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 Aksum maintained a unified
civilization in the region,[19][20][21][22] followed by the Ethiopian Empire c. 1137. During the late–
19th-century Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia and Liberia were the only two nations that preserved
their sovereignty from long-term colonisation by a European colonial power, and many newly-
independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colours. However, the country
was later occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia (part of Italian East Africa), until it
was liberated during World War II. During the Italian rule, the government abolished the slavery, a
practice that existed in the country for centuries, and urbanization steadily increased.[23] Ethiopia
was also the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations and the
United Nations.[24] 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.[25] They follow the Ethiopian calendar, which is approximately seven years and three
months behind the Gregorian 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 Islamic 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.[26][27] 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. Ge'ez remains important as a liturgical
language for both the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo
Church and for the Beta Israel.

The nation is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests and its 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.[28] Additionally, the
sovereign state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24 (G-24), the Non-Aligned
Movement, the G77 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 as of 2010 has the largest
economy (by GDP) in East Africa, having the largest population in the region.[29][30][31] Despite
these improvements, it remains one of the world's poorest countries.[32] In addition to poverty,
Ethiopia faces hunger, corruption, weak infrastructure, and poor respect for human rights and
access to health and education (with an illiteracy rate of 51%),[33] ranking in the worst quartile on
the Human Development Index.

Contents

1 Nomenclature

2 History

2.1 Prehistory

2.2 Antiquity

2.3 During Muhammad's era

2.4 Middle Ages

2.5 Aussa Sultanate

2.6 Zemene Mesafint

2.7 From Menelik II to Adwa (1889–1913)

2.8 Haile Selassie I era (1916–1974) and Italian Ethiopia

2.9 Communist era (1974–1991)

2.10 Federal Democratic Republic (1991–present)

2.11 Government reforms (2018–present)

3 Politics

3.1 Governance

3.2 Human rights

4 Military

5 Administrative divisions

6 Geography

6.1 Climate

7 Environment

7.1 Wildlife

7.2 Deforestation
7.3 Protection

8 Economy

8.1 Energy and hydropower

8.2 Agriculture

8.3 Exports

8.4 Transportation

9 Demographics

9.1 Languages

9.2 Script

9.3 Religion

9.3.1 Beta Israel

9.4 Urbanization

9.4.1 Rural and urban life

10 Health

11 Education

12 Culture

12.1 Naming

12.2 Calendar

12.3 Time

12.4 Cuisine

12.5 Media

12.6 Music

12.7 Sport

13 See also

14 References

14.1 Citations

14.2 Sources

15 Further reading

16 External links

Nomenclature
The Greek name Αἰθιοπία (from Αἰθίοψ, Aithiops, "an Ethiopian") is a compound word, derived from
the two Greek words, from αἴθω + ὤψ (aitho "I burn" + ops "face"). According to the Perseus Digital
Library, the designation properly translates as Burnt-face in noun form and red-brown in adjectival
form.[34] The historian Herodotus used the appellation to denote those parts of Africa South of the
Sahara that were then known within the Ecumene (inhabitable world).[35] However, the Greek
formation may be a folk etymology for the Ancient Egyptian term athtiu-abu, which means 'robbers
of hearts'.[36] This Greek name was borrowed into Amharic as ኢትዮጵያ, ʾĪtyōṗṗyā.

In Greco-Roman epigraphs, Aethiopia was a specific toponym for ancient Nubia.[37] At least as early
as c. 850,[38] 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.[39] However, in the New
Testament, the Greek term Aithiops does occur, referring to a servant of the Kandake, the queen of
Kush.[40]

Following the Hellenic and Biblical traditions, the Monumentum Adulitanum, a third century
inscription belonging to the Aksumite Empire, indicates that Aksum's then ruler governed an area
which was flanked to the west by the territory of Ethiopia and Sasu. The Aksumite King Ezana would
eventually conquer 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,
Aἰθιόποι is equated with the unvocalized Ḥbštm and Ḥbśt (Ḥabashat), and denotes for the first time
the highland inhabitants of Aksum. This new demonym would subsequently be rendered as 'ḥbs
('Aḥbāsh) in Sabaic and as Ḥabasha in Arabic.[37]

In the 15th-century Ge'ez Book of Aksum, 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 the city of Axum.
[41]

In English, and generally outside of Ethiopia, the country was once historically known as Abyssinia.
This toponym was derived from the Latinized form of the ancient Habash.[42]

History

Main article: History of Ethiopia

Further information: Ethiopian historiography

Prehistory

A Homo sapiens idaltu hominid skull

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
Ardipithicus ramidus (Ardi) found by Tim D. White in 1994.[43] The most well known hominid
discovery is Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy). Known locally as Dinkinesh, the specimen was found
in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's 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. The hominid is estimated to have lived 3.2
million years