![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Ethiopia-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia. It is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out<\/a> for the Middle East<\/a> and places beyond. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic<\/a> era. Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BCE, Ethiopia’s governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history. Oral literature tells that the monarchy was founded by the Solomonic dynasty<\/a> of the Queen of Sheba<\/a>, under its first king, Menelik I<\/a>. In the first centuries, the Kingdom of Aksum<\/a> maintained a unified civilization in the region, followed by the Ethiopian Empire<\/a> c. 1137. During the late\u201319th-century Scramble for Africa<\/a>, Ethiopia and Liberia<\/a> were the only two nations that preserved their sovereignty from long-term colonization by a European colonial power, and many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colors. However, the country was later occupied by Italy<\/a> in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia<\/a> (part of Italian East Afric<\/a>a), until it was liberated during World War II<\/a>. Ethiopia was also the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations<\/a> and the United Nations<\/a>. In 1974, the Ethiopian monarchy<\/a> under Haile Selassie<\/a> was overthrown by the Derg<\/a>, a communist military government backed by the Soviet Union<\/a>. In 1987, the Derg established the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia<\/a>, but it was overthrown in 1991 by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front,<\/a> which has been the ruling political coalition since.<\/p>\n Ethiopia and Eritrea use the ancient Ge’ez script<\/a>, which is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world. They follow the Ethiopian calendar<\/a>, which is approximately seven years and three months behind the Gregorian calendar<\/a>. A majority of the population adheres to Christianity (mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church<\/a> and P’ent’ay<\/a>), and the historical Kingdom of Aksum was one of the first states to officially adopt the religion, whereas around a third follows Islam (primarily Sunni). The country is the site of the Islamic Migration to Abyssinia<\/a> and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa, at Negash<\/a>. A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Bete Israel<\/a>, also resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s. Ethiopia is a multilingual nation, with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo<\/a>, Amhara<\/a>, Somali<\/a> and Tigrayans<\/a>. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic<\/a> or Semitic<\/a> branches. Additionally, Omotic<\/a> languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Nilo-Saharan<\/a> languages are also spoken by the nation’s Nilotic<\/a> ethnic minorities. Oromo<\/a> is the most populous language by native speakers, while Amharic<\/a> is the most populous by number of total speakers and serves as the working language in the federal government. Ge’ez<\/a> remains important as a liturgical language<\/a> for both the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church<\/a> and for the Beta Israel.<\/p>\n The nation is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests and its numerous rivers, and the world’s hottest settlement of Dallol<\/a> in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands<\/a> are the largest continuous mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves<\/a> contains the largest cave on the continent. Ethiopia also has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites<\/a> in Africa. Additionally, the sovereign state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24 (G-24)<\/a>, the Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>, the G77<\/a> and the Organisation of African Unity<\/a>. Its capital city, Addis Ababa, serves as the headquarters of the African Union<\/a>, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry<\/a>, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa<\/a>, the African Standby Force<\/a> and many of the global NGOs focused on Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ethiopia experienced civil conflicts and communist purges, which hindered its economy. The country has since recovered and as of 2010 has the largest economy (by GDP) in East Africa, having the largest population in the region. Despite these improvements, it remains one of the world’s poorest countries. In addition to poverty, Ethiopia faces hunger, corruption, weak infrastructure, and poor access to health and education (with an illiteracy rate of 51%), ranking in the lowest quartile on the Human Development Index<\/a>. The Ethiopian government’s respect for human rights is also said to remain poor.<\/p>\n Several important finds have propelled Ethiopia and the surrounding region to the forefront of palaeontology. The oldest hominid discovered to date in Ethiopia is the 4.2 million year old Ardipithicus ramidus<\/a> (Ardi<\/a>) found by Tim D. White<\/a> in 1994. The most well known hominid discovery is Australopithecus afarensis<\/a> (Lucy<\/a>). Known locally as Dinkinesh, the specimen was found in the Awash Valley<\/a> of Ethiopia’s Afar Region<\/a> in 1974 by Donald Johanson<\/a>, and is one of the most complete and best preserved adult Australopithecine<\/a> fossils ever uncovered. Lucy’s taxonomic name refers to the region where the discovery was made. The hominid is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago.<\/p>\n Ethiopia is also considered one of the earliest sites of the emergence of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens. The oldest of these local fossil finds, the Omo remains<\/a>, were excavated in the southwestern Omo Kibish<\/a> area and have been dated to the Middle Paleolithic<\/a>, around 200,000 years ago. Additionally, skeletons of Homo sapiens idaltu<\/a> were found at a site in the Middle Awash<\/a> valley. Dated to approximately 160,000 years ago, they may represent an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens, or the immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans. Archaic Homo sapiens fossils excavated at the Jebel Irhoud<\/a> site in Morocco have since been dated to an earlier period, about 300,000 years ago, while Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) from southern Ethiopia is the oldest anatomically modern Homo sapiens skeleton currently known.<\/p>\n According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic era from the family’s proposed urheimat (“original homeland”) in the Nile Valley<\/a>, or the Near East<\/a>. Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there.<\/p>\n In 2019, archaeologists discovered a 30,000-year-old Middle-Stone Age<\/a> rock shelter at the Fincha Habera site in the Bale Mountains<\/a> of Ethiopia at an elevation of 3,469 metres above sea level. At this high altitude humans are susceptible both to hypoxia and to extreme weather. According to a study published in the journal Science, this dwelling is proof of the earliest permanent human occupation at high altitude yet discovered. Thousands of animal bones, hundreds of stone tools, and ancient fireplaces were discovered, revealing a diet that featured giant mole rats<\/a>.<\/p>\n Around the 8th century BC, a kingdom known as D\u02bfmt<\/a> was established in Tigray<\/a>, in northern Ethiopia, and Eritrea. The polity’s capital was located at Yeha<\/a>, in northern Ethiopia. Most modern historians consider this civilization to be a native Ethiopian one, although Sabaean<\/a>-influenced because of the latter’s hegemony of the Red Sea.<\/p>\n Other scholars regard D\u02bfmt as the result of a union of Afroasiatic-speaking cultures of the Cushitic and Semitic branches; namely, local Agaw peoples and Sabaeans from South Arabia<\/a>. However, Ge’ez, the ancient Semitic language of Ethiopia, is thought to have developed independently from Sabaean<\/a>, one of the South Semitic<\/a> languages. As early as 2000 BC, other Semitic speakers were living in Ethiopia and Eritrea where Ge’ez developed. Sabaean influence is now thought to have been minor, limited to a few localities, and disappearing after a few decades or a century. It may have been a trading or military colony in alliance with the Ethiopian civilization of D\u02bfmt or some other proto-Aksumite state.<\/p>\n After the fall of D\u02bfmt during the fourth century BC, the Ethiopian plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms. In the first century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum emerged in what is now Tigray and Eritrea. According to the medieval Book of Aksum, the kingdom’s first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. Aksum would later at times extend its rule into Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea. The Persian religious figure Mani<\/a> listed Aksum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his era, during the 3rd century.<\/p>\n Around 316 AD, Frumentius<\/a> and his brother Edesius from Tyre<\/a> accompanied their uncle on a voyage to Ethiopia. When the vessel stopped at a Red Sea port, the natives killed all the travellers except the two brothers, who were taken to the court as slaves. They were given positions of trust by the monarch, and they converted members of the royal court to Christianity. Frumentius became the first bishop of Aksum. A coin<\/a> dated to 324 shows that Ethiopia was the second country to officially adopt Christianity (after Armenia<\/a> did so in 301), although the religion may have been at first confined to court circles; it was the first major power to do so.<\/p>\n The weakened Axumite dynasty came to an end in the 9th century when Yodit defeated the last king of the dynasty. Empress Yodit’s reign, which lasted for 40 years, aimed to abolish Christianity (a religion first accepted by King Ezana of the Axumite dynasty) by burning down churches and crucifying people who remained faithful to the orthodox Tewahedo church, which at the time was considered as the religion of the state. The Empress tried to force many people to change their religion and destroyed much historical heritage of the Axumite dynasty earning her the epithet of Yodit Gudit (in Amharic \u12ee\u12f2\u1275 \u1309\u12f2\u1275). Her reign finally came to an end in 912 following her defeat by the first leader of the Zagwe dynasty. The reign of the Zagwe dynasty came to an end by the rise of Yekuno Amlak<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first interaction that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad<\/a> had with Ethiopia was during the reign of A\u1e63\u1e25ama ibn Abjar<\/a>, who was at the time the Emperor of Aksum<\/a> and gave refuge to several Muslims in the Kingdom of Aksum in 614 AD. According to other authors, Ashama may have been the same person as king Armah, or his father or son. Taddesse Tamrat records that the inhabitants of Wiqro<\/a>, where the ruler is known as Ashamat al-Negashi, claim that his tomb is located in their village.<\/p>\n Muhammad’s second interaction with Ethiopia was during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha<\/a>, when he sent Amr bin Umayyah al-Damri<\/a> to the King of Ethiopia (then Abyssinia).