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Ethiopia is Africa's oldest independent country. Apart from a five-year occupation by Mussolini's Italy, it has never been colonised.
• Full name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
• Population: 84.9 million (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Addis Ababa
• Area: 1.13 million sq km (437,794 sq miles)
• Major languages: Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali
• Major religions: Christianity, Islam
• Life expectancy: 56 years (men), 59 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Birr = 100 cents
• Main exports: Coffee, hides, oilseeds, beeswax, sugarcane
• GNI per capita: US $330 (World Bank, 2009)
• Internet domain: .et
• International dialling code: +251
But the nation is better known for its periodic droughts and famines, its long civil conflict and a border war with Eritrea.
In the first part of the 20th century Ethiopia forged strong links with Britain, whose troops helped evict the Italians in 1941 and put Emperor Haile Selassie back on his throne. From the 1960s British influence gave way to that of the US, which in turn was supplanted by the Soviet Union.
Drought-prone and short of food, Ethiopia has suffered a series of famines in recent decades
Although it has had fewer of the coups that have plagued other African countries, Ethiopia's turmoil has been no less devastating. Drought, famine, war and ill-conceived policies brought millions to the brink of starvation in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1974 this helped topple Haile Selassie. His regime was replaced by a self-proclaimed Marxist junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam under which many thousands of opponents were purged or killed, property was confiscated and defence spending spiralled.
The overthrow of the junta in 1991 saw political and economic conditions stabilise, to the extent that the country is regarded as one of Africa's most stable.
Eritrea gained independence in 1993 following a referendum. Poor border demarcation developed into military conflict and full-scale war in the late 1990s in which tens of thousands of people were killed.
BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13349398)
Provides an overview of Ethiopia, including key events and facts about this ancient former Christian empire in northeast Africa.
Attribution: CNN, BBC and IOL Africa.