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Ethiopia

Uncomfortable Truths

" The Tigreans had Axum, but what could that mean to the Gurague? The Agew had Lalibela,

but what could that mean to the Oromo? The Gonderes had castles, but what could that mean
to the Wolaitai? "
Meles Zenawi 121

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About Ethiopia

" Ethiopia,officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the

Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to
the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia has

a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi) and over 109 million inhabitants
and is the 15th-most populous country in the world and the 4th-most populous in Africa.
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During the late–19th-century Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia and Liberia were the only two
nations that preserved their sovereignty from long-term colonisation by a European colonial

power, and many newly independent nations on the continent adopted its flag colours.
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Ethiopia's governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history

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The country was occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia as part of Italian East

Africa until it was liberated during World War II. During Italian rule, the government abolished
the centuries old practice of slavery, and urbanization steadily increased.In 1974, the long
standing Ethiopian monarchy under Haile Selassie was overthrown by the Derg, a communist

military government backed by the Soviet Union. In 1987, the Derg established the People's
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which was overthrown in 1991 by the Ethiopian People's

Revolutionary Democratic Front, who have been the ruling political coalition since.
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Ethiopia is a multilingual nation, with around 80 ethno-linguistic groups, the four largest of
which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans.

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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, but remains one of the world's poorest countries, facing

poverty, hunger, corruption, weak infrastructure, poor respect for human rights, and limited
access to health and education, with a literacy rate of only 49%, ranking in the worst quartile on

the Human Development Index.