Facts about Ethiopia

The major agricultural export crop is coffee, providing 35 percent of Ethiopia's foreign exchange earnings, down from 65 percent a decade ago because of the slump in coffee prices since the mid-1990s.

The early twentieth century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I, who undertook the rapid modernization of Ethiopia.

Conflicts between the two countries resulted in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, when the Ethiopians surprised the world by defeating the colonial power and remaining independent, under the rule of Menelik II.

Ethiopian highlanders subjected many ethnic groups in the present state of Ethiopia, such as the Oromo, to colonial status.

The Ethiopian economy is based on agriculture, which contributes 47 percent to GNP and employs 85 percent of the population.

The Solomonic monarchy had a variable degree of political control over Ethiopia from the time of Yekunno Amlak in 1270 until Haile Selassie's dethroning in 1974.

Haile Selassi's application to join the League of Nations in 1919 was rejected, because the institution of slavery was still strong in Ethiopia, and was not eliminated until 1923.

The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995.

The Old Testament focus of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church includes dietary laws similar to the kosher tradition, circumcision after the eighth day of birth, and a Saturday sabbath.

Ethiopia was a charter member of the United Nations and took part in UN operations in Korea in 1951 and the Congo in 1960.

Ethiopia is also a member of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a Horn of Africa regional grouping.

Some of the earliest known fossils of hominids have been found in Ethiopia, including the skeleton known as "Lucy" and others dated back five million years.

Under the present government, Ethiopians enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history, although some fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press, are, in practice, somewhat circumscribed.

The "propane" sold overseas is actually a mixture of propane and butane.

Ethiopia today has nine semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues.

In 1993, the province of Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia, following a referendum, ending more than thirty years of armed conflict, one of the longest in Africa.

Article 39 further gives every regional state the right to secede from Ethiopia.

Semitic-speaking Ethiopians and Eritreans collectively refer to themselves as Habesha or Abesha, though others reject these names on the basis that they refer only to certain ethnicities.

Gold, marble, limestone, and small amounts of tantalum are mined in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) numbers about 200,000 personnel, which makes it one of the largest militaries in Africa.

Ethiopia has a tiered system consisting of a federal government, ethnically based regional states, zones, woredas (districts), and kebeles (neighborhoods).

In 1977 Somalians attacked Ethiopia in the Ogaden War, but Ethiopia quickly defeated them with a massive influx of Soviet military hardware, direct Cuban military presence, coupled with East German and South Yemeni military assistance.

The Ethiopian government's inability or unwillingness to deal with the 1984-1985 famine provoked universal condemnation by the international community.

Dependent on a few vulnerable crops for its foreign exchange earnings and reliant on imported oil, Ethiopia lacks sufficient foreign exchange earnings.

Mengistu Haile Mariam gained undisputed leadership of the Derg, which in 1987 was formally dissolved and the country became the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia under a new constitution.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the only established church that rejects the doctrine of Pauline Christianity, which states that the Old Testament lost its binding force after the coming of Jesus.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church lays claim to the original Ark of the Covenant, and replicas (called tabotat) are housed in a central sanctuary in all churches; it is the tabot that consecrates a church.

Unique among African countries, Ethiopia maintained independence during the European scramble for African colonies, and continued to do so except for a five-year period (1936-1941) when it was under Italian occupation.

Of the 23,812 kilometers of all-weather roads in Ethiopia, 15 percent are asphalt.

Ethiopia is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movement, whose adherents believe Ethiopia is Zion.

The election of Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994.

Today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is by far the largest denomination, though a number of Protestant churches have recently gained ground.

Eritrea was culturally and politically part of highland Ethiopia since before Axum's achievement of political dominance; Eritreans claim Axumite descendency as much as Ethiopians do.

The Arabic form of this term is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia," the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages.

The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia.

Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections.

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country situated in the Horn of Africa.

Yifter, the first in a tradition of Ethiopians known for their brilliant finishing speed, won gold at 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Moscow Olympics.

Proto-Ethiopian script inlaid on stone tablets has been found in the highlands, notably in the town of Yeha.

Ethiopia, at 435,071 square miles (1,127,127 sq km) in size, makes up the major portion of the Horn of Africa, which is the easternmost part of the African landmass.

Today, Ethiopia has very good relations with the United States and the West, especially in responding to regional instability and supporting the war on terrorism and, increasingly, through economic involvement.

Ethiopia is described in the writings of the Greek historian, Herodotus, of the fifth century B.C.E.

Ethiopia has also entered into a loose tripartite partnership of (nonmilitary) cooperation with Sudan and Yemen.

Ethiopia offers a greater richness in archaeological findings and historical buildings than any other country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The English name "Ethiopia" is thought to be derived from the Greek word Aithiopia, from Aithiops ‘an Ethiopian’, derived from Greek terms meaning "of burnt visage."

A landlocked country, Ethiopia has relied on the port of Djibouti since the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea.

Other than contacts with Portugal that enabled Ethiopia to turn back Muslim invaders in 1527, few Europeans arrived in Ethiopia until the nineteenth century.

In 1994, a constitution was adopted that led to Ethiopia's first multiparty elections the following year.

On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held another multiparty election, which resulted in the EPRDF's return to power, although a much larger group of opposition parliamentarians was elected.

Bordering Ethiopia are Sudan to the west, Djibouti and Eritrea to the north, Somalia to the east, and Kenya to the south.

Traditional Ethiopian cuisine employs no pork of any kind, as both Muslims and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are prohibited from eating pork.

The irredentist claims of the extremist-controlled Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) in Somalia in 2006 posed a legitimate security threat to Ethiopia and to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia.

The Red Sea connected people on both coasts and produced a single cultural unit that included Ethiopia and Yemen, which over time diverged into different cultures.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front engages in periodic fighting with the Ethiopian military and in April 2007 killed 65 soldiers and nine Chinese workers at a Chinese-run oilfield near the Somali border.

All this contributed to Ethiopia's isolation from 1755 to 1855, called the "Age of Princes."

The Solomonic emperors are descended from Solomon, and the Ethiopian people are the descendants of the sons of the Israeli nobles.

Ethiopian music uses a unique modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes.

Ethiopia is connected with the port of Djibouti by road and rail for international trade.

The Great Rift Valley contains a chain of lakes, including Lake Tana, the largest in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has a large number of endemic species, notably the Gelada baboon, the Walia ibex (a rare mountain goat), and the Ethiopian wolf (or Simien fox).

In April 2005, the Axum obelisk, one of Ethiopia's religious and historical treasures, was returned to Ethiopia by Italy.

Bones discovered in eastern Ethiopia date back 3.2 million years.

Ethiopian sovereignty was interrupted only by the brief Italian occupation (1936–1941).

Other notable Ethiopian distance-runners include Derartu Tulu, Abebe Bikila and Muruse Yefter.

Ethiopia produces some of the finest athletes of the world, most notably middle-distance and long-distance runners.

The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) peacekeeping mission patrols a 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) within Eritrea separating the two countries.

Ethiopia held the most free and fair national campaign period in the country's history prior to May 15, 2005 elections.

Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription, and political repression and went to live in neighboring countries and all over the Western world, creating an Ethiopian diaspora.

Ethiopian cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrйes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread.

In 2006, the breakdown was 45-50 percent Muslim, 35-40 percent Ethiopian Orthodox, 12 percent animist, and 3-8 percent other, including Jews.