<\/p>\n The Zagwe<\/a> dynasty ruled many parts of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea between the early 12th and late 13th century. The name of the dynasty is derived from the Cushitic-speaking Agaw<\/a> of northern Ethiopia. From 1270 AD until the Zemene Mesafint<\/a> (Age of Princes), the Solomonic dynasty governed the Ethiopian Empire.<\/p>\n In the early 15th century, Ethiopia sought to make diplomatic contact with European kingdoms for the first time since the Aksumite era. A letter from Henry IV of England<\/a> to the Emperor of Abyssinia survives. In 1428, Yeshaq I<\/a> sent two emissaries to Alfonso V of Aragon<\/a>, who sent return emissaries. They failed to complete the return trip. The first continuous relations with a European country began in 1508 with Portugal under Dawit II (Lebna Dengel)<\/a>, who had just inherited the throne from his father.<\/p>\n This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Adal Sultanate’s<\/a> general and imam, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi<\/a> (called “Gra\u00f1\u2009” “the Left-handed”), Portugal assisted the Ethiopian emperor by sending weapons and four hundred men, who helped his son Gelawdewos<\/a> defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule. This Abyssinian\u2013Adal War<\/a> was also one of the first proxy wars in the region, as the Ottoman Empire<\/a> and Portugal<\/a> took sides in the conflict. When Emperor Susenyos I<\/a> converted to Roman Catholicism in 1624, years of revolt and civil unrest followed, resulting in thousands of deaths. The Jesuit missionaries had offended the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo faith of the local Ethiopians.<\/p>\n In June 1632, Fasilides<\/a>, Susenyos’ son, declared the state religion again to be the Ethiopian Orthodoxy. He expelled the Jesuit missionaries and other Europeans.<\/p>\n The Sultanate of Aussa<\/a> or “Afar Sultanate” succeeded the earlier Imamate of Aussa<\/a>. The latter polity had come into existence in 1577 when Muhammed Jasa moved his capital from Harar to Aussa (Asaita) with the split of the Adal Sultanate into the Sultanate of Aussa and the Sultanate of Harar<\/a>. At some point after 1672, the Sultanate of Aussa declined and temporarily came to an end in conjunction with Imam Umar Din bin Adam’s recorded ascension to the throne.<\/p>\n The Sultanate was subsequently re-established by Kedafu around the year 1734. It was thereafter ruled by his Mudaito Dynasty<\/a>. The primary symbol of the Sultan was a silver baton, which was considered to have magical properties.<\/p>\n Between 1755 and 1855, Ethiopia experienced a period of isolation referred to as the Zemene Mesafint<\/a> or “Age of Princes”. The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by regional lords and noblemen like Ras Mikael Sehul<\/a> of Tigray, Ras Wolde Selassie<\/a> of Tigray, and by the Were ShehYejju Oromo dynasty, such as Ras Gugsa<\/a> of Yejju<\/a>. Prior to the Zemene Mesafint, King Iyoas had introduced Oromo as the language of the court from Amharic to Afaan Oromo.<\/p>\n Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that concluded an alliance between the two nations, but it was not until 1855 that the Amhara kingdoms of northern Ethiopia (Gonder, Gojam, Shoa) were briefly united after the power of the Emperor was restored beginning with the reign of Tewodros II<\/a>. Tewodros had been born in Begemder<\/a> from a nobleman of Qwara<\/a>, where the Qwara dialect<\/a> of the Agaw language is spoken.<\/p>\n Upon his ascent, he began modernizing Ethiopia and recentralizing power in the Emperor. Ethiopia began to take part in world affairs once again.<\/p>\n But Tewodros suffered several rebellions inside his empire. Northern Oromo militias, Tigrayan rebellion, and the constant incursion of Ottoman Empire and Egyptian forces near the Red Sea brought the weakening and the final downfall of Tewodros II. He killed himself in 1868 during his last fight with the British Expedition to Abyssinia<\/a> at the Battle of Magdala<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Tewodros’ death, Tekle Giyorgis II<\/a> was proclaimed Emperor but was defeated in the Battles of Zulawu (21 June 1871) and Adua (11 July 1871).<\/p>\n The victorious Mercha Kassai was subsequently declared Yohannes IV on 21 January 1872.<\/p>\n In 1875 and 1876, Turkish\/Egyptian forces, accompanied by many European and American ‘advisors’, twice invaded Abyssinia but were initially defeated: once at the Battle of Gundet losing 800 men, and then in the second invasion, decisively defeated by Emperor Yohannes IV at the Battle of Gura<\/a> on 7 March 1875, where the invading forces lost at least 3000 men by death or captured. From 1885 to 1889, Ethiopia joined the Mahdist War<\/a> allied to Britain, Turkey, and Egypt against the Sudanese Mahdist State. In 1887 Menelik king of Shewa<\/a> invaded the Emirate of Harar<\/a> after his victory at the Battle of Chelenqo.<\/a> On 10 March 1889, Yohannes IV was killed by the Sudanese Khalifah Abdullah’s army whilst leading his army in the Battle of Gallabat<\/a> (also called Battle of Metemma).