Ethiopia: History

Once called Abyssinia, Ethiopia’s land perhaps has the longest continuous history of human occupation of any where in the world. The Awash river basin in the eastern lowlands is proving to be a treasure-trove for scientists examining the origins of human kind. The best-known bones of these early human ancestors, the species, Australopithecus afarenesis, are widely known as Lucy, but Ethiopians call them Dinknesh. “Lovely thou art” or “beautiful one”. Founded in 1974, these bones date to more than 3 million years ago. Twenty years later, bones of an even older “Cousin” 4.4 million years old were unearthed in the same area. These fossils may belong to the earliest known ancestor to walk upright. Because of this possibility, the word ramid, meaning “root” in the Afar language of the people who live in the area, has been used to name this new species, Australopithecus ramidus.

Jumping over millions of years, the rich cultural and architectural legacy of a 3000 years royal dynasty that began with the Queen of Sheba, bring us to the wonderful history of the kingdom, Axum kingdom of Akum rivaled Rome, Persia and China. It is an archaeological site famous for its stone palaces and steles (tall, decorated like story building pillars). The remains evidence of the past wealth and rich cultural life of this city-state from the 1st through the 8th centuries; when it traded ivory and other luxury goods like God, silver and copper with many peoples of the ancient world coins made of copper, silver, and gold reflect this flourishing trade and provide further evidence of the history of this time. The design of a cross on the coins of the 4th century king Ezana indicates the period when Christianity was introduced to the region as the state religion in 330 AD, before Rome. The Ethiopian Orthodox church is the oldest. In Africa Muslim communities were also established in Ethiopia before the trimph of Islam in it’s birth place, the Arabian peninsula. These communities began to expand into the high lands in the 16th century, when Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi better known as Ahmad Gragn (the left handed(. Led the Mulsim forces all the way to lake Tana & further North before they were tumed back at the army retreated to the east, if left behind people who formed the foundation for today’s large Mulsim community across the country.

During the centuries between Lalibela 12th century and the founding of the Modern Ethiopia, the Kings often moved about the country side in magnificent tented cities. They lived this way so that they could visit their subjects and collect tribute taxes. The borders of modern Ethiopia date from the end of this period, when Emperor Menilik II expanded his empire in the east, south and west, conquering and annexing the lands of many smaller, independent nations.

When Emperor Menilik expanded the Ethiopian Empire, he ound himself in competition with Europeans who had come to scramble the mandate given in Africa, after the Berlin conference in 1884. however, Ethiopia was not of these colonies. In fact, because Ethiopia defeated an invading Italian army to preserve its independence, the country long stood as a beacon of  hope and dignity for Africans every where, who would eventually all becomes citizens of independent nations.
For much of the 20th century, Ethiopia was dominated by Ras (Prince) Tafari, Mekonnen firs tnamed regent and heir to the throne shortly after Menilik’s death in 1913, he was crowned Emperor. Haile Sellassie I (a throne name meaning “power of the Holy Trinity”) in 1930. her ruled until 1974, when his polices on land ownership and the civil war in Eritrea (now an independent country), his governments denial of widespread drought and famine, and his old age & other factors brought demonstrations first by workers and then by students and teachers, and finally led to his overthrow and death at the hands of the army.
At first Ethiopians believed that many of the old problems might be solved peacefully,.. Soon, now ever, the new military council best known at “Derg” was taken over by colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, who led a reign until 1991. then, in may 1991, a coalition rebel groups by the name the Ethiopian people’s Revolutionary Democratic front (EPRDF) took power as colonel Mengistu fled. They adopted a new constitution that makes Ethiopia a Federal Republic made up of 9 regions, based mainly on ethnicity. The present government was re-elected in May, 2010 and the next election are due in May, 2015.

Country Topographic Profile

Geography & Geology
Ethiopia is a landlocked country on the Horn of Africa in eastern Africa with a surface area of 437,794 sq miles, or 1,112,000 square kilometers. To get a picture Ethiopia is an large as France and Spain combined. It borders Sudan to the west, Eritrea to the North, Djibouti to the Northeast, Somalia to the east and Kenya to the South.

More than 75 million years ago, cracks in the Earth’s crust created the Great Rift Valley. This series of mountains divides Ethiopia. At its highest point of 14,875 feet/c 4533 meters, Ras Dashen towers over the Danakil Depression 380 feet/ 100 meter below sea level. Ethiopia’s variety of land forms means that the country receives more rain than other African countries.

Population
Ethiopia’s last census result in July 2008, counted 78,254,090. the estimated population. Now is about over 80 million. The majority 32.1 percent of the population are ethnic Oromo, 30.1 percent Amhara 6.2 percent Tigraway, 5.9 percent Somalie, 4.3 percent Guragie, 3.5 Percent Sidama 2.4 Percent Walita and 15.4 percent others.

Economy
After a decade following the end of the civil war Ethiopia’s economy has emerged as one of the fastly growing economies of Africa. Though privatization of unprofitable industries built up by the former regime came about much later, the economy records high percentage of growth.  Agriculture plays a crucial role in the countries economy. 85% of the population get their livelihood from this sector. Coffee (the word originates from the name of the province of kaffa, in the southern peoples regional states, the birth place of coffee) provides the bulk of foreign currency earnings, although both the decline inn world coffee prices and the rise in importance of other products has meant a fall in it’s contribution. The export of oil seeds, pulses, flowers, livestock, skin and hides makes up the rest of Ethiopia’s foreign currency earnings. One of the fastest growing sectors in the Ethiopian economy is the flower industry. Due to of the lands favorable production conditions and incentives given by the Ethiopian government, the sector draw a lot of domestic and foreign investors.

Ethiopia is the ‘water tower” of the region (the Blue Nile contributes to 85% of the main Nile flow to the Sudan and Egypt) and project are now being implemented to better exploit the country’s water resources both the hydro power generation and to boost agricultural production through irrigation schemes. The millennium hydro dam over the Nile and its generation of power 5250 MW can be considered as complete transformation of the Ethiopian’s economy. Thermal power generation schemes are already operational in some potential areas. Tourism is making an increasingly important contribution. Recent estimates now put tourism second after coffee on terms of foreign currency earnings.