The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (
Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik, Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፈደራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ) is a nation of northeastern
Africa. 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 border war with
Eritrea that erupted in May
1998 has strengthened the ruling coalition, but has hurt the nation's economy.
The capital is Addis Ababa.
| Elsewhere |
 |
|
Search engine
Web directory
