the Zagwe dynasty , changing its capital to Lalibela . Zagwe's rule ended when an Amhara noble man Yekuno Amlak revolted against King Yetbarak and established the Ethiopian Empire (known by exonym "Abyssinia"). The Ethiopian Empire initiated territorial expansion under the leadership of Amda Seyon I . He launched campaigns against his Muslim adversaries to

3321-687: The Aksumite territory reached its peak between the 5th and 6th centuries. This period was interrupted by several incursions into the South Arabian protectorate, including Jewish Dhu Nuwas of the Himyarite Kingdom and the Aksumite–Persian wars . In 575, the Aksumites besieged and retook Sana'a following the assassination of its governor Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan . The Red Sea was left to the Rashidun Caliphate in 646, and

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3402-640: The Greco-Roman sphere of influence, but embarked on significant cultural ties and trade connections between the Indian subcontinent and the Roman Empire via the Silk Road , primarily exporting ivory , tortoise shell, gold and emeralds, and importing silk and spices. The kingdom adopted the name "Ethiopia" during the reign of Ezana in the 4th century. After the conquest of Kingdom of Kush in 330,

3483-623: The Italian government to expand their territorial claims. This First Italo–Ethiopian War culminated in the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896, in which Italy's colonial forces were defeated by the Ethiopians. During this time, about a third of the population died in the Great Ethiopian Famine (1888 to 1892), and the rinderpest swept through the area, destroying much of the herd economy. On 11 October 1897, Ethiopia adopted

3564-565: The South Semitic languages is widely debated, with some sources, such as A. Murtonen (1967) and Lionel Bender (1997), suggesting an origin in Ethiopia, and others suggesting the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula . A recent 2009 study based on a Bayesian model suggested the latter, with Ethiosemitic being introduced from southern Arabia some 2,800 years ago. This statistical analysis could not estimate when or where

3645-810: The Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November 2022 . Coupled with OLA insurgency , the federal government relations with Fano militias, who previously allied to the government in the Tigray War, deteriorated in mid-2023, resulting in a war in the Amhara Region . According to reports conducted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), mass human rights violations carried out by ENDF troops including door-to-door searches, extrajudicial killings, massacres and detentions. Notable incident includes

3726-449: The ancestor of all Semitic languages diverged from Afroasiatic, but it suggested that the divergence of East, Central, and South Semitic branches most likely occurred in the Levant . According to other scholars, Semitic originated from an offshoot of a still earlier language in North Africa , perhaps in the southeastern Sahara , and desertification forced its inhabitants to migrate in the fourth millennium BCE – some southeast into what

3807-406: The ancient Habash . 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 ,

3888-409: The capital to Gondar in 1636, marking the beginning of the " Gondarine period ". He expelled Jesuits, reclaimed lands, and relocated them to Fremona . During his rule, Fasilides constructed the iconic royal fortress, Fasil Ghebbi , built forty-four churches, and revived Ethiopian art . He is also credited with building seven stone bridges over the Blue Nile River . Gondar's power declined after

3969-454: The city of Axum . The Greek name Αἰθιοπία (from Αἰθίοψ , "an Ethiopian") is a compound word, later explained as derived from the Greek words αἴθω and ὤψ ( eithō "I burn" + ōps "face"). According to the Liddell-Scott Jones Greek-English Lexicon , the designation properly translates as burnt-face in noun form and red-brown in adjectival form. The historian Herodotus used the appellation to denote those parts of Africa south of

4050-405: The country (1936–1941) after Italian victory in the war. Italy, however, never managed to secure the country in its totality, due to resistance from the Arbegnoch , this made Ethiopia, along with Liberia , the only African countries to never be colonized. Following the entry of Italy into World War II , British Empire forces, together with the Arbegnoch , liberated Ethiopia in the course of

4131-458: The country and have a climate which is generally considerably cooler than other regions at similar proximity to the Equator. Most of the country's major cities are located at elevations of around 2,000–2,500 m (6,562–8,202 ft) above sea level, including historic capitals such as Gondar and Axum. The modern capital, Addis Ababa, is situated on the foothills of Mount Entoto at an elevation of around 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). It experiences

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4212-410: The country and was granted asylum in Zimbabwe. In July 1991, the EPRDF convened a National Conference to establish the Transitional Government of Ethiopia composed of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In 1994, a new constitution was written that established a parliamentary republic with a bicameral legislature and

4293-431: The country with a new constitution and ethnic-based federalism . Since then, Ethiopia has suffered from prolonged and unsolved inter-ethnic clashes and political instability marked by democratic backsliding . From 2018, regional and ethnically based factions carried out armed attacks in multiple ongoing wars throughout Ethiopia . Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with over 80 different ethnic groups . Christianity