<\/p>\n Ethiopia in roughly its current form began under the reign of Menelik II<\/a>, who was Emperor from 1889 until his death in 1913. From his base in the central province of Shewa, Menelik set out to annex territories to the south, east and west, areas inhabited by the Oromo, Sidama<\/a>, Gurage, Welayta<\/a>, and other peoples. He did this with the help of Ras Gobana Dacche’s<\/a> Shewan Oromo militia, which occupied lands that had not been held since Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi’s war, as well as other areas that had never been under Ethiopian sovereignty. Menelik’s campaign against Oromos outside his army was largely in retaliation for centuries of Oromo expansionism and the Zemene Mesafint, a period during which a succession of Oromo feudal rulers dominated the highlanders. Chief among these was the Yejju dynasty, which included Aligaz of Yejju<\/a> and his brother Ali I of Yejju<\/a>. Ali I founded the town of Debre Tabor<\/a> in the Amhara Region<\/a>, which became the dynasty’s capital.<\/p>\n Menelik was born from King Hailemelekot of Shewa and his mother Ejegayehu Lema Adeyamo who was a servant in the royal household. He had been born at Angolala in an Oromo area and had lived his first twelve years with Shewan Oromos with whom he thus had much in common. During his reign, Menelik II advanced road construction, electricity and education; the development of a central taxation system and the foundation and building of the city of Addis Ababa\u2014which became the capital of Shewa Province in 1881. After he ascended to the throne in 1889, it was renamed Addis Ababa, the new capital of Abyssinia.<\/p>\n For his leadership, despite opposition from more traditional elements of society, Menelik II is heralded as a national hero. Menelik had signed the Treaty of Wichale with Italy in May 1889 in which Italy would recognize Ethiopia’s sovereignty so long as Italy could control an area north of Ethiopia (now part of modern Eritrea). In return, Italy was to provide Menelik with weapons and support him as emperor. The Italians used the time between the signing of the treaty and its ratification by the Italian government to expand their territorial claims. This conflict erupted in the Battle of Adwa<\/a> on 1 March 1896 in which Italy’s colonial forces were defeated by the Ethiopians.<\/p>\n About a third of the population died in the Great Ethiopian Famine (1888 to 1892)<\/a>.<\/p>\n The early 20th century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie<\/a> (Ras Tafari). Haile Selassie I was born to parents with ethnic links to three of Ethiopia’s Afroasiatic-speaking populations: the Oromo and Amhara, the country’s two largest ethnic groups, as well as the Gurage<\/a>. He came to power after Iyasu V<\/a> was deposed, and undertook a nationwide modernization campaign<\/a> from 1916, when he was made a Ras and Regent (Inderase) for the Empress Regnant, Zewditu<\/a>, and became the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire. Following Zewditu’s death, on 2 November 1930, he succeeded her as emperor.<\/p>\n The independence of Ethiopia was interrupted by the Second Italo-Ethiopian War<\/a>, beginning when it was invaded by Fascist Italy<\/a> in early October 1935, and Italian occupation of the country (1936\u20131941). During this time, Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations in 1935, delivering an address that made him a worldwide figure, and the 1935 Time Man of the Year.<\/a> As the majority of the Ethiopian population lived in rural towns, Italy faced continued resistance and ambushes in urban centres throughout its occupation. Haile Selassie fled into exile in Fairfield House, Bath, England<\/a>. Mussolini was able to proclaim Italian Ethiopia and the assumption of the imperial title by the Italian king Vittorio Emanuele III.<\/a><\/p>\n The Italians invested substantively in Ethiopian infrastructure development. They created the “imperial road” between Addis Ababa and Massaua, the Addis Ababa \u2013 Mogadishu and the Addis Ababa \u2013 Assab. More than 900 km of railways were reconstructed, dams and hydroelectric plants were built, and many public and private companies were established.<\/p>\n In 1937, the Italian massacre of Yekatit 12<\/a>, in which many Ethiopians were imprisoned and massacred, took place. This was because of a failed attempt to assassinate Rodolfo Graziani<\/a>, the viceroy of Italian East Africa.<\/p>\n Following the entry of Italy into World War II, British Empire forces, together with the Arbegnoch<\/a> (literally, “patriots”, referring to armed resistance soldiers) restored the sovereignty of Ethiopia in the course of the East African Campaign<\/a> in 1941. An Italian guerrilla warfare campaign<\/a> continued until 1943. This was followed by British recognition of Ethiopia’s full sovereignty, without any special British privileges, when the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement<\/a> was signed in December 1944. Under the peace treaty of 1947, Italy recognized the sovereignty and independence of Ethiopia.<\/p>\n On 26 August 1942, Haile Selassie issued a proclamation that removed Ethiopia’s legal basis for slavery. Ethiopia had between two and four million slaves in the early 20th century, out of a total population of about eleven million.<\/p>\n In 1952, Haile Selassie orchestrated a federation with Eritrea<\/a>. He dissolved this in 1962 and annexed Eritrea, resulting in the Eritrean War of Independence<\/a>. Haile Selassie played a leading role in the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.<\/p>\n Opinion within Ethiopia turned against Haile Selassie I owing to the worldwide 1973 oil crisis<\/a>. This oil crisis caused a sharp increase in gasoline prices starting on 13 February 1974; food shortages; uncertainty regarding the succession; border wars; and discontent in the middle class created through modernization. The high gasoline prices motivated taxi drivers and teachers to go on strike on 18 February 1974, and students and workers in Addis Ababa began demonstrating against the government on 20 February 1974. The feudal oligarchical cabinet of Akilou Habte Wolde was toppled, and a new government was formed with Endelkachew Makonnen<\/a> serving as Prime Minister.