Overview
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), 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 southeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia covers a land area of 1,104,300 km² (426,400 sq mi).
As of 2026, Ethiopia has around 138 million inhabitants, making it the 10th-most populous country in the world. 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.
Etymology
Tradition holds that the name Ethiopia comes from the name of the first King of Ethiopia, Ethiop, or Ethiopis. According to Ethiopian tradition, Ethiopis is believed to be the twelfth direct descendant of Adam, with his father identified as Kush and his grandfather as Kam. In the 15th-century Ge'ez Book of Axum, the name is ascribed to a legendary individual called Ityopp'is, described as an extra-biblical son of Cush, son of Ham, who is said to have founded the city of Axum.
The Greek name Αἰθιοπία is a compound word later explained as derived from Greek words meaning "I burn" and "face," properly translating as "burnt-face." The historian Herodotus used this appellation to denote those parts of Africa south of the Sahara that were then known within the habitable world. Historically, outside of Ethiopia, the country was known as Abyssinia, a toponym derived from the Latinised form of the ancient Habash.
Early History
Ethiopia is considered one of the earliest sites of the emergence of anatomically modern humans. The oldest fossil finds of Homo sapiens in Ethiopia, the Omo remains, were excavated in the southwestern Omo Kibish area and have been dated to around 200,000 years ago. Skeletons of Homo sapiens idaltu were found at a site in the Middle Awash valley, dated to approximately 160,000 years ago, and may represent an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens or the immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans.
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 civilisation in the region for 900 years. Christianity arrived to the kingdom in 330 AD, while Islam gained influence during the first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, the Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts of Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Empire and Medieval Period
The Shewan usurper, Yekuno Amlak, overthrew the Zagwe dynasty in 1270 at the Battle of Ansata, inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic dynasty. The dynasty asserted its lineage through Aksumite legitimacy by the biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba, with Menelik I as the first emperor. Under Emperor Amda Seyon I (r. 1314–1344), the empire grew in prestige through territorial expansion against neighbouring Muslim territories.
The Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) weakened the empire and opened the way for Oromo expansion. The growing influence of the Oromo at the Gondarine court ultimately contributed to the fragmentation known as Zemene Mesafint, beginning in 1769. Emperor Tewodros II ended the Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernisation of Ethiopia.
Modern History
In the late 19th century, Ethiopia repelled foreign invasions from both Egypt and Italy, most notably defeating an Italian invasion at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. Under Emperor Menelik II, it also expanded its territory, remaining independent during the Scramble for Africa and establishing its current borders.
Ethiopia lost its sovereignty in 1936 when Italy under Benito Mussolini invaded during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Following Ethiopia's defeat, Italian East Africa was established. In 1941, during World War II, the country was liberated by the British Army, and its full sovereignty was restored in 1944.
The Derg, a Soviet-backed military junta, took power in 1974 after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty. It 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 authoritarianism. From 2018, regional and ethnically based factions carried out armed attacks in multiple ongoing wars throughout Ethiopia.
Demographics and Religion
Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with over 80 different ethnic groups. Christianity is the most widely professed faith in the country, with the largest denomination being the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, followed by Islam and a small percentage of traditional faiths.
Government and International Role
The country is a founding member of the UN and hosts the headquarters of the African Union Commission and many other global non-governmental organisations focused on Africa. Ethiopia became a full member of BRICS in 2024.
Economy and Development
Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries but is sometimes considered an emerging power, having the fastest economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries due to foreign direct investment in expansion of agricultural and manufacturing industries. Agriculture is the country's largest economic sector, accounting for over 37% of the GDP as of 2022.
Although the Ethiopian economy has experienced consistent growth, in terms of per capita income and the Human Development Index the country remains among the poorest in Africa. Ethiopia faces numerous challenges, including high rates of poverty, human rights violations, widespread ethnic discrimination, and a literacy rate of 60%.