4374-450: The country. Ethnic violence rose during the late 2010s and early 2020s, with various clashes and conflicts leading to millions of Ethiopians being displaced. The federal government decided that elections for 2020 (later being rescheduled to 2021 ) be cancelled, due to health and safety concerns about COVID-19 . The Tigray Region 's TPLF opposed this, and proceeded to hold elections anyway on 9 September 2020. Relations between

4455-453: The court as slaves . They were given positions of trust by the monarch, and they converted members of the royal court to Christianity. Frumentius became the first bishop of Aksum. A coin dated to 324 shows that Ethiopia was the second country to officially adopt Christianity (after Armenia did so in 301), although the religion may have been at first confined to court circles; it was the first major power to do so. The Aksumites were accustomed to

4536-477: The death of Iyasu I in 1706. Following Iyasu II 's death in 1755, Empress Mentewab brought her brother, Ras Wolde Leul, to Gondar, making him Ras Bitwaded. This led to regnal conflict between Mentewab's Quaregnoch and the Wollo group led by Wubit. In 1767, Ras Mikael Sehul , a regent in Tigray Province , seized Gondar, killing the child Iyoas I in 1769, the reigning emperor, and installed 70-year-old Yohannes II . Between 1769 and 1855, Ethiopia witnessed

4617-419: The earliest expansion occurred under Emperor Dawit II ( luba Melbah ), when they encroached to Bale before invading Adal Sultanate. Ethiopia saw major diplomatic contact with Portugal from the 17th century, mainly related to religion. Beginning in 1555, Portuguese Jesuits attempted to develop Roman Catholicism as the state religion. After several failures, they sent several missionaries in 1603, including

4698-401: The east, resulting in a significant shift in the balance of power in favor of the Christians for the next two centuries. After Amda Seyon's successful eastern campaigns, most of the Muslim principalities in the Horn of Africa came under the suzerainty of the Ethiopian Empire. Stretching from Gojjam to the Somali Coast in Zelia . Among these Muslim entities was the Sultanate of Ifat . During

4779-407: The federal government and Tigray deteriorated rapidly, and in November 2020, Ethiopia began a military offensive in Tigray in response to attacks on army units stationed there, marking the beginning of the Tigray war . By March 2022, as many as 500,000 people had died as a result of violence and famine . After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years, Ethiopia and

4860-419: The first time the highland inhabitants of Aksum. This new demonym was subsequently rendered as ḥbs ('Aḥbāsh) in Sabaic and as Ḥabasha in Arabic . Derivatives of this are used in some languages that use loanwords from Arabic, for example in Malay Habsyah . In English, and generally outside of Ethiopia, the country was historically known as Abyssinia. This toponym was derived from the Latinized form of

4941-440: The formation of Ethiopia's current border. Externally, during the late 19th century, Ethiopia defended itself against foreign invasions, including from Egypt and Italy ; as a result, Ethiopia preserved its sovereignty during the Scramble for Africa . In 1936, Ethiopia was occupied by Fascist Italy and annexed with Italian-possessed Eritrea and Somaliland , later forming Italian East Africa . In 1941, during World War II , it

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5022-442: The god ʿAṯtar his name is followed by the title 𐡍𐡂𐡔 ( ngš ), corresponding to Ancient North Arabian 𐪌𐪔𐪆 ( ngś ), meaning "the ruler." Ethiopian Semitic languages With 57,500,000 total speakers as of 2019, including around 25,100,000 second language speakers, Amharic is the most widely spoken of the group, the most widely spoken language of Ethiopia and second-most widely spoken Semitic language in

5103-401: The most influential, Spanish Jesuit Pedro Paez . Under Emperor Susenyos I , Roman Catholicism became the state religion of the Ethiopian Empire in 1622. This decision caused an uprising by the Orthodox populace. In 1632, Emperor Fasilides halted Roman Catholic state administration, restoring Orthodox Tewahedo as the state religion. Fasilides' reign solidified imperial power, relocating

5184-408: The name Aethiopia also occurs in many translations of the Old Testament in allusion to Nubia. The ancient Hebrew texts identify Nubia instead as Kush . However, in the New Testament , the Greek term Aithiops does occur, referring to a servant of the Kandake , the queen of Kush. Following the Hellenic and biblical traditions, the Monumentum Adulitanum , a 3rd-century inscription belonging to

5265-418: 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

5346-430: The northern part of Ethiopia in Tigray and Amhara regions, and is widely believed to be the successor state to Punt . This polity's capital was located at Yeha in what is now northern Ethiopia. Most modern historians consider this civilization to be a native Ethiopian one, although in earlier times many suggested it was Sabaean -influenced because of the latter's hegemony of the Red Sea . Other scholars regard Dʿmt as

5427-446: The northern regions of Eritrea and Tigray. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) merged with other ethnically based opposition movements in 1989, to form the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The collapse of Marxism–Leninism during the revolutions of 1989 coincided with the Soviet Union stopping aid to Ethiopia altogether in 1990. EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa in May 1991, and Mengistu fled