<\/p>\n Haile Selassie’s rule ended on 12 September 1974, when he was deposed by the Derg<\/a>, a Soviet-backed Marxist\u2013Leninist military dictatorship led by Mengistu Haile Mariam<\/a>. The new Provisional Military Administrative Council established a one-party communist state in March 1975.<\/p>\n The ensuing government suffered several coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and a huge refugee problem. In 1977, Somalia, which had previously been receiving assistance and arms from the USSR, invaded Ethiopia in the Ogaden War<\/a>, capturing part of the Ogaden region. Ethiopia recovered it after it began receiving massive military aid from the USSR, Cuba<\/a>, South Yemen<\/a>, East Germany<\/a>, and North Korea<\/a>. This included around 15,000 Cuban combat troops.<\/p>\n In 1977\u201378, up to 500,000 were killed as a result of the Red Terror<\/a>, from forced deportations or from the use of hunger as a weapon under Mengistu’s rule. The Red Terror was carried out in response to what the Derg termed the ‘White Terror’, a chain of violent events, assassinations, and killings carried out by what it called “petty bourgeois reactionaries” who desired a reversal of the 1974 revolution.<\/p>\n The 1983\u201385 famine<\/a> in Ethiopia affected around eight million people, resulting in one million dead. Insurrections against Communist rule sprang up, particularly in the northern regions of Eritrea and Tigray. The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)<\/a> merged with other ethnically-based opposition movements in 1989, to form the coalition known as the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).<\/a><\/p>\n Concurrently, the Soviet Union began to retreat from building world communism under Mikhail Gorbachev’s<\/a> glasnost<\/a> and perestroika policies, marking a dramatic reduction in aid to Ethiopia from Socialist Bloc countries. This resulted in more economic hardship and the collapse of the military in the face of determined onslaughts by guerrilla forces in the north. The collapse of Marxism\u2013Leninism in general, and in eastern Europe during the revolutions of 1989, coincided with the Soviet Union stopping aid to Ethiopia altogether in 1990. The strategic outlook for Mengistu quickly deteriorated.<\/p>\n EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa in May 1991, and the Soviet Union did not intervene to save the government side. Mengistu fled the country and was granted asylum in Zimbabwe<\/a>, where he still resides.<\/p>\n In 2006, after a trial that lasted 12 years, Ethiopia’s Federal High Court in Addis Ababa found Mengistu guilty of genocide in absentia. Numerous other top leaders of his government were also found guilty of war crimes. Mengistu and others who had fled the country were tried and sentenced in absentia. Numerous former officials received the death sentence and tens of others spent the next 20 years in jail, before being pardoned from life sentences.<\/p>\n In July 1991, EPRDF convened a National Conference to establish the Transitional Government of Ethiopia<\/a> composed of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In June 1992, the Oromo Liberation Front<\/a> withdrew from the government; in March 1993, members of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples’ Democratic Coalition<\/a> also left the government. In 1994, a new constitution was written that established a parliamentary republic with a bicameral legislature and a judicial system.<\/p>\n The first multiparty election took place in May 1995<\/a>, which was won by the EPRDF. The president of the transitional government, EPRDF leader Meles Zenawi<\/a>, became the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and Negasso Gidada<\/a> was elected its President.<\/p>\n In May 1998, a border dispute with Eritrea led to the Eritrean\u2013Ethiopian War<\/a>, which lasted until June 2000 and cost both countries an estimated $1 million a day. This had a negative effect on Ethiopia’s economy, but strengthened the ruling coalition.<\/p>\n Ethiopia’s 3rd multiparty election on 15 May 2005<\/a> was highly disputed, with some opposition groups claiming fraud. Though the Carter Center<\/a> approved the pre-election conditions, it expressed its dissatisfaction with post-election events. European Union election observers cited state support for the EPRDF campaign, as well as irregularities in ballot counting and results publishing. The opposition parties gained more than 200 parliamentary seats, compared with just 12 in the 2000 elections.<\/a> While most of the opposition representatives joined the parliament, some leaders of the CUD<\/a> party who refused to take up their parliamentary seats were accused of inciting the post-election violence and were imprisoned. Amnesty International<\/a> considered them “prisoners of conscience” and they were subsequently released.<\/p>\n A coalition of opposition parties and some individuals was established in 2009 to oust the government of the EPRDF in legislative elections of 2010<\/a>. Meles’ party, which has been in power since 1991, published its 65-page manifesto in Addis Ababa on 10 October 2009. The opposition won most votes in Addis Ababa, but the EPRDF halted counting of votes for several days. After it ensued, it claimed the election, amidst charges of fraud and intimidation.