Ethiopia stands out among African countries for several reasons:
Historical Significance
Ethiopia has a rich history and is one of the oldest countries in world making it unique among African countries. The emergence of Ethiopian civilization dates back thousands of years. Abyssinia or rather “Ze Etiyopia” was ruled by the Semitic Abyssinians (Habesha) composed mainly of the residents of the north and north west land. In the Eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands and more so the lowlands were the home of the Harla that founded Sultanates such as Ifat and Adal and the Afars. In the central and south were found the ancient Sidama, Semitic Gurage, and the Kush Oromo are among others.
One of the first kingdoms to rise to power in the territory was the kingdom of Damat in the 10th century BC, which established its capital at Yeha. In the first century AD, the Aksumite Kingdom rose to power in the modern Tigray Region, with its capital at Axum and grew into a major power on the Red Sea, subjugating South Arabia and Meroe and its surrounding areas. In the early fourth century, during the reign of Ezana, Christianity was declared the state religion and not long after, The Aksumite empire fell into decline with the rise of Islam in the Arabian peninsula, which slowly shifted trade away from the Christian Aksum. It eventually became isolated, its economy slumped and Aksum’s commercial domination of the region ended. The Aksumites gave way to the Zagwe daynasty, who established a new capital at Lalibela before giving way to the Solomonic dynasty in the 13th century. During the early Solomonic period, Ethiopia underwent military reforms and imperial expansion, allowing it to dominate the Horn of Africa.
Cultural Diversity
The country is incredibly diverse in terms of cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. Ethiopia is generally structured along ethnolinguistic lines. It’s home to various ancient traditions and has a distinctive cultural identity. Ethiopian culture encompasses a multitude of ethnic groups, each contributing distinct customs, language and artistic expression. In total over 82 languages are spoken by different tribes. And what is more, no less than 200 variations, or dialects, of these languages are used by the 110 million people in the country.
Ethiopia has its own calendar, alphabet and numbers
While plenty of cultures have their own calendars that they prefer to follow over the Western Gregorian one, most of them still abide by 12 months to a year, but not Ethiopia. The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months. Our 13th month has only five days though, and six in a leap year, hence our calendar runs between 7 and 8 years behind the Western, or Gregorian calendar. Ethiopia’s calendar is influenced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Our year starts on 11 September of the Gregorian calendar (that is the international calendar followed by the rest of the world), and on this day we celebrate their “our New Year”. Except for the Arabs, the Ethiopians are the only people in Africa that also uses our own indigenous written alphabet too.
A nation of vibrant and colourful festivals
Ethiopia is a country full of vibrant and colourful festivals. Meskel (the Finding of True Cross), Timket(the Baptism day of Christ), Ramadan, Christmas and much more. The biggest, Timket, is a three-day annual festival that honours the baptism of Jesus Christ in the river Jordan. During this day, the priests takes the ‘Tabots’ (replicas of the Ark of Covenant) out from each church and march to the nearest water source, where the communal baptism takes place. The procession is accompanied by thousands of locals dressed in dazzling white traditional dress that contrasts with the colours of the ceremonial robes and sequined velvet umbrellas of the priests.
The first cup of coffee
Coffee was first discovered by the goat herder Kaldi in the Kaffa region in Ethiopia, from there probably the word “coffee” derived.
Today Ethiopia is the 5th largest producer of coffee in the world and Africa’s top producer. Coffee is the top agricultural export for 12 countries, with over 100 million people depending on its production for their livelihood. It is often ranked as the world’s second most valuable commodity after petroleum.
Ethiopians themselves developed several ritualized and ceremonious way to make and drink coffee.
The oldest people in the world
Several archaeological findings in Ethiopia’s Afar region go quite some way in suggesting that the country may be where we all started out from. Some of the oldest people in the world, in fact the earliest hominid populations, seem to have lived in Ethiopia.
Lucy is perhaps the most famous of all a fossilized skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis that was discovered in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History at Hadar, a site in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia. The Lucy specimen is dated to about 3.2 million years ago and presents a small skull similar to that of non-hominin apes, plus evidence of a walking-gait that was bipedal and upright, akin to that of humans, supporting the view of human evolution.
Ethiopia is the only African country to evade the colonial rule.
Ethiopia fought against the so-called scramble for Africa, itis the only country never to have been brought under colonial control. The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa or the Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, occupation, division, and colonization of African territory by European powers between 1881 and 1914, a period known to historians as the New Imperialism and the Italians did give colonization a crack in 1935 – and succeeded in militarily occupying the country for six years – but Ethiopian forces were waging military opposition the entire time and the whole country was never brought under control. As some of the locals put it, “we waited until they had built us roads and nice buildings… and then kicked them out.”
One of the oldest forms of Christianity in the world.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, known as Tewahedo, is one of the oldest forms of Christianity in the world where it adopted following the ascension of our lord Jesus Christ.
Around A.D. 330, the Apostle of Ethiopia Frumentius converted the Axumite king Ezana, who made Christianity the empire’s official religion. King Ezana is hailed as the man behind that first church in the country, built in the 4th century. Today, Ethiopians predominantly practice Christianity with Christians amounting to 61% of the population (43% Ethiopian Orthodox and 18% Protestant) and Muslims about 34%.
Ethiopia is the birthplace of the Rastafarian movement
Although much of the Rastafari movement evolved in Jamaica, the spiritual homeland of the movement actually is in Ethiopia. In the 1930s, a group of Jamaicans came to believe that Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I was a messiah of Biblical teachings: a black leader of an independent African nation.
Selassie’s real name was Tafari Makonnen before he chose his imperial name. “Ras Tafari” means “Prince Tafari” in the local language. In Amharic, ‘Ras’ is a title similar to chief, and ‘Tafari’ was, as mentioned, the first name of Emperor Haile Selassie I. which means “the power of the trinity”. He was serving as a regional governor, or Ras, before he became emperor. So, in 1930, Ras Tafari became Haile Selassie and his name was used for the religion, Rastafarianism, which believes that Jesus was black, and the emperor was his incarnation.
Geographical Features
Ethiopia’s geography is diverse, featuring highlands, lowlands, and the Great Rift Valley. It’s known for its unique landscapes, including the Simien Mountains and Danakil Depression. The Great Rift Valley cuts through Ethiopia from northeast to south of the country and is the only physical feature of Africa that it visible from space.
More than 70% of Africa’s mountains are in Ethiopia, the reason for the country often being called “the Roof of Africa”. The country houses several mountain groups on its central and western plateaus, probably of early volcanic origin. The most notable are the Simien Mountains, with its highest point being Ras Dejen (or Dashen), which is 4 533 meters high.
Dallol in Danakil depression, a lava lake, is one of the lowest points on Earth with an altitude of 116 meter below sea level. It is also one of the few lava lakes in the world and the hottest place on the planet.
Addis Ababa is the highest capital city in Africa
Located in the highlands bordering the Great Rift Valley, the capital city of Addis Ababa lays at an altitude of 2,355 metres above sea level – making the city the highest elevated capital in Africa. This sprawling city is also the fourth largest on the continent and is one of the best places to sample the delicious Ethiopian cuisine.
The Longest River in the world has its origin from Ethiopia
Lake Tana in Ethiopia supplies the Blue Nile River, which in turn feeds the White Nile River to form the Great Nile River, the longest river in the world.
