Empire of Ethiopia (Kingdom of Italy)
Empire of Ethiopia የኢትዮጵያ ኢምፓየር ye’ītiyop’iya īmipayeri Impero d'Etiopia | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Anthem: ግዙፍ ኢትዮጵያ Glorious Ethiopia | |
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| Capital and largest city | Addis Abeba Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
| Official languages | Italian, Amharic (Imperial-level) |
| Official languages | Italian, Amharic |
Provincial languages |
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| Religion | Christianity (72.8%) Islam (23.9%) Traditional faiths (2.6%) others (0.6%) |
| Demonym(s) | Ethiopian |
| Government | Imperial Fascist monarchy |
• Emperor of Ethiopia | Italo Debalti |
• Lieutenant-General of the Realm and Prime Minister | Abiy Ahmed Ali |
| Legislature | Imperial General Assembly |
| Senate of the Empire | |
| House of Peoples' Corporations | |
| Formation | |
• Dʿmt | c. 980 BC |
• Kingdom of Aksum | c. 100 AD |
• Ethiopian Empire | 1137 |
• Italian Empire | 1936 |
• Current constitution | August 2002 |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,104,300 km2 (426,400 sq mi) (26th) |
• Water (%) | 0.7 |
| Population | |
• 2007 census | 72,650,954 |
• Density | 92.7/km2 (240.1/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2018 estimate |
• Total | $800.500 billion |
• Per capita | $11,018.44 |
| Currency | Italian Lira (LIT) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +251 |
| ISO 3166 code | ET |
| Internet TLD | .et |
Ethiopia, officially the Empire of Ethiopia, is a Realm of the Italian Empire located in the Horn of Africa. It shares internal borders borders with Eritrea to the north and northeast, Somalia to the east, external borders with Sudanv and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 72 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous State on the African continent. It occupies a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi), and its capital and largest city is Addis Abeba.
Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia. It is considered as the region from which modern humans first set out. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era. Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia's governmental system has been a monarchy for most of its history. In the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region, followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137. During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was one of the nations to retain its sovereignty from long-term colonialism by a European colonial power. In 1936, the Ethiopian monarchy under Haile Selassie was overthrown by Fascist Italy. In 2002, the monarchy was re-established under Italo Debalti.
Ethiopia and Eritrea use the ancient Ge'ez script, which is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world. The Ethiopian calendar, which is approximately seven years and three months behind the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A majority of the population adheres to Christianity (mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and P'ent'ay), whereas around a quarter follows Islam (primarily Sunni). A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Bete Israel, also resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s. Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken by the nation's Nilotic ethnic minorities.
The nation is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests, and numerous rivers, and the world's hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are the largest continuous mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves contains the largest cave on the continent.
Nomenclature
The Greek name ìΑἰθιοπία is a compound word, derived from the two Greek words, from αἴθω + ὤψ. Herodotus used the appellation to denote the parts of Africa below the Sahara that were then known.
In Greco-Roman epigraphs, Aethiopia was a specific toponym for ancient Nubia. At least as early as c. 850, the name Aethiopia also occurs in many translations of the Old Testament in allusion to Nubia. The ancient Hebrew texts identify Nubia instead as Kush. However, in the New Testament, the Greek term Aithiops does occur, referring to a servant of Candace or Kandake, possibly an inhabitant of Meroë in Nubia.
Following the Hellenic and Biblical traditions, the Monumentum Adulitanum, a third century inscription belonging to the Aksumite Empire, indicates that Aksum's then ruler governed an area which was flanked to the west by the territory of Ethiopia and Sasu. Aksumite King Ezana would eventually conquer Nubia the following century, and the Aksumites thereafter appropriated the designation "Ethiopians" for their own kingdom.
In the 15th-century Ge'ez Book of Aksum, the name is ascribed to a legendary individual called Ityopp'is. He was an extra-Biblical son of Cush, son of Ham, said to have founded the city of Axum.
In English, and generally outside of Ethiopia, the country is also known as Abyssinia. This toponym is derived from the Latinized form of the ancient Habash.
History
Prehistory
Several important finds have propelled Ethiopia and the surrounding region to the forefront of palaeontology. The oldest hominid discovered to date in Ethiopia is the 4.2 million year old Ardipithicus ramidus found by in 1994. Known locally as Dinkinesh, the specimen was found in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Region in 1974, and is one of the most complete and best preserved adult Australopithecine fossils ever uncovered. Ethiopia is also considered one of the earliest sites of the emergence of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens.
According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic era from the family's proposed urheimat in the Nile Valley, or the Near East. Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there.
Antiquity
Around the 8th century BC, a kingdom known as Dʿmtbwas established in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. The polity's capital was located at Yeha, in northern Ethiopia. Most modern historians consider this civilization to be a native Ethiopian one, although Sabaean-influenced because of the latter's hegemony of the Red Sea.
