Overview

Ethiopia is home to more than 80 ethnic and linguistic communities. Proud to be an African state that was never colonized, the Kingdom of Ethiopia dates back to the first millennium. King Menelik I, the legendary son of Queen Sheba and King Solomon of Israel, established his kingdom in Axum. After the rise of Islam in the seventh century, the kingdom became isolated as Arabs gained control of the Red Sea trading routes. In the 12th century, the successor of the Axumite dynasty had expanded southward, principally to Lalibela.Ethiopia's modern period (post-1855) was characterized by the process of recreating a cohesive state: by Emperor Haile Selassie; by the Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam; and, since mid-1991, by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) under Meles Zenawi. The period has been dominated by recurring conflict with neighboring Eritrea, which was a province of Ethiopia until it gained independence in 1991. A tentative cease-fire ended hostilities in 2000, but the border remains undefined and tensions continue, particularly since the 2007 withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers.

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