Thanks to the discovery of the hominid skeleton Lucy, Ethiopia is much touted as the cradle of humanity. As part of the Land of Punt, the people here enjoyed trade with the ancient Egyptians between 3500 and 2000BC and then, around 1500BC, Ethiopia's first great civilisation arose.
Various kingdoms spawned from this first basis, the most famous being the Aksumite Kingdom (400BC-AD500). Dynasties rose, flourished and fell throughout the region up until the 19th-century, uniting and then splitting the country into feuding states.
Ethiopia can lay claim to be only country in Africa to have never been fully colonised despite the best efforts of the Italians who suffered a series of devastating defeats at the hands of the Ethiopians, in the late 19th-century and made a successful (but short-lived) occupation between 1936 and 1941.
The first half of the 20th century was dominated by Haile Selassie, who became emperor in 1930. Widespread discontent with continuing empirical rule led to the military coup of 1974. The revolution brought the Derg to power and in 1977 a further coup established Lieutenant Colonel Mengistu as ruler. This began Ethiopia's slide into a state of terror as mass arrests and executions became common. A multitude of armed opposition groups rose up across Ethiopia in response, ushering in the start of Ethiopia's long civil war.
It was this civil war, along with severe drought, economic mismanagement and mutual mistrust between the government and Western aid agencies that contributed to the widespread Ethiopian famine of 1983. The civil war ended in 1991, when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took control of the capital.
EPRDF leader, Meles Zenawi, was elected head of a transitional administration and became Ethiopia's first democratically elected prime minister after elections in 1995. Although EPRDF leadership heralded in a massive shift towards development and modernisation, Ethiopia still has grave problems to battle. Most serious has been the breakdown of relations with Eritrea (which extricated itself from Ethiopia in 1993). A peace settlement was brokered by the UN in 2001 but that didn't stop both sides nearly breaking into war during an upscale of tensions between 2006 and 2009.
Ethiopia's most recent elections were marred by opposition party complaints of vote-rigging and accusations of heavy handed force used against protestors. In 2012 Prime Minister Zenawi died and Hailemariam Desalegn was installed as prime minister until the upcoming elections in 2015.
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, 43.5%; Islam (mainly in the east and south), 33.9%. There are also significant animist, Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic communities.
Social conventions:Religion permeates nearly every facet of Ethiopian life and society, on the whole, is conservative with traditional values very much in place. Only the right hand is used for eating or passing things (the left hand is used when going to the toilet so considered dirty). Some monasteries and churches are only open to male visitors. Women travellers should always check before entering if they're unsure.
Photography: In smaller towns (and particularly in the Lower Omo Valley) the locals will expect a small payment in return for being photographed. Video photography in famous tourist attractions normally carries a small charge. Photography may be prohibited in airports and near military installations.
Amharic is the official language, although about 80 other native tongues are spoken including Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya. English and Arabic are widely used and some Italian and French is spoken.
Language phrases:Hello/hi = sahlam
Goodbye = dahahhan (male), dahnahhanyee (female)
Yes = awo
No = adalam
Please = ibeki (male), ibekish (female)
Thank you = amasagenalaha
Sorry = yikirta
What is your name? = man tiba lala?(male), man tiba yalush?(female)
My name is = nahny...
How are you? = indet nuhni? (male), indet nush? (female)
I'm fine = yamasgunuh
