 Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east and southeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia covers a land area of 112,000 square kilometers. Ethiopia is the world's 28th largest country, comparable in size to Bolivia. As of 2023, it is home to around 126.5 million inhabitants, making it the 13th most populous country in the world, the second most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on earth. The national capital and largest city is Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali, and Tigrayans. The Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, at 34.4% of the nation's population. The Amhara represent 27.0% of the country's inhabitants, while Somalis and Tigrayans represent 6.2% and 6.1% of the population respectively. Afroasiatic-speaking communities make up the majority of the population. Among these, Semitic speakers often collectively refer to themselves as the Habesha people. The Arabic form of this term al-Habashah is the etymological basis of Abyssinia, the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages. According to Glottalog, there are 109 languages spoken in Ethiopia, while Ethnologue lists 90 individual languages spoken in the country. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Kushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes the Oromo language, spoken by the Oromo, and Somali, spoken by the Somalis. The latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigrayans. Together, these four groups make up about three-quarters of Ethiopia's population. Other Afroasiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Kushitic Siddamo, Afar, Hadiyah, and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic-Guraj languages, Harari, Siltai, and Argoba languages. Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas. English is the most widely spoken foreign language. The medium of instruction in secondary schools and all tertiary education. Federal laws are also published in British English in the Federal Negaret Gazeta, including the 1995 Constitution. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo, Somali, or Tigrinya. All languages enjoy equal state recognition in the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia. Ethiopia's principal orthography is the Ge'ez script. Employed as an abugida for several of the country's languages, it first came into usage in the 6th and 5th centuries BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of both the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches. During the 1980s, the Ethiopic character set was computerized. Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. Ethiopia is Africa's oldest independent country and one of the oldest in the world. In 980 BC, the Kingdom of Deempt extended its realm over Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia, while the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330 and Islam arrived by the first hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, a variety of kingdoms, largely tribal confederations, existed in the land of Ethiopia. The Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts until being overthrown by Yakuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba under their son, Manelik I. By the 14th century, the empire had grown in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories. Most notably, the Ethiopian-Adal War, 1529-1543, contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century. Emperor Teodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia. From 1878 onwards, Emperor Menelik Thet launched a series of conquests known as Menelik's Expansions, which resulted in the formation of Ethiopia's current border. Externally, during the late 19th century, Ethiopia defended itself against foreign invasions, including from Egypt and Italy. As a result, Ethiopia and Liberia preserved their sovereignty during the scramble for Africa. In 1935, Ethiopia was occupied by Fascist Italy and annexed with Italian-possessed Eritrea and Somaliland, later forming Italian East Africa. In 1941, during World War II, it was occupied by the British Army and its full sovereignty was restored in 1944 after a period of military administration. The Durg, a Soviet-backed military hunter, took power in 1974 after deposing Emperor Hela Selassie and the Solomonic dynasty and ruled the country for nearly 17 years amidst the Ethiopian Civil War. Following the dissolution of the Durg in 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF, dominated the country with a new constitution and ethnic-based federalism. Since then, Ethiopia has suffered from prolonged and unsolved inter-ethnic clashes and political instability marked by democratic backsliding. This sovereign state is a founding member of the UN, the Group of 24, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77, and the Organization of African Unity. Addis Ababa is the headquarters of the African Union, the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Stand-by Force, and many of the global non-governmental organizations focused on Africa. Ethiopia has been invited to join BRICS and will become a full member, starting January 1st, 2024. Ethiopia is considered to be an emerging power, having the fastest economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries. Ethiopia has close historical ties with all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions. In the 4th century, the Ethiopian Empire was one of the first in the world to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion. As a result of the resolutions of the Council of Calcedon, in 451, the Myophysites, which included the vast majority of Christians in Egypt and Ethiopia, were accused of monophysitism and designated as heretics under the common name of Coptic Christianity. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is part of Oriental Orthodoxy. It is by far the largest Christian denomination, although a number of Piantai Protestant churches have recently gained ground. Since 1930, a relatively small Ethiopian Catholic church has existed in full communion with Rome, with adherents making up less than 1% of the total population. Islam, in Ethiopia, dates back to the founding of the religion in 622, when a group of Muslims were counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca. The disciples subsequently migrated to Abyssinia via modern-day Eritrea, which was at the time ruled by Ashama Ibn Abjar, a pious Christian emperor. The predominant climate type is tropical monsoon, with wide topographic-induced variation. The Ethiopian highlands cover most of the country and have a climate which is generally considerably cooler than other regions at similar proximity to the equator. Most of the country's major cities are located at elevations of around 2,000 to 2,500 meters above sea level, including historic capitals such as Gondar and Aksum. The modern capital, Addis Ababa, is situated on the foothills of Mount Entoto at an elevation of around 2,400 meters. It experiences a mild climate all year round. With temperatures fairly uniform all year round, the seasons in Addis Ababa are largely defined by rainfall, a dry season from October to February, a light rainy season from March to May, and a heavy rainy season from June to September. Ethiopia is constructing a large 6,450-megawatt hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile River called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. When completed, this Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is slated to be the largest hydroelectric power station in Africa. Agriculture constitutes around 85% of the labor force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly by small-scale farmers and enterprises, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, legumes, oil seeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Ethiopia is also a Vavilov Center of Diversity for domesticated crops, including inset, coffee, and teff. