Country Companions

የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ ye-Ītyōṗṗyā Fēdēralāwī Dīmōkrāsīyāwī RīpeblīkFederal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem Wodefit Gesgeshi, Widd Innat Ityopp'ya "March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia"
Capital (and largest city)		Addis Ababa 9°01′N, 38°44′E
Official languages		Amharic
Demonym		Ethiopian
Government		Federal republic1
-	President	Girma Wolde-Giorgis
-	Prime Minister	Meles Zenawi
Establishment		10th century BC
-	Traditional date	c.980 BC
-	Kingdom of Dʿmt	8th century BC
-	Kingdom of Aksum	1st century BC
Area
-	Total	1,104,300 km² (27th) 426,371 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.7
Population
-	2006 estimate	75,067,000 (16th²)
-	1994 census	53,477,265
-	Density	70 /km² (123rd) 181 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2005 estimate
-	Total	$69.099 billion (69th)
-	Per capita	$823 (175fth)
Gini (1999–00)		30 (medium)
FSI (2007)		95.3 3.4 (Alert) (18th)
HDI (2004)		0.371 (low) (170th)
Currency		Birr (ETB)
Time zone		EAT (UTC+3)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+3)
Internet TLD		.et
Calling code		+251
1	Ethiopia is a democracy, but has a dominant-party system led by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.
2	Rank based on 2005 population estimate by the United Nations.

Ethiopia (Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ ʾĪtyōṗṗyā), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country situated in the Horn of Africa that has been landlocked since the independence of its northern neighbor Eritrea in 1993. Apart from Eritrea to the north, Ethiopia is bordered by Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Djibouti to the northeast, and Somalia to the east.

Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world and Africa's second-most populous nation. It has yielded some of the oldest traces of humanity, making it an important area in the process of human evolution.

Ethiopia was not colonized during the Scramble for Africa after defeating Italy during the Battle of Adwa. However it was occupied by Mussolini's Italy in 1935 before it defeated Italy the second time, with the help of Britain, in 1941. Having converted during the fourth century AD, it is also the second-oldest country to become officially Christian, after Armenia, although it has been secular since 1974.

Historically a relatively isolated mountain empire, Ethiopia has more recently become a crossroads of global international cooperation. It became a member of the League of Nations in 1923; signed the Declaration by United Nations in 1942; was one of the fifty-one original members of the United Nations (UN); founded the UN headquarters in Africa; and currently hosts the headquarters of the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity) of which it was the principal founder.