<\/p>\n In mid-2011, two consecutively missed rainy seasons precipitated the worst drought in East Africa<\/a> seen in 60 years. Full recovery from the drought’s effects did not occur until 2012, with long-term strategies by the national government in conjunction with development agencies believed to offer the most sustainable results.<\/p>\n Meles died on 20 August 2012 in Brussels, where he was being treated for an unspecified illness. Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn<\/a> was appointed as a new prime minister until the 2015 elections<\/a>, and remained so afterwards with his party in control of every parliamentary seat.<\/p>\n Protests broke out across the country on 5 August 2016<\/a> and dozens of protesters were subsequently shot and killed by police. The protesters demanded an end to human rights abuses, the release of political prisoners, a fairer redistribution of the wealth generated by over a decade of economic growth, and a return of Wolqayt District<\/a> to the Amhara Region<\/a>. The events were the most violent crackdown against protesters in Sub-Saharan Africa since the Ethiopian government killed at least 75 people during protests in the Oromia Region<\/a> in November and December 2015. Following these protests, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency<\/a> on 6 October 2016. The state of emergency was lifted in August 2017.<\/p>\n On 16 February 2018, the government of Ethiopia declared a six-month nationwide state of emergency following the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Hailemariam is the first ruler in modern Ethiopian history to step down; previous leaders have died in office or been overthrown. He said he wanted to clear the way for reforms.<\/p>\n The new Prime Minister was Abiy Ahmed<\/a>, who made a historic visit to Eritrea<\/a> in 2018, ending the state of conflict between the countries<\/a>. For his efforts in ending the 20-year-long war between Ethiopia and Eritrea Abiy Ahmed was awarded with the Nobel prize for peace in 2019. Since taking office in April 2018, 42-year-old Abiy has also released political prisoners, promised fair elections for 2019 and announced sweeping economic reforms. As of 6 June 2019, all the previously censored websites were made accessible again, over a thousand political prisoners were released and hundreds of administrative staff were fired as part of the reforms.<\/p>\n Ethnic violence rose with the political unrest. There were Oromo\u2013Somali clashes<\/a> between the Oromo, who make up the largest ethnic group in the country, and the ethnic Somalis, leading to up to 400,000 have been displaced in 2017. Gedeo\u2013Oromo<\/a> clashes between the Oromo and the Gedeo<\/a> people in the south of the country led to Ethiopia having the largest number of people to flee their homes in the world in 2018, with 1.4 million newly displaced people. In September 2018 in the minorities protest that took place in Oromo near the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, 23 people were killed. Some have blamed the rise in ethnic violence by the Oromo on the new Oromo Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for giving space to groups formerly banned by previous Tigrayan-led governments, such as the Oromo Liberation Front.<\/p>\n At 1,104,300 square kilometers (426,372.61 sq mi), Ethiopia is the world’s 28th-largest country, comparable in size to Bolivia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The major portion of Ethiopia lies in the Horn of Africa<\/a>, which is the easternmost part of the African landmass. The territories that have frontiers with Ethiopia are Eritrea to the north and then, moving in a clockwise direction, Djibouti, the de-facto state of Somaliland<\/a>, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan. Within Ethiopia is a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley<\/a>, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes<\/a>, or semi-desert. There is a great diversity of terrain with wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlement patterns.<\/p>\n Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country, ranging from the deserts along the eastern border to the tropical forests in the south to extensive Afromontane<\/a> in the northern and southwestern parts. Lake Tana<\/a> in the north is the source of the Blue Nile<\/a>. It also has many endemic species, notably the gelada<\/a>, the walia ibex<\/a> and the Ethiopian wolf (“Simien fox”)<\/a>. The wide range of altitude has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas, and this has helped to encourage the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation.<\/p>\n According to the IMF<\/a>, Ethiopia was one of the fastest growing economies in the world, registering over 10% economic growth from 2004 through 2009. It was the fastest-growing non-oil-dependent African economy in the years 2007 and 2008. In 2015, the World Bank highlighted that Ethiopia had witnessed rapid economic growth with real domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 10.9% between 2004 and 2014.<\/p>\n In spite of fast growth in recent years, GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world, and the economy faces a number of serious structural problems. However, with a focused investment in public infrastructure and industrial parks, Ethiopia’s economy is addressing its structural problems to become a hub for light manufacturing in Africa. In 2019 a law was passed allowing expatriate Ethiopians to invest in Ethiopia’s financial service industry.