Abyssinia

Abyssinia (ăb'ĭsĭn`ēyə): see Ethiopia.

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Ethiopia

 officially Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia formerly Abyssinia

Country, eastern Africa. It is situated on the Horn of Africa, the continent's easternmost projection. Area: 435,186 sq mi (1,127,127 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 73,053,000. Capital: Addis Ababa. The people are about one-third Amhara and one-third Oromo, with the balance mostly Tigray, Afar, Somali, Saho, and Agew. Languages: Amharic, Oromo. Religions: Christianity (predominantly Ethiopian Orthodox; also Protestant), Islam, traditional beliefs. Currency: birr. The landlocked country is mountainous in the north, with lowlands to the east and west. The central Ethiopian Plateau is split by the Great Rift Valley, which divides the eastern and western highlands. The climate is temperate in the highlands, which are mainly savanna, and hot in the arid lowlands. Intensive farming and deforestation have led to severe erosion; this, along with periodic droughts, has produced periodic food shortages. The country's once abundant wildlife has been decimated; many species are endangered. Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest countries. Agriculture is mainly for subsistence, with cereals the main crop. Livestock is also important. Coffee is the main export, followed by hides and skins. A new republic was established in 1995; it has two legislative houses, the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Ethiopia, the Biblical land of Kush, was inhabited from earliest antiquity and was once under ancient Egyptian rule. Ge'ez-speaking agriculturalists established the kingdom of Da'amat in the 7th century BC. After 300 BC they were superseded by the kingdom of Aksum, whose King Menilek I was, according to legend, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Christianity was introduced in the 4th century AD and became widespread (see Ethiopian Orthodox Church). Ethiopia's prosperous Mediterranean trade was cut off by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th–8th century, and the area's interests were directed southward. Contact with Europe resumed in the late 15th century with the arrival of the Portuguese. Modern Ethiopia began with the reign of Tewodros II, who began the consolidation of the country. In the wake of European encroachment, the coastal region was made an Italian colony in 1889, but under Emperor Menilek II the Italians were defeated and ousted in 1896. Ethiopia prospered under his rule, and his modernization programs were continued by Emperor Haile Selassie in the 1930s. In 1936 Italy again gained control of the country and held it as part of Italian East Africa until 1941, when it was occupied by the British. Ethiopia incorporated Eritrea in 1952. In 1974 Haile Selassie was deposed, and a Marxist government, plagued by civil wars and famine, controlled the country until 1991. In 1993 Eritrea gained its independence, but there were continued border conflicts with it and neighbouring Somalia.