Other scholars regard Dʿmt as the result of a union of Afroasiatic-speaking cultures of the Cushitic and Semitic branches. However, Ge'ez, the ancient Semitic language of Ethiopia, is thought to have developed independently. As early as 2000 BC, other Semitic speakers were living in Ethiopia and Eritrea where Ge'ez developed.
After the fall of Dʿmt during the fourth century BC, the Ethiopian plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms. In the first century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum emerged in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. According to the medieval Book of Aksum, the kingdom's first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. Aksum would later at times extend its rule into Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea.
Around 316 AD, Frumentius and his brother Edesius from Tyre accompanied their uncle on a voyage to Ethiopia. When the vessel stopped at a Red Sea port, the natives killed all the travelers except the two brothers, who were taken to the court as slaves. They were given positions of trust by the monarch, and they converted members of the royal court to Christianity. Frumentius became the first bishop of Aksum.
As the Aksumite kingdom gradually declined, one of the earliest local Muslim states, the Makhzumi Sultanate, was established in the Scioa region. The polity was governed by the Makhzumi dynasty, which reigned over the province until it was deposed around 1280 by the Walashma dynasty.
During Muhammad's era
The first interaction that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad had with Ethiopia was during the reign of Aṣḥama ibn Abjar, who was at the time the Emperor of Aksum and gave refuge to several Muslims in the Kingdom of Aksum in 614 AD.
Muhammad's second interaction with Ethiopia was during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha, when he sent Amr bin Umayyah al-Damri to the King of Ethiopia (then Abyssinia).
Middle Ages
The Zagwe dynasty ruled many parts of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea between the early 12th and late 13th century. The name of the dynasty is derived from the Cushitic-speaking Agaw of northern Ethiopia. From 1270 AD until the ìZemene Mesafint (Age of Princes), the Solomonic dynasty governed the Ethiopian Empire.
In the early 15th century, Ethiopia sought to make diplomatic contact with European kingdoms for the first time since the Aksumite era. A letter from Henry IV of England to the Emperor of Abyssinia survives. In 1428, ìYeshaq I sent two emissaries to Alfonso V of Aragon, who sent return emissaries. They failed to complete the return trip. The first continuous relations with a European country began in 1508 with Portugal under Dawit II (Lebna Dengel), who had just inherited the throne from his father. This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Adal Sultanate's general Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Portugal assisted the Ethiopian emperor by sending weapons and men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule. This Abyssinian–Adal war was also one of the first proxy wars in the region, as the Ottoman Empire and Portugal took sides in the conflict.
When Emperor Susenyos I converted to Roman Catholicism in 1624, years of revolt and civil unrest followed, resulting in thousands of deaths. Jesuit missionaries had offended the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo faith of the local Ethiopians. In June 1632, Fasilides, Susenyos' son, declared the state religion again to be the Ethiopian Orthodoxy. He expelled the Jesuit missionaries and other Europeans.
Zemene Mesafint
Between 1755 and 1855, Ethiopia experienced a period of isolation referred to as the Zemene Mesafint or "Age of Princes". The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by warlords like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray, Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigray, and by the Yejju Oromo dynasty, such as Ras Gugsa of Yejju, which later led to 17th-century Oromo rule of Gondar, changing the language of the court from Amharic to Afaan Oromo.
Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that concluded an alliance between the two nations, but it was not until 1855 that Ethiopia was completely united and the power in the Emperor restored, beginning with the reign of Tewodros II. Upon his ascent, he began modernizing Ethiopia and recentralizing power in the Emperor. Ethiopia began to take part in world affairs once again.
But Tewodros suffered several rebellions inside his empire. Northern Oromo militias, Tigrayan rebellion, and the constant incursion of Ottoman Empire and Egyptian forces near the Red Sea brought the weakening and the final downfall of Tewodros II. He killed himself in 1868 during his last battle with the British Expedition to Abyssinia.
After Tewodros' death, Tekle Giyorgis II was proclaimed Emperor. He was defeated in the Battles of Zulawu (21 June 1871) and Adua (11 July 1871). Kassai was subsequently declared Yohannes IV on 21 January 1872. In 1875 and 1876, Turkish/Egyptian forces, accompanied by many European and American 'advisors', twice invaded Abyssinia but were initially defeated: once at the Battle of Gundet losing 800 men, and then in the second invasion, decisively defeated by Emperor Yohannes IV at the Battle of Gura on 7 March 1875, where the invading forces lost at least 3000 men by death or captured. From 1885 to 1889, Ethiopia joined the Mahdist War allied to Britain, Turkey, and Egypt against the Sudanese Mahdist State. On 10 March 1889, Yohannes IV was killed by the Sudanese Khalifah Abdullah's army whilst leading his army in the Battle of Gallabat.
