Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is a landlocked country located in Eastern Africa in what is called the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan.
Only 10 percent of this 1.1 million square kilometer country is arable land.
Ethiopia is a relatively isolated mountain empire, the high plateau divided by the Great Rift Valley. The area is susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and frequent droughts. Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world and the oldest independent country in Africa. Fossilized remains found in Ethiopia document earliest ancestors to the human species dating to as long as 5.9 million years ago.
Natural resources include small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas and hydropower. Ethiopia is primarily an agrarian society, and is one of Africa's leading coffee producers.
76.5 million people live in Ethiopia, 60 percent are Christian and 33 percent are Muslim. They speak many languages including Amarigna, Oromigna, Tigrigna, Somaligna, Guaragigna, Sidamigna, Hadiyigna and English.
Ethiopia is unique among African countries in that they have maintained their freedom from colonial rule with the exception of the Italian occupation during World War II. The Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed in a military coup in 1974 and a socialist state was established. That regime was toppled in 1991 and replaced with a federal republic. The legal system is based on civil law. The capital is Addis Ababa.
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