Project: Ethiopia/Country

Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia
Flag of Ethiopia

Contents

Location

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a 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 and southeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest.

See Also: Geography of Ethiopia

Administrative Divisions

Ethiopia is administratively divided into four levels: regions, zones, woredas (districts) and kebele (wards). The country comprises 12 regions and two city administrations under these regions, plenty of zones, woredas and neighbourhood administration: kebeles. In addition to the Twelve federal states within the country, there are two federal-level city administrations in Addis Ababa and Dire Dava.

See Also: Administrative Divisions of Ethiopia

Addis Ababa is Ethiopia's capital and largest city, followed by Dire Dawa, Mek'ele, and Gondar.

History

1st Century - 960 AD - Kingdom of Aksum. Based primarily in what is now northern Ethiopia, spanning Eritrea, Djibouti, eastern Sudan and extending at its height into much of southern Arabia . 1270- Yekuno Amlak, who claims descent from the last Aksumite king and ultimately the Biblical Menelik I and the Queen of Sheba, founded the Ethiopian Empire.

Historical Timeline

  • 2nd century AD - Kingdom of Axum became a regional trading power.
  • 4th century - Christianity became the state religion.
  • 1530-31 - Muslim leader Ahmad al-Ghāzī conquered much of Ethiopia.
  • 1818-68 - Lij Kassa conquered Amhara, Gojjam, Tigray and Shoa.
  • 1855 - Kassa Hailu became Emperor Tewodros II.
  • 1868 - Tewodros II defeated by a British expeditionary force and committed suicide to avoid capture.
  • 1872 - Tigrayan chieftain became Yohannes IV.
  • 1889 - Yohannes IV killed fighting Muslim forces and is succeeded by the king of Shoa, who became Emperor Menelik II
  • 1889- Emperor Menelik II signed a friendship treaty with Italy,
  • 1889 - 1891 - Addis Ababa became Ethiopia's capital.
  • 1895 - Italy invaded Ethiopia, Italy recognized Ethiopia's independence.
  • 1913 - Emperor Menelik II died and was succeeded by his grandson, Lij Iyasu.
  • 1916 - Lij Iyasu deposed and was succeeded by Menelik's daughter, Zawditu, Empress of Ethiopia, who ruled through a regent, Ras Tafari Makonnen.
  • 1930 - Zawditu, Empress of Ethiopia died and was succeeded by Ras Tafari Makonnen, who became Emperor Haile Selassie I.
  • 1935 - Italy invaded Ethiopia. Abolition of slavery in Tigray. (see image)
  • 1936 - Haile Selassie fled the following year.
  • 1941 - Italians defeated and Haile Selassie. restored.
  • 1952 - United Nations federated Eritrea with Ethiopia.
  • 1962 - Haile Selassie annexed Eritrea, which became an Ethiopian province.
  • 1963 - First conference of the Organisation of African Unity held in Addis Ababa.
  • 1974 - Haile Selassie overthrown in military coup.
  • 1987 - Colonel Mengistu elected president.
  • 1991 - Mengistu deposed. Meles Zenawi established stability in his 19-year rule.
  • 1993 - Eritrea became independent.
  • 1999-2000 - Ethiopian-Eritrean border war.
  • 2020 - Tension with Tigray region leads to conflict.
  • 2022 - Ethiopian and Tigrayan rebels sign a peace deal.

See also: History of Ethiopia

Ethnicities

Oromo 35.8%, Amhara 24.1%, Somali 7.2%, Tigray 5.7%, Sidama 4.1%, Guragie 2.6%, Welaita 2.3%, Afar 2.2%, Silte 1.3%, Kefficho 1.2%, other 13.5% (2022 est.) [1] See Also: Ethiopians

Languages

Amharic(24.1%) has been the official "working language" of Ethiopian courts and its armed forces, trade and everyday communications since the late 12th century. Until 2020 Amharic was the only Ethiopian working language of the federal government. [2] It is native to the central and north western areas of Ethiopia.[3]

Although now Amharic is only one of the five official languages of Ethiopia: Oromo,(33.8%) Somali,(6.2%) Afar (1.7%) (official working language of the Afar Regional State) and Tigrinya (5.9%)

In 2023:
Sidamo 4%, Wolaytta 2.2%, Gurage 2%, , Hadiyya 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, Opuuo 1.2%, Kafa 1.1%, other 8.1%, English (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (2007 est.) [1]

See also: Ethiopian Language

Google Translation Tool: Translate

Religions

Religion in Ethiopia consists of a number of faiths. Among these mainly Abrahamic religions, the most numerous is Christianity. There is also a longstanding but small Ethiopian Jewish community. Some adherents of the Baháʼí Faith likewise exist in a number of urban and rural areas. Additionally, there is also a substantial population of the adherents of traditional faiths. The Kingdom of Aksum in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. The Ethiopian Empire was the only region of Africa to survive the expansion of Islam as a Christian state.

2023

Ethiopian Orthodox 43.8%,
Muslim 31.3%,
Protestant 22.8%,
Catholic 0.7%,
traditional 0.6%,
other 0.8% (2016 est.) [1]

See Also: Religion in Ethiopia

See Also: Demographics of Ethiopia

Ethiopian Naming Conventions

The patronymic custom in most of the Horn of Africa gives children the father's first name as their surname. The family then gives the child its first name. Middle names are unknown. So, for example, a person's name might be Bereket Mekonen . In this case, Bereket is the first name and Mekonen is the surname, and also the first name of the father.

The paternal grandfather's name is often used if there is a requirement to identify a person further, for example, in school registration. Also, different cultures and tribes use the father's or grandfather's given name as the family's name. For example, some Oromos use Warra Ali to mean families of Ali, where Ali, is either the householder, a father or grandfather.

In Ethiopia, the customs surrounding the bestowal and use of family names is as varied and complex as the cultures to be found there. There are so many cultures, nations or tribes, that currently there can be no one formula whereby to demonstrate a clear pattern of Ethiopian family names. In general, however, Ethiopians use their father's name as a surname in most instances where identification is necessary, sometimes employing both father's and grandfather's names together where exigency dictates.

See Also: Ethiopian Names



This page was last modified 21:46, 26 January 2024. This page has been accessed 61 times.