Ethiopia
Unique
among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its
freedom from colonial rule with the exception of the 1936-41 Italian
occupation during World War II. In 1974, a military junta, the Derg,
deposed Emperor Haile Selassie (who had ruled since 1930) and
established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings,
wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was
finally toppled in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A constitution was
adopted in 1994, and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in
1995. A border war with Eritrea late in the 1990's ended with a peace
treaty in December 2000. Amarigna, Oromigna, Tigrigna, Somaligna,
Guaragigna, Sidamigna, and Hadiyigna are spoken.
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