Page 73 - ie2 August 2019

LAND OF NATURAL CONTRASTS

from Africa of the 20th-century League of
Nations and the United Nations. In 1974,
the Ethiopian monarchy under Haile Se-
lassie was overthrown by the Derg, a com-
munist military government backed by
the Soviet Union. In 1987, the Derg estab-
lished the People’s Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia, but it was overthrown in 1991
by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
Democratic Front, which has been the
ruling political coalition since.
The nation is a land of natural con-
trasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests,
and numerous rivers, and the world’s hot-
test settlement of Dallol in its north. The
Ethiopian Highlands are the largest con-
tinuous mountain ranges in Africa, and
the Sof Omar Caves contains the largest
cave on the continent. Ethiopia also has
the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites
in Africa. Additionally, the sovereign state
is a founding member of the UN, the
Group of 24 (G-24), the Non-Aligned
Movement, G-77, and the Organisation of
African Unity. Its capital city Addis Aba-
ba serves as the headquarters of the Afri-
can Union, the Pan African Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, the United Na-
tions Economic Commission for Africa,
the African Standby Force, and many of
Addis Ababa at night the global NGOs focused on Africa. The
country now has the largest economy (by
THIOPIA is a country in the north- and Somali tectonic plates. GDP) in East Africa, having the largest
eastern part of Africa, known as the Some of the oldest skeletal evidence population in the region.
EHorn of Africa. It shares borders for anatomically modern humans has
with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the been found in Ethiopia. During the late India-Ethiopia bilateral relations
northeast, Somaliland and Somalia to the 19th-century Scramble for Africa, Ethio- India and Ethiopia have long-standing
east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to pia and Liberia were two nations that pre- economic and commercial relations,
the west and Sudan to the northwest. With served their sovereignty from long-term which are centuries old and can be traced
over 102 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is colonisation by a European colonial pow- back over 2000 years of recorded history.
the most populous landlocked country in er and many newly-independent nations During the Axumite Kingdom, Indian
the world and the second-most populous on the continent subsequently adopted its traders had links with the ancient port of
nation on the African continent with a flag colours. The country was occupied by Adul is in the eastern part of Ethiopia and
total area of 1.1 million sq km. Its capital Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia traded silk and spices for gold and ivory.
and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies (part of Italian East Africa) until it was In recent years, with the opening up of
a few miles west of the East African Rift liberated during World War II. Ethiopia the Ethiopian economy, business ties be-
that splits the country into the Nubian was also the first independent member tween the two countries have grown sig-

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