Ethiopia, republic (471,776 sq mi/1,221,900 sq km; 1994 population 53,324,561; 2004 estimated population 67,851,281), NE Africa; (cap.) Addis Ababa. Formerly widely called Abyssinia,
Geography
Ethiopia borders Eritrea (N), Djibouti (NE), Somalia (E, SE), Kenya (S), and the Sudan (W). Ethiopia falls into four main geographic regions from W to E: the Ethiopian Highlands, Great Rift Valley, Somali Plateau, and the Ogaden Plateau. The Ethiopian Highlands plateau, sloping E-W, makes up approximately half of the country and is fringed in the W by the Sudanese lowlands. It averages a height 5,000 ft/1,525 m–7,000 ft/2,130 m and includes the highest point in Ethiopia, Ras Dashen (15,158 ft/4,620 m). The Blue Nile River (in Ethiopia called the Abbay) flows through the center of the plateau from Lake Tana (Ethiopia’s largest lake). The Great Rift Valley traverses the country from NE to SW and contains the Danakil Desert (N) and several large lakes (S). On the Somali Plateau the Mendebo Mountains reaches heights of more than 14,000 ft/4,267 m. The central section of the plateau is drained by the Awash, Ethiopia’s only navigable river. The Ogaden Plateau (1,500 ft/457–3,000 ft/914 m) is mostly desert but includes the Wabe Shebele, Genale (Juba), and Dawa rivers. The country is divided into three vertical climatic zones: Kolla, Woina Dega, and Dega. The Kolla (up to 5,500 ft/1,676 m) is constantly hot (no month under 68°F/20°C) and arid or semiarid. The malaria-free zone of Woina Dega (5,500 ft/1,676 m–8,000 ft/2,438 m) contains the country’s greatest population concentration and a majority of the agricultural crops. It has cool nights and has considerable rainfall, especially in summer (25 in/64 cm–80 in/203 cm). The Dega (above 8,000 ft/2,438 m), always cool, with the warmest monthly mean just over 60°F/15.5°C, has extensive pasturelands, coniferous forests, and some grain-growing areas. Ethiopia is subject to periodic drought and famines, the most recent of which were in 1958, 1966, 1973–1974, 1984–1985, and 1988.
Population
The country’s inhabitants are divided equally among Christianity (the great majority of whom belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church), Islam, and various local religions. There are over eighty distinct ethnic groups. The Amhara and Tigrinya, who together comprise about 32% of the population, live mostly in the central and N Ethiopian Plateau; they are Christians and hold most of the higher positions in the government. Amharic is the country’s official language, but a dozen different tongues are spoken. The Oromo (formerly known as Galla) live in the country’s S regions and make up about 40% of the country’s population (40% Muslim; 20% Christian). The pastoral Somali, who are mostly Muslim, live in E and SE Ethiopia. Until the 1980s, a small group of Jews, known in Israel as “Beta Israel” and known to the Ethiopians as Falashas, lived in Gondar. In the midst of famine and political instability, 10,000 Falashas emigrated through Sudan (1984–1985) to Israel and another 14,000 were airlifted out in 1991. There are also small groups of Greeks, Italians, Armenians, Arabs, and Indians who play an important role in the country’s commerce.
Economy
Ethiopia is an overwhelmingly agricultural-based country, with approximately 80% of its economically active population engaged in subsistence farming. Modern commercial agriculture accounts for only a small percentage of annual farm output. However, the government has introduced initiatives to improve agricultural production, The chief farm products include coffee, teff (millet) and other millets, sorghum, barley, wheat, maize, plantains, peas, potatoes, groundnuts, cotton, sugarcane, and tobacco; poultry, cattle, sheep, and goats are also raised. Industry is related mostly to basic consumer needs; the main industrial centers are Addis Ababa (the capital and largest city), Dire Dawa, and Nazret. The leading manufactures include processed food and beverages, sugar, textiles, leather goods, and building materials. No large-scale mineral deposits have been found in Ethiopia; salt, limestone, gold, platinum, iron ore, and sulfur are extracted in small quantities. Ethiopia continues to have one of the least developed economies in the world, due in part to a poor transportation network. The country maintains only one railroad, and most roads are not usable year round; the chief ports serving Ethiopia, Djibouti, Assab, and Massawa, are in the neighboring states of Eritrea and Djibouti. The annual value of imports into Ethiopia is usually considerably higher than the value of its exports. The principal imports are food, machinery, motor vehicles, petroleum products, chemicals, and manufactured consumer goods; the main exports are coffee, oilseeds, hides and skins, and grain. Djibouti; Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Italy, and the U.S., are leading trade partners. Educational facilities in Ethiopia are very limited with a reported (2004) adult literacy rate of 42.7%.
History to 1520
According to tradition, the Ethiopian kingdom was founded (10th century B.C.) by Solomon’s first son, Menelik I, whom the queen of Sheba is supposed to have borne. However, the first kingdom for which there is documentary evidence is that of Axum, (A.D. c.2d century). Axum controlled much of the Red Sea coast and had links with the Mediterranean world. Under King Ezana, Axum was converted (4th century) to Christianity and accepted monophysitism following the Council of Chalcedon (451) into the established Ethiopian church. Throughout the next few centuries, Axsum’s power declined; its land contacts with the Byzantine Empire were severed and its control of the Red Sea trade routes was ended. Thereafter, Axum isolated itself and directed its focus inward toward the center of the Ethiopian Plateau (mainly the regions of Amhara and Shoa). Soon it lost its cohesion and lapsed into a period of competition among small political units.
