Background:
Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy
maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception being the
Italian occupation of 1936-41. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg,
deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and
established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings,
wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was
finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A
constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty
elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with
Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final
demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian
objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to
surrender sensitive territory.
Geography Ethiopia
Location:
Eastern Africa, west of Somalia
Geographic coordinates:
8 00 N, 38 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 1,127,127 sq km
water: 7,444 sq km
land: 1,119,683 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 5,328 km
border countries: Djibouti 349 km, Eritrea 912 km, Kenya 861 km,
Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 1,606 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)