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, with the exception of gold exports, and coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia is Africa's second-biggest maize producer. Ethiopia has 926 kilometers of electrified standard gauge railways, 656 kilometers for the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway between Addis Ababa and the Port of Djibouti via Awash, and 270 kilometers for the Awash-Hara-Gabea Railway between Addis Ababa and the Twin Cities of Dessiae and Kombolcha. Ethiopia had 58 airports as of 2012 and 61 as of 2016. Among these, the Bol International Airport in Addis Ababa and the Abatena-Dejazmash Yilma International Airport in Dairudawa accommodate international flights. Ethiopian Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, is the country's flag carrier and is wholly owned by the government of Ethiopia. From its hub at the Bol International Airport, the airline serves a network of 102 international passenger, 20 domestic passenger, and 44 cargo destinations. It is also one of the fastest growing carriers in the industry and continent. In 2015, the European Council named Ethiopia World's Best Tourism Destination. In 2020, the country registered 518,000 tourists, ranked 126th in the world. There are nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ethiopia. Tourist destinations include Ethiopia's collection of national parks, including Semi and Mountains National Park and historic sites, such as the cities of Aksum, Lalibela and Gondar, Harar-Jugol-Wald City, Negash Mosque in Negash and Soft Omar Caves. The best-known Ethiopian cuisine consists of various types of thick meat stews, known as wat in Ethiopian culture, and vegetable side dishes served on top of injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour. This is not eaten with utensils, but instead the injera is used to scoop up the entrees and side dishes. Almost universally in Ethiopia, it is common to eat from the same dish in the middle of the table with a group of people. It is also a common custom to feed others within a group or own hands, a tradition referred to as gursha. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine employs no pork or shellfish of any kind, as both are forbidden in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, Islamic, and Jewish faiths. Cechebsa, Marka, Chukko, Michira, and Danga are the most popular dishes from the Oromo. Kitfo, which originated among the guragj, is one of the country's most popular delicacies. In addition, Doro Wat and Cebehi Derho are other popular dishes, originating from Northwestern Ethiopia. Tehlo, which is a type of dumpling, is prepared from roasted barley flour and originated in the Tigray region. Tehlo is now very popular in Amhara and spreading further south. The music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of the country's 80 ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Ethiopian music uses a distinct modal system that is pentatonic with characteristically long intervals between some notes. As with many other aspects of Ethiopian culture and tradition, tastes in music and lyrics are strongly linked with those in neighboring Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, and Sudan. Traditional singing in Ethiopia presents diverse styles of polyphony, heterophony, drone, imitation, and counterpoint. Traditionally, lyricism in Ethiopian songwriting is strongly associated with views of patriotism or national pride, romance, friendship, and a unique type of memoir, known as tizita. In the 1960s and 1970s, traditional infused modern Ethiopian music was revived in what is known as the Golden Age. Several notable musical artists emerged thereafter, for example, Tilahun Gesese, Alema Yehu Eshette, Bizunesh Bekele, Muluken Melese, and Mahmoud Ahmed. It also employed tradition style called tizita. During the DERG regime, these artists were prohibited to perform in the country and often forced into exile in North America and Europe, mixing with jazz and funk influences. For example, Roha Band, Wallyas Band, and Ethio Stars. By this time, Niue Debebe was critical of the DERG government. Modern music became developed shortly in the 1990s and 2000s. In this period, the most popular artists were Aster Oweek, Gigi and Teddy Afro. Ethiopian music further modernized in the next decade, employing electronic type. DJ Roffnain was renowned for pioneering EDM after releasing his debut album Reflection in 2018. The main sports in Ethiopia are track and field, particularly long distance running and football. Ethiopian athletes have won many Olympic gold medals in track and field, most of them in long distance running. Abebe Bikila became the first athlete from a Sub-Saharan country to win an Olympic gold medal when he won the marathon at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games in a world record time. Haile Gebersalassi, Kenanisa Bekele, and Tiruneesh Dibaba are all world renowned long distance runners, each with multiple Olympic and world championship gold medals. Lettacin Bet Gidei holds the world records in both the women's 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter run. Other notable Ethiopian runners are Mamo Wolda, Miruz Yifter, Derar Tutulu, Mesaret Defar, Birhane Adere, Tiki Galana, Genzebe Dibaba, Tariku Bekele, Galete Burka, and Yomif Kejelcha. Ethiopia has Sub-Saharan Africa's longest basketball tradition as it established a national basketball team in 1949. Ethiopia's role as a beacon of hope for Africa is accentuated by its commitment to regional stability and development. In a continent often grappling with challenges, Ethiopia has emerged as a leader in pursuing solutions and fostering unity. Its diplomatic efforts and participation in regional organizations underscore its dedication to the collective advancement of the African people. The grand transformation unfolding in Ethiopia is exemplified by ambitious infrastructural projects, economic reforms, and a commitment to education and technology. The nation is positioning itself as a hub for innovation and economic growth, contributing not only to its own prosperity, but also to the advancement of the entire continent. As Ethiopia strides forward, it carries with it the weight of history, the dreams of its people, and the promise of a brighter future for Africa. The tale of Ethiopia is one of resilience, aspiration, and the enduring spirit of a nation that continues to shape its destiny and in doing so serves as a guiding light for the entire African continent.