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Ethiopia (IPA /?i??i?'o?pi?/) (Ge'ez ????? ?Ityo??ya), 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. Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world[3] and Africa's second-most populous nation.[4] Ethiopia has yielded some of humanity's oldest traces,[5] making the area a primary factor in the origin and developmental history of humanity,[6] with recent studies claiming the vicinity of present-day Addis Ababa as the point from which human beings migrated around the world.[7][8][9] Ethiopian dynastic history traditionally began with the reign of Emperor Menelik I in 1000 BC.[10][11] The roots of the Ethiopian state are similarly deep, dating with unbroken continuity to at least the Aksumite Empire (which officially used the name "Ethiopia" in the 4th century) and its predecessor state, D`mt (with early 1st millennium BC roots).[12][13] 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.[14] [15][16][17] Ethiopia's borders underwent significant territorial expansion to its modern borders for the rest of the century due to several migrations and commercial integration as well as conquests,[18] 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.[19] It was brutally occupied by Mussolini's Italy from 1936 to 1941,[20] ending with its liberation by British Commonwealth and Ethiopian patriot forces.[21]. The country is famous for its 1984 devastating famine as well as for its famous Olympic distance athletes, rock-hewn churches and as the origin of the Coffee bean. Having converted during the fourth century&_160;AD, it is also the second-oldest country to become officially Christian, after Armenia.[22] 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.[23][24] Historically a relatively isolated mountain country, Ethiopia by the mid 20th century became a crossroads of global international cooperation under the leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. 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. It is not certain how old the name Ethiopia is; its earliest attested use is in the Iliad , where it appears twice, and in the Odyssey, where it appears three times. The earliest attested use in the region is as a Christianized name for the Kingdom of Aksum in the 4th century, in stone inscriptions of King Ezana.[25] The Ge'ez name ?Ityo??ya and its English cognate are thought by some recent scholars to be derived from the Greek word ?????p?a Aithiopia, from ?????? Aithiops ‘an Ethiopian’, derived in turn from Greek words meaning "of burned face".[26] However, the Book of Aksum, a Ge'ez chronicle compiled in the 15th century, states that the name is derived from "'Ityopp'is" — a son (unmentioned in the Bible) of Cush, son of Ham, who according to legend founded the city of Axum. Pliny the Elder[27] similarly states the tradition that the nation took its name from someone named Aethiops. A third etymology, suggested by the late Ethiopian scholar and poet laureate Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, traces the name to the "old black Egyptian [sic]" words Et (Truth or Peace) Op (high or upper) and Bia (land, country), or "land of higher peace".
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