2009 Ethiopia

center|Flag
center|Location
Capital: Addis Ababa
Official Language: Amharic
Government: Federal Parliamentary republic
Head of State: Meles Zenawi
Head of Government: Jaffa Dawit
Formation: 980 BC
Population: 78,254,090 (2008)
GDP: ???
GDP Growth: ???
Literacy: ???
Health: ???
Infrastructure: ???
Human Rights Record: Wikipedia Article
Welcome to the international embassy of Ethiopia! Here you can find information on the glorious Ethiopian nation. If you have any questions feel free to contact the ambassador.
=Diplomatic Relations=
Nation currently enjoys diplomatic relations with (List)
Nation is a member of (List)
Nation is a signatory to the following treaties (list)
//We will do this bit later, just have the template up so we can do it.
=Summary=
Ethiopia (Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ ʾĪtyōṗṗyā), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the north-east.
At 435,071 square miles (1,127,127 km²), Ethiopia is the world's 27th-largest country (after Colombia). It is comparable in size to Bolivia, and is about two-thirds as large as the US state of Alaska. It is also one of the oldest nations in the world. The major portion of Ethiopia lies on the Horn of Africa, which is the eastern-most part of the African landmass. Bordering Ethiopia is Sudan to the west, Djibouti and Eritrea to the north, Somalia to the east, and Kenya to the south. Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns
=Brief History=
Ethiopia has yielded some of humanity's oldest traces, making the area important in the history of humanity. Recent studies claim that the vicinity of present-day Addis Ababa was the point from which human beings migrated around the world. Ethiopian dynastic history traditionally began with the reign of Emperor Menelik I in 1000 BC. The roots of the Ethiopian state are similarly deep, dating with unbroken continuity to at least the Aksumite Empire (which adopted the name "Ethiopia" in the 4th century) and its predecessor state, D`mt (with early 1st millennium BC roots). After a period of decentralized power in the 18th and early 19th centuries known as the Zemene Mesafint ("Era of the Judges/Princes"), the country was reunited in 1855 by Kassa Hailu, who became Emperor Tewodros II, beginning Ethiopia's modern history.Ethiopia's borders underwent significant territorial expansion to its modern borders for the rest of the century, especially by Emperor Menelik II and Ras Gobena, culminating in its victory over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 with the military leadership of Ras Makonnen, and ensuring its sovereignty and freedom from colonization. It was brutally occupied by Mussolini's Italy from 1936 to 1941, ending with its liberation by British Empire and Ethiopian Patriot forces.
Having converted during the fourth century AD, it is also the second-oldest country to become officially Christian, after Armenia and home to some of the oldest Churches in the world. Ethiopia also has a considerable Muslim minority since the earliest days of Islam - being the site of the first Hijra in Islam history, the earliest 9th century Sultanates, the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash and home to the fourth holiest Muslim city of Harar - but the country has been secular since 1974. Historically a relatively isolated mountain country, Ethiopia by the mid 20th century became 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, and was one of the fifty-one original members of the United Nations (UN). The headquarters of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is in Addis Ababa, as is the headquarters of the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity), of which Ethiopia was the principal founder. There are about forty-five Ethiopian embassies and consulates around the world.
=Territorial Disputes=
Ethiopia claims the following areas of Eritrea (links to wikipedia on the conflicts) Badame, Bure, Tsorona-Zalambessa, she also claims the Ilemi Triangle from Kenya but is rivalled in its claim by Sudan.
=Ongoing Conflicts=
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six months in 2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and reduced force of 17,000; the undemarcated former British administrative line has little meaning as a political separation to rival clans within Ethiopia's Ogaden and southern Somalia's Oromo region. Information about Ogaden conflict
Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia.
=Goals and Objectives=
=Resources=
*Ethiopia on Wikipedia
* Ethiopia on the BBC
* Ethiopia on the CIA world factbook
* Homepage of the Ethiopian foreign office
Category:2009 Round Nation