Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule with the exception of a short-lived Italian occupation from 1936-41. In 1974, a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A constitution was adopted in 1994, and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A border war with Eritrea late in the 1990s ended with a peace treaty in December 2000. In November 2007, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission remotely demarcated the border by geographical coordinates, but final demarcation of the boundary on the ground is currently on hold because of Ethiopian objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender territory considered sensitive to Ethiopia.

Eastern Africa, west of Somalia

slightly less than twice the size of Texas

tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation

high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley

small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower

geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts

deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management

landlocked - entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; the Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T'ana Hayk (Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia; three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean

43.66 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

11.55 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-0.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population

6.07 children born/woman (2010 est.)

Oromo 34.5%, Amara 26.9%, Somalie 6.2%, Tigraway 6.1%, Sidama 4%, Guragie 2.5%, Welaita 2.3%, Hadiya 1.7%, Affar 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, other 11.3% (2007 Census)

Orthodox 43.5%, Muslim 33.9%, Protestant 18.6%, traditional 2.6%, Catholic 0.7%, other 0.7% (2007 Census)

Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census)

9 ethnically based states (kililoch, singular - kilil) and 2 self-governing administrations* (astedaderoch, singular - astedader); Adis Abeba* (Addis Ababa), Afar, Amara (Amhara), Binshangul Gumuz, Dire Dawa*, Gambela Hizboch (Gambela Peoples), Hareri Hizb (Harari People), Oromiya (Oromia), Sumale (Somali), Tigray, Ye Debub Biheroch Bihereseboch na Hizboch (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples)

oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years

National Day (defeat of MENGISTU regime), 28 May (1991)

ratified 8 December 1994, effective 22 August 1995

based on civil law; currently transitional mix of national and regional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Federation (or upper chamber responsible for interpreting the constitution and federal-regional issues) (108 seats; members chosen by state assemblies to serve five-year terms) and the House of People's Representatives (or lower chamber responsible for passing legislation) (547 seats; members directly elected by popular vote from single-member districts to serve five-year terms)

Federal Supreme Court (the president and vice president of the Federal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits to the House of People's Representatives for appointment candidates selected by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council)

Afar National Democratic Party or ANDP [Mohammed Kedir]; Arena Tigray; Argoba People's Democratic Organization or (APDO); Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Party or (BGPDP) [Mulualem BESSE]; Coalition for Unity and Democratic Party or CUDP; Ethiopian Federal Democatic Forum or (FORUM), a UDJ-led 8-party alliance established for the 2010 parliamentary elections; Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF; Gambella Peoples Unity Democratic Movement or (GPUDM) [Umod UBONG]; Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement or GNDM; Harari National League or (HNL) [Murad Abdulhadi]; Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement or OFDM [BULCHA Demeksa]; Oromo People's Congress or OPC [IMERERA Gudina]; Somali Democratic Alliance Forces (SODAF); Somali People's Democratic Party or SPDP; United Ethiopian Democratic Forces or UEDF [BEYENE Petros]; Unity for Democracy and Justice or UDJ [Birtukan MEDEKSA, currently imprisoned]

Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front or EPPF; Ogaden National Liberation Front or ONLF; Oromo Liberation Front or OLF [DAOUD Ibsa]

ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red, with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands; green represents hope and the fertility of the land, yellow symbolizes justice and harmony, while red stands for sacrifice and heroism in the defense of the land; the blue of the disk symbolizes peace and the pentagram represents the unity and equality of the nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia

Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for about 45% of GDP, and 85% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $350 million in 2006, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in December 2005 the IMF forgave Ethiopia's debt. Under Ethiopia's constitution, the state owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 3.3% decline in GDP in 2003. Although GDP growth has since rebounded, soaring commodity prices in 2007 and 2008 and the global economic downturn led to balance of payments pressures, partially alleviated by recent emergency funding from the IMF.

$77.47 billion (2009 est.)

$71.27 billion (2008 est.)

$63.86 billion (2007 est.)

$32.32 billion (2009 est.)

38.7% (FY05/06 est.)

23.1% of GDP (2009 est.)

31.8% of GDP (2009 est.)

31% of GDP (2008 est.)

8% (31 December 2008)

7% (31 December 2006)

$4.93 billion (31 December 2008)

$4.229 billion (31 December 2007)

$3.603 billion (31 December 2008)

$3.258 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$6.694 billion (31 December 2006)

cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish

food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement

3.46 billion kWh (2007 est.)

3.13 billion kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

38,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

33,590 bbl/day (2007 est.)

430,000 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

24.92 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$2.243 billion (2009 est.)

-$1.806 billion (2008 est.)

$1.657 billion (2009 est.)

$1.555 billion (2008 est.)

coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds

China 10.87%, Germany 9.75%, Saudi Arabia 7.39%, US 7.21%, Netherlands 6.38%, Switzerland 5.33%, Sudan 4.35%, Belgium 4% (2009)

$7.093 billion (2009 est.)

$7.206 billion (2008 est.)

food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles

China 14.73%, Saudi Arabia 8.41%, India 7.65%, US 4.3% (2009)

$1.781 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$870.5 million (31 December 2008 est.)

$4.229 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$3.155 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

birr (ETB) per US dollar - 11.86 (2009), 9.57 (2008), 8.96 (2007), 8.69 (2006), 8.68 (2005)

3.168 million (2008)

1 public TV broadcast station broadcasting nationally and 1 public radio broadcaster with stations in each of the 13 administrative districts; a few commercial radio stations and roughly a dozen community radio stations (2009)

Ethiopia is landlocked and uses ports of Djibouti in Djibouti and Berbera in Somalia

Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF): Ground Forces, Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) (2008)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct call-ups when necessary and compliance is compulsory (2009)

Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; the undemarcated former British administrative line has little meaning as a political separation to rival clans within Ethiopia's Ogaden and southern Somalia's Oromo region; Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia

transit hub for heroin originating in Southwest and Southeast Asia and destined for Europe, as well as cocaine destined for markets in southern Africa; cultivates qat (khat) for local use and regional export, principally to Djibouti and Somalia (legal in all three countries); the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money laundering center