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Introduction

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
የኢትዮጵያ ፌደራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ (Amharic)
Anthem: 
ወደፊት ገስግሺ ፣ ውድ እናት ኢትዮጵያ
(English: "March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia")
Location of Ethiopia
ISO 3166 codeET

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, 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 1,112,000 square kilometres (472,000 sq. miles). As of 2024, it is home to around 109 million inhabitants, making it the 13th-most populous country in the world, the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on Earth. 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.

Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. 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, and Islam arrived by the first Hijra in 615. 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. (Full article...)

Learn more about Ethiopia, its history, and its culture
Addis Ababa's Meskel Square in 2015

Urbanization of Addis Ababa began in late 19th century in a site of Finfinne inhabited by various Oromo clans, and Emperor Menelik II formed permanent settlement for his army and nobles. In 1881, he transferred his capital to Entoto, a vicinity area of Addis Ababa, ultimately relocated in Addis Ababa in 1886; he along with his wife Empress Taytu Betul founded it after finding Entoto undesirable due to coldy climate location, and abundance of hot mineral springs believed to have health effects in Addis Ababa. In 1890s, Addis Ababa saw rapid population growth due to factors related to 1889–1892 famine and immigration to the area and mobilisation of traditional militias and other associated immigrants after the Battle of Adwa (1896).

The 1909 land act further transformed Addis Ababa into metropolitan area, therefore, shifted from safar to infrastructure settlement in 1910s and 1920s, and schools roads, hospitals and other infrastructure began developing. During the Italian occupation of the country (1936–1941), new master plan was developed by seven European architects in order beautify Addis Ababa as their colonial city by featuring monumental structure and public square for regime grandeur, with steady population growth. After their occupation, the British consultant, first by Sir Patrick Abercrombie in 1946 and French consultant team led by architect Luis De Marien developed monumental structures, infrastructures, and satellite towns to beautify Addis Ababa as "capital of Africa". The Derg regime saw nationalization of extra house that prevent private investment, leading urban morphology to decline from 5% to 3.4%. The Hungarian planner C.K. Polonyi embarked the first master plan in this era based on structuring the suburbs and the inner-city. Along with the 1986 Italo-Ethiopian master plan, the plan ultimately met failure to implement due to lack of funds for infrastructural provision by the government. The revised 2003 master plan was intended to support the new government led by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its policies on market economy. (Full article...)
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Contemporary portrait of Yekuno Amlak from the Genneta Maryam church, Lalibela
Yekuno Amlak (Ge’ez: ይኩኖ አምላክ Yəkkuno ˀAmlak); throne name Tesfa Iyasus (ተስፋ ኢየሱስ; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, from 1270 to 1285, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in parts of modern-day Wollo and northern Shewa) who became the Emperor of Ethiopia following the defeat of the last Zagwe king. (Full article...)

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Wikinews Ethiopia

25 August 2024 –
At least thirteen people are killed and at least 14 others remain missing after a boat carrying Ethiopian and Yemeni migrants from Djibouti sinks off the coast of Taiz Governorate, Yemen. (Al Jazeera)

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