Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (yeItyoppya Federalawi Dimokrasiyawi Republik) Addis Ababa - capital city
Ethiopia (IPA: /ˌiːθiːˈoʊpiə/) (Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ ʾĪtyōṗṗyā) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an estimated population of over 78,000,000. Its capital is Addis Ababa. (Wikipedia.org)
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world and Africa's second-most populous nation. Ethiopia has yielded some of humanity's oldest traces,making the area a primary factor in the origin and developmental history of humanity, with recent studies claiming the vicinity of present-day Addis Ababa as the point from which human beings migrated around the world. Ethiopian dynastic history traditionally began with the reign of Emperor Menelik I in 1000 BC.The roots of the Ethiopian state are similarly deep, dating with unbroken continuity to at least the Aksumite Empire (which officially used the name "Ethiopia" in the 4th century) and its predecessor state, D`mt (with early 1st millennium BC roots). (Wikipedia.org)
After a period of decentralized power in the 18th and early 19th centuries known as the Zemene Mesafint ("Era of the Judges/Princes"), the country was reunited in 1855 by Kassa Hailu, who became Emperor Tewodros II, beginning Ethiopia's modern history. Ethiopia's borders underwent significant territorial expansion to its modern borders for the rest of the century due to several migrations and commercial integration as well as conquests, especially by Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobena, culminating in its victory over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 with the military leadership of Ras Makonnen, and ensuring its sovereignty and freedom from colonization. It was brutally occupied by Benito Mussolini's Italy from 1936 to 1941,ending with its liberation by British Commonwealth and Ethiopian patriot forces. (Wikipedia.org)
The country is famous for its 1984 devastating famine as well as for its famous Olympic distance athletes, rock-hewn churches and as the origin of the Coffee bean. Having converted during the fourth century AD, it is also the second-oldest country to have become officially Christian, after Armenia. Ethiopia also has a considerable Muslim minority since the earliest days of Islam - being the site of the first Hijra in Islam history, the earliest 9th century Sultanates, the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash and home to the fourth holiest Muslim city of Harar - but the country has been secular since 1974.[23][24] Historically a relatively isolated mountain country, Ethiopia by the mid 20th century became a crossroads of global international cooperation under the leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. It became a member of the League of Nations in 1923, signed the Declaration by United Nations in 1942, and was one of the fifty-one original members of the United Nations (UN). The headquarters of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is in Addis Ababa, as is the headquarters of the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity), of which Ethiopia was the principal founder. There are about forty-five Ethiopian embassies and consulates around the world. (Wikipedia.org)
Pre-History. Ethiopia is considered an area of one of the oldest human settlement, if not the oldest according to some scientific findings. Lucy, discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar region, is considered the world’s oldest, most complete, and best preserved adult fossil. (Wikipedia.org)
Lucy's species is named Australopithecus afarensis, which means 'southern ape of Afar', after the Ethiopian region where the discovery was located. Lucy is estimated to have lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago. There have been many other notable fossil findings in the country. (Wikipedia.org)
Early history. Human settlement in Ethiopia dates back to prehistoric times. Fossilized remains of the earliest ancestors to the human species, discovered in Ethiopia, have been assigned dates as long ago as 5.9 million years. Together with Eritrea and the southeastern part of the Red Sea coast of Sudan (Beja lands), it is considered the most likely location of the land known to the ancient Egyptians as Punt (or "Ta Netjeru," meaning land of the Gods), whose first mention dates to the twenty-fifth century BC. (Wikipedia.org)
Addis Ababa (sometimes spelled Addis Abeba, the spelling used by the official Ethiopian Mapping Authority; formed in 1878. Amharic, Adis Abäba "new flower," IPA: [adːiːs aβəβa]; Ge'ez ኣዲስ ኣበባ) is the capital city of Ethiopia and the African Union and its predecessor, the OAU. It is also the largest city in Ethiopia. With a population of 2,738,248 according to the 2007 population census. As a chartered city (ras gez astedader), Addis Ababa has the status of both a city and a state. (Wikipedia.org)
It is often called the capital of Africa or the "African Capital" due to its historical, diplomatic and political significance for the continent74. (Wikipedia.org)
The city is populated by people from different regions of Ethiopia. The country has as many as 80 nationalities speaking 80 languages and religious communities including Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. Addis Ababa is a grassland biome. The city is located at 9.03°N 38.74°E . From its lowest point, around Bole International Airport, at 2,326 metres (7,630 ft) above sea level in the southern periphery, the city rises to over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in the Entoto Mountains to the north. (Wikipedia.org)From its lowest point, around Bole International Airport, at 2,326 metres (7,630 ft) above sea level in the southern periphery, the city rises to over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in the Entoto Mountains to the north.
The site was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul and the city was founded in 1886 by her husband, Emperor Menelik II, and now has a population of around 2.7 million. The city lies at the foot of Mount Entoto, and is home to Addis Ababa University (Wikipedia.org)