<\/p>\n The Ethiopian constitution defines the right to own land as belonging only to “the state and the people”, but citizens may lease land (up to 99 years), and are unable to mortgage or sell. Renting of land for a maximum of twenty years is allowed and this is expected to ensure that land goes to the most productive user. Land distribution and administration is considered an area where corruption is institutionalized, and facilitation payments as well as bribes are often demanded when dealing with land-related issues. As there is no land ownership, infrastructural projects are most often simply done without asking the land users, which then end up being displaced and without home or land. A lot of anger and distrust sometimes results in public protests. In addition, agricultural productivity remains low, and frequent droughts still beset the country, also leading to internal displacement.<\/p>\n Agriculture constitutes around 85% of the labor force. However, the service sector represents the largest portion of the GDP. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly by small-scale farmers and enterprises, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee<\/a>, legumes<\/a>, oilseeds<\/a>, cereals<\/a>, potatoes, sugarcane<\/a>, and vegetables. Ethiopia is also a Vavilov center<\/a> of diversity for domesticated crops, including enset<\/a>, coffee and teff<\/a>.<\/p>\n Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities (with the exception of Gold exports), and coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia is Africa’s second biggest maize<\/a> producer. According to UN estimations the per capita GDP of Ethiopia has reached $357 as of 2011.<\/p>\n Exports from Ethiopia in the 2009\/2010 financial year totaled US$1.4 billion. The country produces more coffee than any other nation on the continent. Coffee provides a livelihood for close to 15 million Ethiopians, 16% of the population. Farmers in the eastern part of the country, where a warming climate is already impacting production, have struggled in recent years, and many are currently reporting largely failed harvests as a result of a prolonged drought.<\/p>\n Other main export commodities are khat<\/a>, gold, leather products, and oilseeds. Recent development of the floriculture<\/a> sector means Ethiopia is poised to become one of the top flower and plant exporters in the world.<\/p>\n With the private sector growing slowly, designer leather products like bags are becoming a big export business, with Taytu becoming the first luxury designer label in the country. Additional small-scale export products include cereals, pulses, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, and hides. With the construction of various new dams and growing hydroelectric power projects around the country, Ethiopia also plans to export electric power to its neighbors.<\/p>\n The country also has large mineral resources and oil potential in some of the less inhabited regions. Political instability in those regions, however, has inhibited development. Ethiopian geologists were implicated in a major gold swindle in 2008. Four chemists and geologists from the Ethiopian Geological Survey were arrested in connection with a fake gold scandal, following complaints from buyers in South Africa. Gold bars from the National Bank of Ethiopia were found by police to be gilded metal, costing the state around US$17 million, according to the Science and Development Network website.<\/p>\n Ethiopia has 926 km of electrified 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1\u20442 in) standard gauge railways, 656 km for the Addis Ababa\u2013Djibouti Railway<\/a> between Addis Ababa and the Port of Djibouti<\/a> (via Awash<\/a>) and 270 km for the Awash\u2013Hara Gebeya Railway<\/a> between Addis Ababa and the twin cities of Dessie<\/a>\/Kombolcha<\/a> (also via Awash). Both railways are either in trial service or still under construction as of August 2017. Once commissioned and fully operational in 2018\/2019, both railways will allow passenger transport with a designated speed of 120 km\/hour and freight transport with a speed of ~80 km\/hour. Expected travel time from Addis Ababa to Djibouti City for passengers would be less than twelve hours and travel time from Addis Ababa to Dessie\/Kombolcha would be around six hours.<\/p>\n Beyond the first 270 km of the Awash\u2013Hara Gebeya Railway, a second construction phase over 120 km foresees the extension of this railway from Dessie\/Kombolcha to Hara Gebeya<\/a>\/Woldiya<\/a>. It is not clear, when this section will be built and opened. A third, northern 216 km long railway is also under construction between Mek’ele and Woldiya, but it is also not clear, when this railway will be commissioned and opened. All railways are part of a future railway network of more than 5,000 km of railways, the National Railway Network of Ethiopia<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the first part of a ten-year Road Sector Development Program, between 1997 and 2002 the Ethiopian government began a sustained effort to improve its infrastructure of roads. As a result, as of 2015 Ethiopia has a total (Federal and Regional) of 100,000 km of roads, both paved and gravel.<\/p>\n Ethiopia had 58 airports as of 2012, and 61 as of 2016. Among these, the Bole International Airport<\/a> in Addis Ababa and the Aba Tenna Dejazmach Yilma International Airport<\/a> in Dire Dawa accommodate international flights. Ethiopian Airlines<\/a> is the country’s flag carrier, and is wholly owned by the Government of Ethiopia.<\/p>\n From its hub at the Bole International Airport, the airline serves a network of 102 international passenger, 20 domestic passenger, and 44 cargo destinations. It is also one of the fastest-growing carriers in the industry and continent.