Ethiopia

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in other official languages Afar: ityoppiah federalih demokrasih ummuno Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ[a] Oromo: Rippabliikii Federaalawaa Dimokraatawaa Itiyoophiyaa Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiga Federaalka Itoobiya Tigrinya: ናይኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ[b]
Flag Emblem
Anthem:  ወደፊት ገስግሺ ፣ ውድ እናት ኢትዮጵያ "Wedefīt Gesigishī Wid Inat ītiyop’iy" (English: "March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia")
Capital and largest city	Addis Ababa 9°1′N 38°45′E / 9.017°N 38.750°E / 9.017; 38.750
Official languages	Amharic Afar Oromo Somali Tigrinya[1][2][3]
Regional languages[4]	Harari Sidama Languages of Ethiopia
Ethnic groups (2007[5][6])	34.5% Oromo 26.9% Amhara 6.2% Somali 6.1% Tigrayan 4.0% Sidama 2.5% Gurage 2.3% Welayta 1.7% Hadiya 1.7% Afar 1.5% Gamo 12.6% others
Religion (2016[7])	67.3% Christianity 43.8% Ethiopian Orthodoxy 22.8% P'ent'ay 0.7% other Christian 31.3% Islam 0.6% traditional faiths 0.8% others / none
Demonym(s)	Ethiopian
Government	Federal parliamentary republic[8]
• President	Taye Atske Selassie
• Prime Minister	Abiy Ahmed
• Deputy Prime Minister	Temesgen Tiruneh
• Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court	Tewodros Mihret
Legislature	Federal Parliamentary Assembly
• Upper house	House of Federation
• Lower house	House of Peoples' Representatives
Formation
• Dʿmt	980 BC
• Kingdom of Aksum	400 BC
• Ethiopian Empire	1270
• Zemene Mesafint	7 May 1769
• Reunification	11 February 1855
• Centralisation	1904
• Occupied and annexed into Italian East Africa	9 May 1936
• Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement	31 January 1942
• Derg	12 September 1974
• People's Democratic Republic	22 February 1987
• Transitional government	28 May 1991
• Current constitution	21 August 1995
Area
• Total	1,104,300 km2 (426,400 sq mi) (26th)
• Water (%)	0.7
Population
• 2024 estimate	132,900,000[9] (10th)
• 2007 census	73,750,932[6]
• Density	92.7/km2 (240.1/sq mi) (123rd)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$434.44 billion[10] (55th)
• Per capita	$4,050[10] (159th)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$145.03 billion[10] (59th)
• Per capita	$1,350[10] (159th)
Gini (2015)	35.0[11] medium inequality
HDI (2022)	0.492[12] low (176th)
Currency	Birr (ETB)
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Drives on	right
Calling code	+251
ISO 3166 code	ET
Internet TLD	.et

Ethiopia,^[c] officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and historically known as Abyssinia, 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)).^[13] As of 2024^[update], it is home to around 132 million inhabitants, making it the 10th-most populous country in the world,^[14] the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on Earth.^[15][16] 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.^[17]

Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family.^[23] 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,^[24] and Islam arrived by the first Hijra in 615.^[25] 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.^[26]

From 1878 onwards, Emperor Menelik II launched a series of conquests known as Menelik's Expansions, which resulted in 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 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 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.^[27]

Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with over 80 different ethnic groups. Christianity 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, 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.^[28] Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries but is sometimes considered an emerging power,^[29][30] having the fastest economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries because of foreign direct investment in expansion of agricultural and manufacturing industries;^[31] agriculture is the country's largest economic sector, accounting for over 37% of the gross domestic product as of 2022.^[32] However, in terms of per capita income and the Human Development Index,^[33] the country is regarded as poor, with high rates of poverty,^[34] poor respect for human rights, widespread ethnic discrimination, and a literacy rate of only 49%.^[35]

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