Ethiopian Empire

The Ethiopian Empire, or simply Ethiopia, also known as Abyssinia by foreigners, was an empire in East Africa. It used to include modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea. When it was biggest, it controlled some parts of Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. The official state religion of the empire was Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

Ethiopian Empire መንግሥተ ኢትዮጵያ (Ge'ez) Mängəśtä ʾItyop̣p̣ya
1270–1974 1936–1941: Government-in-exile
Flag (c. 1870s–1974) Coat of arms
Motto: ኢትዮጵያ ታበፅዕ እደዊሃ ኀበ እግዚአብሔር Ityopia tabetsih edewiha ḫabe Igziabiher (English: "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God") (Psalm 68:31)
Anthem:  "ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ ደስ ይበልሽ" (English: "Ethiopia, Be happy")
The Ethiopian Empire boundaries in 1952
The location of the Ethiopian Empire during the reign of Yohannes IV (dark orange) compared with modern day Ethiopia (orange)
Capital	Mobile[note 1] (1270–1635) Gondar (1635–1855) Magdala (1855–1868) Mekelle (1871–1889) Addis Ababa (1889–1974)
Common languages	Amharic (dynastic, official, court)[3][4] Ge’ez (liturgical language, literature) many others
Religion	State religions: Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox Church)
Demonym(s)	Endonym: Ethiopian Exonym: Abyssinian
Government	Absolute monarchy (1270–1931)[5] Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1931–1974)
Emperor
• 1270–1285 (first)	Yekuno Amlak[6]
• 1930–1974 (last)	Haile Selassie
Prime Minister
• 1909–1927 (first)	Habte Giyorgis
• 1974 (last)	Mikael Imru
Legislature	None (rule by decree) (until 1931) Parliament (1931–1974)[7]
• Upper house	Senate (1931–1974)
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies (1931–1974)
Historical era	Middle Ages to Cold War
• Ascension of Yekuno Amlak	1270
• Conquests of Amda Seyon I	1314–1344
• Ethiopian–Adal War	1529–1543
• Gondarine period	1632–1769
• Zemene Mesafint	1769–1855
• Menelik's Expansions	1878–1904
• First Italo-Ethiopian War	1895–1896
• Constitution adopted	16 July 1931
• Second Italo-Ethiopian War (annexed into Italian East Africa)	3 October 1935
• Sovereignty restored	5 May 1941
• Coup d'état by the Derg	12 September 1974
• Monarchy abolished	21 March 1975[8][9][10][11]
Area
1344	1,500,000 km2 (580,000 sq mi)
1954	1,221,900 km2 (471,800 sq mi)
Currency	Aksumite currency Gold tax[12] Salt blocks (Amoleh) Dinar[12] Maria Theresa thaler (c. 18th–19th century) Ethiopian birr, thaler, or dollar (from 1894)
Preceded by Succeeded by Zagwe dynasty Derg

Abyssinia was mentioned in Egyptian records in 980 BC. Its king made the country Christian in the 4th century. The Solomonid dynasty ruled from 1270 to 1974 A.D., when it was overthrown by communists. At the time of its overthrow, it was the longest-lasting government in the world and one of the only two nations that did not get colonized in Africa.

Abyssinia in 1896

In other languages

Ethiopian Empire:

• Ge'ez Script: የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ, Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya

Ethiopia:

• Amharic: ኢትዮጵያ, ʾĪtyōṗṗyā pronunciation , Afar: Itiyoophiyaa, Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ, Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ

Notes

Map

1. The old tradition of the Ethiopian emperors was travelling around the country accompanied by their many courtiers and innumerable soldiers, living off the produce of peasants, and dwelling in temporary encampments. These royal encampments or moving capitals would serve as the headquarters of the empire.^[1] Despite this several Ethiopian rulers had attempted to establish fixed capitals such as Tegulet, Emfraz and Debre Birhan.^[2]