<\/p>\n The national flag of Ethiopia was adopted on 31 October 1912. It conforms to the specifications set forth in Article 3 of the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia<\/a>. However, the diameter of the central disc is increased from that of the flag used from 6 February to 31 October 1996. The three traditional colors of green, yellow and red date back to Iyasu V<\/a> (reigned 1913\u20131916).<\/p>\n The current flag and emblem<\/a> were adopted after the defeat<\/a> of Ethiopia\u2019s Marxist dictatorship<\/a> headed by Mengistu Haile Mariam<\/a>. The emblem is intended to represent both the diversity and unity of the country. Blue represents peace, the star is said to represent diversity and unity, and the sun’s rays symbolize prosperity. The green recalls the land, yellow stands for peace and hope, and red is symbolic of the strength and sacrifice of those who fought with their lives for Ethiopia.<\/p>\n Details about the several historical flags and variations on the current flag can be found elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The national flag of Ethiopia was adopted on 31 October 1912. It conforms to the specifications set forth in Article 3 of the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia. However, the diameter of the central disc is increased from that of the flag used from 6 February to 31 October 1996. The three traditional colours of green, yellow and red date back to Iyasu V (reigned 1913\u20131916). The current flag and emblem were adopted after the defeat of Ethiopia\u2019s Marxist dictatorship headed by Mengistu Haile Mariam. The emblem is intended to represent both the diversity and unity of the country. Blue represents peace, the star is said to represent diversity and unity, and the sun’s rays symbolise prosperity. The green recalls the land, yellow stands for peace and hope, and red is symbolic of strength and sacrifice of those who fought with their lives for Ethiopia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,78,59,5,6,7,18,20,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Queen-of-Sheba-199x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/City-Map-of-Ethiopia-279x300.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Pre-History:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Australopithecus-afarensis-Lucy-300x155.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Bale-Mountains-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Antiquity:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Obelisk-of-Aksum-240x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Aksumite-Currency-300x152.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>During Muhammad’s Era:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Wukro-300x253.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Middle Ages:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Dawit-II-232x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Fasilides-Palace-in-the-Fasil-Ghebbi-Gondar-Ethiopia-300x219.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Aussa Sultanate:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Aussa-Sultanate-300x297.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Zemene Mesafint:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Emperor-Tewodros-II-of-Ethiopia-242x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Emperor-Yohannes-IV-243x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>From Menelik II to Adwa (1889\u20131913):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Ethiopia-1850-300x278.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Menelik-II-241x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Haile Selassie I Era (1916\u20131974) and Italian Ethiopia:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Haile-Selassie-300x221.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Italian-Artillery-300x202.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Arbegnoch-228x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Communist Era (1974\u20131991):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Mengistu-Haile-Mariam-246x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Cuban-Artillery-During-the-Ogaden-War-276x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Federal Democratic Republic (1991\u2013present):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Meles-Zenawi-240x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Animal-Deaths-Due-to-Drought-300x199.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Hailemariam-Dessalegn-238x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Government Reforms (2018\u2013present):<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Abiy-Ahmed-215x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Semien-Mountains-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Ethiopian-wolf-300x189.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Commercial-Bank-of-Ethiopia-300x199.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Ethiopian-Coffee-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Export-Map-for-Ethiopia-300x121.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Teff-Field-300x204.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/National-Railway-Network-of-Ethiopia-as-planned-277x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Road-Map-of-Ethiopia-300x230.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Ethiopian-Airlines-Boeing-737\u2013700-on-the-Bole-International-Airport-Taxiway-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Ethiopia:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Flag-of-Ethiopia-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>