History - 1520 to 1913
A Portugese embassy reached the Ethiopian court in 1520. In 1530–1531, Ahmad Gran, a Muslim Somali leader, conquered much of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian negus (emperor) Lebna Dengel (reigned 1508–1540) appealed to Portugal for help against the Somalis. For the next two centuries the Ethiopian kingdom was beset by ruinous civil wars among princes (especially those of Tigre and Amhara). The reunification of Ethiopia began in the 19th century under Kasa (Lij Kasa; c.1818–68), who conquered Amhara, Gojjam, Tigre, and Shoa, and in 1855 had himself crowned negus as Theodore (Tewodros) II. He began to modernize and centralize the legal and administrative systems, despite the opposition of local governors. Political instability continued for the next fifty years including a skirmish with Britain (1867) and civil war. In 1889, Menelik II (former king of Shoa crowned with Italian support) signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Italy at Wuchale. Due to a dispute over the meaning of the treaty, Italy invaded (1895) but was decisively defeated by Menelik’s forces at Adwa on March 1, 1896. By the subsequent Treaty of Addis Ababa (Oct. 1896), the Treaty of Wuchale was annulled, and Italy recognized the independence of Ethiopia while retaining its Eritrean colonial base. During his reign, Menelik also greatly expanded the size of Ethiopia, adding the provinces of Harar (E), Sidamo (S), and Kaffa (SW). In addition, he further modernized the military and the government, made Addis Ababa the capital of the country (1889), developed the economy, and promoted the bldg. of the country’s first railroad (financed by French capital).
History - 1913 to 1945
Menelik died in 1913 and was succeeded by his grandson Lij Iyasu (deposed 1916). Judith (Zawditu), a daughter of Menelik, became empress with Ras Tafari Makonnen as regent and heir apparent. In the 1920s, tension arose bet. Italy and Great Britain, each trying to extend its influence in Ethiopia. Ras Tafari was given additional powers by the empress in 1928, and on her death in 1930 he was crowned negus as Haile Selassie I. Almost immediately he faced threats from Italy’s ruler, Mussolini, who was determined to establish an Italian empire and to avenge the defeat at Adwa. After a clash along the border of Italian Somaliland (December 5, 1934), Italy invaded Ethiopia (October 3, 1935). The League of Nations (which Ethiopia had joined in 1923) called for mild economic sanctions against Italy, but they had little effect. In addition, an attempt by the British and French governments to arrange a settlement by giving Italy much of Ethiopia failed. The Italians quickly defeated the Ethiopians (May 1936); Addis Ababa was captured and Haile Selassie fled the country. On June 1, 1936, the king of Italy was also made emperor of Ethiopia, and the country was combined with Eritrea (held by Italy) and Italian Somaliland to form Italian East Africa. In 1941, during World War II, British and South African forces easily conquered Ethiopia, and Haile Selassie regained his throne. Britain had considerable influence in Ethiopian affairs until the end of the war and administered the small Haud region in the SE (adjacent to present-day Somalia) until 1955. In 1945,
History - 1945 to 1987
Ethiopia became a charter member of the UN. Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia in 1952, and in 1962 it was made an integral part of the country; Ethiopia thus gained direct access to the sea. In a gradual coup d’etat that began in February 1974 and culminated in September with the ousting of Haile Selassie, a group of military officers seized control of the government. Haile Selassie’s failure to deal adequately with the long-term drought in N Ethiopia from 1973 to 1974 was, reportedly, a major reason for his downfall. A popular movement, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party, began a campaign of urban guerrilla activity that was contained by government-organized urban militias in 1977. In 1976 Ethiopia began to accept military aid from the Soviet Union and Cuba, ending a previous alliance with the U.S. In 1977, Somalia invaded disputed territory in the Ogaden Desert and the Bale province. In addition, government forces fared poorly in warfare with Eritrean nationalists who were able to gain control of most of the Eritrean province. However, with massive amounts of military aid from the USSR and troops from Cuba, the government was able to drive the Somalis out of the country (1978) and also retake lost land in Eritrea. In 1977, Lt. Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam became head of the state. Severe droughts throughout the 1980s resulted in devastating famine and prompted widespread flight to Djibouti, Somalia, and the Sudan. Meanwhile, the government blocked famine relief to the secessionist provinces of Eritrea and Tigre. During the same time period, Mendistu forced millions of rural farmers into villages, dislocating a large segment of the population
History - 1987 to Present
In 1987 Ethiopia officially became the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In 1991 the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of rebel organizations (led by Tigreans) under the leadership of Meles Zenawi, won many battles and forced Mengistu to resign and flee the country, thus overthrowing several centuries of Amharic rule. Following a UN-sponsored referendum in 1993, it declared its independence. A new constitution, drafted in 1994, divided the nation into nine federal states (Afar, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, Harari, Oromiya, Southern Nations, Somali, and Tigray) based on ethnicity and language, the Addis Ababa capital district, and the Dire Dawa provisional administrative region. The EPRDF won 539 of the 546 assembly seats in the1995 elections, but opposition parties boycotted the vote. Zenawi became Prime Minister. A two and a half year border war with Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on December 12, 2000. The boundary's final demarcation is still on hold due to Ethiopian objections to an international commission's ruling that it surrender sensitive territory. Ethiopia remains dependent on food imports, but the government is working to improve rural agriculture. Free market reforms have begun to stimulate some parts of the economy such as mining, manufacturing, and the service sector.
Government
President Girma Woldegiorgis is chief of state. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi remains as head of government. Next election to be held in 2007.