5508-405: The port city of Adulis was plundered by Arab Muslims in the 8th century; along with irrevocable land degradation , claimed climate change and sporadic rainfall precipitation from 730 to 760, these factors likely caused the kingdom to decline in power as part of an important trade route. Aksum came to an end in 960 when Queen Gudit defeated the last king of Aksum. In response, the remnant of

5589-442: The power of regional rulers, restructured the empire's administration, and created a professional army. These changes created the basis for establishing the effective sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ethiopian state. In 1875 and 1876, Ottoman and Egyptian forces, accompanied by many European and American advisors, twice invaded Abyssinia but were initially defeated. From 1885 to 1889 (under Yohannes IV ), Ethiopia joined

5670-413: The reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob , the Ethiopian Empire reached its pinnacle. His rule was marked by the consolidation of territorial acquisitions from earlier rulers, the oversight of the construction of numerous churches and monasteries, the active promotion of literature and art, and the strengthening of central imperial authority. Ifat's successor, the Adal Sultanate , tried to conquer Ethiopia during

5751-411: The result of a union of Afroasiatic-speaking cultures of the Cushitic and Semitic branches; namely, local Agaw peoples and Sabaeans from Southern Arabia. However, Ge'ez , the ancient Semitic language of Ethiopia, is thought to have developed independently from the Sabaean language . As early as 2000 BC, other Semitic speakers were living in Ethiopia and Eritrea where Ge'ez developed. Sabaean influence

5832-560: 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. Ethiopia is also considered one of the earliest sites of the emergence of anatomically modern humans , Homo sapiens . The oldest of these local fossil finds,

5913-412: The stone tips of javelins or throwing spears, were discovered in 2013 at the Ethiopian site of Gademotta , which date to around 279,000 years ago. In 2019, additional Middle Stone Age projectile weapons were found at Aduma, dated 100,000–80,000 years ago, in the form of points considered likely to belong to darts delivered by spear throwers. In 980 BC, Dʿmt was established in present-day Eritrea and

5994-470: The word "king" or "emperor" in Biblical and other literature. In more recent times, it was used as an honorific title bestowed on governors of the most important provinces (kingdoms): Gojjam , Begemder , Wello , Tigray and the seaward kingdom, (where the variation Bahri Negasi (Sea King), was the title of the ruler of present-day central Eritrea). The military title "Meridazmatch" was initially used by

6075-652: The world after Arabic . Tigrinya has 7 million speakers and is the most widely spoken language in Eritrea. There is a small population of Tigre speakers in Sudan, and it is the second-most spoken language in Eritrea. The Ge'ez language has a literary history in its own Ge'ez script going back to the first century AD. It is no longer spoken but remains the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches , as well as their respective Eastern Catholic counterparts. The linguistic homeland of

6156-490: 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 second-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. The predominant climate type is tropical monsoon, with wide topographic-induced variation. The Ethiopian Highlands cover most of

6237-713: Was occupied by the British Army , and its full sovereignty was restored in 1944 after a period of military administration . The Derg , a Soviet-backed military junta, took power in 1974 after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty, and ruled the country for nearly 17 years amidst the Ethiopian Civil War . Following the dissolution of the Derg in 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) dominated

6318-569: Was Emperor from 1889 until his death in 1913. From his base in the central province of Shewa, Menelik set out to annex territories to the south, east, and west — areas inhabited by the Oromo, Sidama , Gurage, Welayta , and other peoples. He achieved this with the help of Ras Gobana Dacche 's Shewan Oromo militia, which occupied lands that had not been held since Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi 's war, as well as other areas that had never been under Ethiopian rule. For his leadership, despite opposition from more traditional elements of society, Menelik II

6399-468: Was a connection between Egyptian and Ethiopian churches. There is diminutive evidence that the Aksumites were associated with the Queen of Sheba , via their royal inscription. Around 316 AD, Frumentius and his brother Edesius from Tyre accompanied their uncle on a voyage to Ethiopia. When the vessel stopped at a Red Sea port, the natives killed all the travellers except the two brothers, who were taken to

6480-502: Was heralded as a national hero. He had signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Italy in May 1889, by which Italy would recognize Ethiopia's sovereignty so long as Italy could control an area north of Ethiopia (now part of modern Eritrea). In return, Italy was to provide Menelik with weapons and support him as emperor. The Italians used the time between the signing of the treaty and its ratification by

6561-535: Was toppled, and a new government was formed with Endelkachew Makonnen serving as Prime Minister. Haile Selassie's rule ended on 12 September 1974, when he was deposed by the Derg , a committee made up of military and police officers. After the execution of 60 former government and military officials , the new Provisional Military Administrative Council abolished the monarchy in March 1975 and established Ethiopia as

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