50 Fun Facts About Ethiopia

Ethiopia lies in which region of the continent?

Its capital Addis Ababa, at 2,355 metres, is the highest capital on the continent.

Along with Liberia, Ethiopia is described as the only African country never to have been what?

Italy occupied it from 1936 to 1941 but never secured the whole country against the Arbegnoch resistance.

At which 1896 battle did Ethiopian forces under Menelik II defeat an Italian invasion?

Victory Day on 2 March is the first public holiday of the year, and the flag's tricolour was adopted a year later.

The 3.2-million-year-old hominin skeleton found in Ethiopia's Afar region in 1974 is known as what?

Locally called Dinkinesh, she was named after a Beatles song played in Donald Johanson's camp that night.

The name of which drink may derive from Ethiopia's Kaffa region?

Legend credits a 9th-century goatherd, Kaldi, with noticing his energised flock; the bean is Ethiopia's biggest export earner.

How many months does the Ethiopian calendar have?

Twelve months of 30 days plus a short thirteenth of five or six days; the year also runs seven or eight years behind the Gregorian.

For most of the Gregorian year, the Ethiopian year number is how many years lower?

It is eight years lower from January until the Ethiopian new year in September, then seven.

Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash, falls on which date?

Ethiopian Christmas is celebrated on 7 January.

Emperor Haile Selassie, born Ras Tafari Makonnen, is revered as a central figure by which religion?

The faith developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, the decade he was crowned.

Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974 by which Soviet-backed military junta?

It ruled for nearly 17 years under Mengistu Haile Mariam amid civil war and the Red Terror.

The eleven monolithic churches of Lalibela were carved to recreate which holy city?

King Gebre Meskel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty commissioned them around 1200; tradition says the work took 24 years.

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum claims to hold which biblical relic?

It is regarded as the holiest church of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo faith.

The Solomonic dynasty, founded in 1270, claimed descent from King Solomon and which legendary female ruler?

Their supposed son Menelik I is counted as the first emperor; the line ended with Haile Selassie in 1974.

A coin dated to 324 shows Ethiopia was the second country to officially adopt Christianity, after which?

The Aksumite king Ezana converted; Ethiopia was the first major power to do so.

The 24-metre Obelisk of Axum was looted by Mussolini's Italy and erected in which city in 1937?

It stood by the Circus Maximus until its return to Ethiopia in 2005.

Ethiopia's population of about 138 million makes it the most populous what in the world?

It has been landlocked since Eritrea's independence in 1993 and ranks second in Africa by population.

Ethiopia lost its coastline when which country became independent in 1993?

Haile Selassie had annexed the territory in 1962, triggering a 30-year war.

Lake Tana in northern Ethiopia is the source of which river?

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam now stands on the river downstream, to Egypt's alarm.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam holds what distinction?

Its 5.15-gigawatt capacity places it among the 20 largest power plants worldwide.

Ras Dashen, Ethiopia's highest mountain, rises to about what height?

The highlands are nicknamed the Roof of Africa, and shelter the gelada, walia ibex and Ethiopian wolf.

Dallol in the Danakil Depression holds which climate record?

The average is 34 °C, in a depression that also holds the lava lake of Erta Ale.

Which Ethiopian runner won the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome barefoot?

He won again in Tokyo in 1964, the first man to defend an Olympic marathon title.

Distance great Haile Gebrselassie set how many world records in his career?

He also won two Olympic golds and four world titles over 10,000 metres.

The staple flatbread on which Ethiopian stews are served is made from which grain?

The sour, spongy injera is about 50 cm across and doubles as the eating utensil.

Ethiopians traditionally eat using what?

Pieces of injera are torn off to scoop up wat and side dishes from a shared platter.

The Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union, was founded in which year?

The AU Commission's secretariat is still based in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia's flag is a green, yellow and red tricolour bearing what emblem?

The pentagram was added in 1996; the tricolour itself dates from Menelik II's decree of 1897.

Ethiopia's principal writing system is what?

It is one of the oldest alphabets still in use, and also writes the Ethiopian calendar.

The four largest of Ethiopia's many ethnic groups are the Amhara, Somali, Tigrayans and which other?

The Oromo language was introduced at court by Emperor Iyoas I in the 18th century, replacing Amharic.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize chiefly for making peace with which neighbour?

His historic 2018 visit ended two decades of frozen conflict, though war in Tigray followed in 2020.

The 1983-85 famine that inspired Live Aid affected roughly how many Ethiopians?

About a million people died under Mengistu's regime.

Mussolini's invasion of 1936 saw Italian aircraft drop 330 tons of which banned weapon?

It violated the 1925 Geneva Protocol, and the League of Nations' failure to act discredited it before World War II.

Emperor Fasilides moved the imperial capital in 1636 to which city, famed for its castles?

He also ended Jesuit efforts to make Catholicism the state religion, restoring Orthodox Tewahedo.

Ethiopia's currency is called what?

The word means silver in Amharic.

Ethiopia became a full member of which economic grouping in 2024?

It is also a founding member of the United Nations.

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa's largest carrier, was founded in which year?

It flies from its Bole hub in Addis Ababa to 155 passenger destinations under the slogan 'The New Spirit of Africa'.

Which export has traditionally been Ethiopia's largest foreign-exchange earner?

Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, gold being the main exception.

The 1888-92 Great Ethiopian Famine, worsened by rinderpest, killed roughly what share of the population?

The cattle plague destroyed much of the herd economy.

Haile Selassie's 1931 constitution, Ethiopia's first, was modelled on that of which country?

He was drawn to Japan's example of modernising while keeping an emperor.

The Zagwe dynasty, which ruled after Aksum's collapse, was overthrown in 1270 by which Shewan usurper?

His victory at the Battle of Ansata began the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic line.

The Ethiopian wolf, an endemic species, is also known by what name?

The gelada and walia ibex are among the country's other endemic mammals.

Ethiopia was liberated from Italian occupation in 1941 by the forces of which country?

Full sovereignty was restored in 1944.

The 1529-1543 war that weakened the empire before the Oromo expansion was against which sultanate?

Portuguese Jesuits arrived soon after and spent decades trying to make Ethiopia Catholic.

Ethiopia is described as one of how many fundamental centres of origin for cultivated plants?

As a Vavilov centre it gave the world coffee, teff, enset and okra.

Menelik II founded Addis Ababa in 1886 after finding which nearby mountain unpleasant?

The site was Finfinne, named for its hot springs, in the valley below.

How does Ethiopia's capital rank among the world's capitals by altitude?

At 2,355 metres it is the highest capital in Africa.

The Kingdom of D'mt, which ruled the far north of the region from about 980 BC, had its capital where?

Aksum later maintained a unified civilisation in the region for 900 years.

After Iyasu II's death in 1755, which empress brought her brother to court as Ras Bitwaded?

The fragmentation known as Zemene Mesafint began in 1769.

How many bird species have been recorded in Ethiopia?

Twenty of them are found nowhere else.

The 1974 Derg takeover began with the toppling of the cabinet of which long-serving prime minister?

Endelkachew Makonnen briefly followed before the emperor himself was deposed on 12 September.