衣索比亚(Ethiopia)
正式名称衣索比亚联邦民主共和国（Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia）
旧称阿比西尼亚（Abyssinia）
非洲东部国家，位於非洲大陆最东端的「非洲之角」。面积437,794平方哩（1,133,882平方公里）。人口约65,892,000（2001）。首都︰阿迪斯阿贝巴。居民中约1/3是阿姆哈拉人，1/3是奥罗莫人，其余的则是提格雷人（Tigray）、阿法尔人（Afar）、索马利人（Somali）、萨霍人（Saho）和阿古人（Agew）。语言：阿姆哈拉语、奥罗莫语。宗教︰衣索比亚正教会（占总人口的3/5）、伊斯兰教（占总人口的1/4）、泛灵崇拜者（占总人口的1/10）。货币︰比尔（Br）。衣索比亚为一内陆国家。北部多山，中部衣索比亚高原，由大裂谷分成东、西高地。高地气候温和，主要为稀树草原（savanna）；而乾旱低地则炎热。因过渡伐木引起严重侵蚀，再加上受周期性的旱袭击，导致食物短缺。经济以农业为主，以生产谷物为主。畜牧业亦重要。咖啡为出口大宗，其次是兽皮。1995年建立新共和国，采两院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
《圣经》中称衣索比亚为库施，早在古代有人居住，并曾被埃及人统治。西元前2000年，操吉兹语（Geez）的农民建立了达阿马蒂王国（kingdom of Daamat）。西元前300年後被阿克苏姆王国取代，根据传说，阿克苏姆王国曼涅里克一世（Menilek I）是所罗门王（King Solomon）与席巴女王（Queen of Sheba）所生之子。西元4世纪时基督教传入，随即传布（参阅Ethiopian Orthodox Church）。与地中海地区繁荣的贸易活动於7～8世纪间因阿拉伯的穆斯林而中断，该地区的利益转向东发展。至15世纪晚期葡萄牙来此，才恢复於欧洲的联系。1855年特沃德罗斯二世（Tewodros II）即位，开始现代衣索比亚的统一。随着欧洲人入侵结束，1890年沿岸地区成为义大利的殖民地。皇帝曼涅里克二世（Menilek II）击败、逐出义大利。在他的统治下，衣索比亚繁荣起来，他的现代化计画延续到1930年代海尔.塞拉西（Haile Selassie）皇帝。1936年义大利再次取得对该国的控制。并归属义属非洲的一部分。一直到1941年被英国人解放。1974年海尔.塞拉西被废黜，成立马克思主义政府，屡遭内战与饥荒，一直执政到1991年。1993年厄利垂亚获得独立，但与衣索比亚和索马利亚边界的冲突一直持续到1990年代。
English version：
Ethiopia
formerlyAbyssiniaCountry, eastern Africa. It is situated on the Horn of Africa, the continent's easternmost projection. Area: 437,794 sq mi (1,133,882 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 58,733,000. Capital: Addis Ababa. The people are about one-third Amhara and one-third Oromo, with the balance mostly Tigray, Afar, Somali, Saho, and Agew. Languages: Amharic, Oromo. Religions: Ethiopian Orthodoxy (three-fifths of the population), Islam (one-fourth of the population), animism (one-tenth of the population). Currency: birr. The landlocked country is mountainous in the north, with lowlands to the east and west. The central Ethiopian Plateau is split by the Great Rift Valley, which divides the eastern and western highlands. The climate is temperate in the highlands, which are mainly savanna, and hot in the arid lowlands. Excessive lumbering has led to severe erosion; this, along with periodic droughts, has led to food shortages. The country's once abundant wildlife has been decimated; many species are endangered. Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest countries. Agriculture is mainly for subsistence, with cereals the main crop. Livestock is also important. Coffee is the main export, followed by hides and skins. A new republic was established in 1995: it has two legislative houses; the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Ethiopia, the Biblical land of Cush, was inhabited from earliest antiquity, and was once under ancient Egyptian rule. Geez-speaking agriculturalists established the kingdom of Daamat in the 2nd millennium BC. After 300 BC they were superseded by the kingdom of Aksum, whose king Menilek I, according to legend, was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Christianity was introduced in the 4th century AD and became widespread (see Ethiopian Orthodox Church). Ethiopia's prosperous Mediterranean trade was cut off by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th-8th century and the area's interests were directed eastward. Contact with Europe resumed in the late 15th century with the arrival of the Portuguese. Modern Ethiopia began with the reign of Tewodros II, who began the consolidation of the country. In the wake of European encroachment, the coastal region was made an Italian colony in 1890, but under Emperor Menilek II, the Italians were defeated and ousted in 1896. Ethiopia prospered under his rule, and his modernization programs were continued by emperor Haile Selassie in the 1930s. In 1936 Italy again gained control of the country, and held it as part of Italian Africa until 1941, when it was liberated by the British. Ethiopia incorporated Eritrea in 1952. In 1974 Haile Selassie was deposed and a Marxist government, plagued by civil wars and famine, controlled the country until 1991. In 1993 Eritrea gained its independence, but border conflicts with it and neighboring Somalia continued in the 1990s.