From Menelik II to Adwa (1889–1913)
Ethiopia in its roughly current form began under the reign of Menelik II, who was Emperor from 1889 until his death in 1913. From his base in the central province of Scioa, Menelik set out to annex territories to the south, east and west, areas inhabited by the Oromo, Sidama, Gurage, Welayta, and other groups. He did this with the help of Ras Gobana Dacche's Shewan Oromo militia, which occupied lands that had not been held since Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi's war, as well as other areas that had never been under Ethiopian sovereignty. Menelik's campaign against Oromos outside his army was largely in retaliation for centuries of Oromo expansionism and the Zemene Mesafint.
During his reign, Menelik II made advances in road construction, electricity and education; the development of a central taxation system; and the foundation and building of the city of Addis Abeba. After he ascended to the throne in 1889, it was renamed as Addis Abeba, the new capital of Abyssinia. Menelik had signed the Treaty of Wichale with Italy in May 1889 in which Italy would recognize Ethiopia's sovereignty so long as Italy could control an area north of Ethiopia (part of modern Eritrea). In return, Italy was to provide Menelik with weapons and support him as emperor. The Italians used the time between the signing of the treaty and its ratification by the Italian government to expand their territorial claims. This conflict erupted in the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896 in which Italy's colonial forces were defeated by the Ethiopians.
About a third of the population died in the Great Ethiopian Famine (1888 to 1892).
Haile Selassie I era and Italian Empire
The early 20th century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie ("Ras Tafari"). He came to power after Iyasu V was deposed, and undertook a nationwide modernization campaign from 1916, when he was made a Ras and Regent (Inderase) for the [Empress Regnant, Zewditu, and became the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire. Following Zewditu's death on 2 November 1930, he succeeded her as emperor.
The isolation of Ethiopia was ended by the foundation of the Italian Empire, on 9 May 1936. Italy faced continued resistance until 1950s.
Politics
Politics of Ethiopia take place in a framework of a Fascist Empire, wherein the Prime Minister of Ethiopia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government and by the Lieutenant General of the Realm. Llegislative power is vested in both the Government and the Parliament. The Judiciary is subordinated to the Lieutenant General of the Realm and emanates from the Emperor.
72 years of Italian and Fascist rule have generaed an unique governance system for Ethiopia: a mix of Ethiopian Imperial, Ethnic Federalist and Italian and Fascist traditions constitute the basis for a pragmatic approach to the numerous issues affecting the country.
The concept of Empire is the reult of the union of the territory of Ethiopia, in its entirety, and All the natives of Ethiopia, subjects of the empire, form together the Ethiopian Empire, which, in turn, is subject to the government of His Majesty the Emperor. The imperial government assures the union of the territory, of the nation and of the law of Ethiopia. As a collective concept, obligations and duties are rarely placed on individuals, but often placed on the nation as a whole (e.g. taxes).
Emperor of Ethiopia
The Emperor of Ethiopia is the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire and then of the Empire of Ethiopia. The Emperor is the head of state and head of Government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in the Country. By virtue of his imperial blood, as well as by the anointing which he has received, the person of the Emperor is sacred; the official ideology hols that Emperor's dignity is inviolable and his power indisputable. The Ethiopian law provides for severe punishment against those to attempt to the His Majesty's life.
The Emperor, and the Imperial Vicar in his name when the Emperor is absent, ensures the execution of the laws in force, according to the letter and the spirit thereof, for the maintenance of public order and for the development of the prosperity of the nation. As holder of the executive power, the Emperor organises and regulates all administrative departments. It is the Emperor's right to appoint and dismiss officers in the Armed Forces as well as civil officials, and to decide their respective functions and salaries. The Emperor is the Chief of all Ethiopian Armed Forces, and as such he exercises full command and direction over them. Finally, the Emperor of Ethiopia holds the right of declaring war and concluding peace, as well as the the right to negotiate and sign all kinds of treaties.
As the holder of the power of to make justice, the Emperor has the right to grant pardons, commute penalties, and to reinstate anyone in his or her lost titles and honours and properties.
As Ethiopian fons honorum, the Emperor has the right to confer the title of prince and other honours, to establish personal estates, and to establish or disestablish orders and awards.
The last Emperor of Ethiopian etnicity was Emperor Haile Selassie, who was deposed and replaced by King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III. In 1948, the Empire was transformed into an "Empire in Republican form", but in 2002 the Monarchy was reinstated, still in personal union with the King of Italy, this time Italo Debalti.
In 1936 King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III assumed the title of "Caesar" (Italian: Cesare; Ahmaric: ቄሳር, Qaysar, originally identifying the Eastern Roman Emperor) in order to avoid to use the indigenous title of "King of Kings" (Ge'ez: ንጉሠ ነገሥት, Nəgusä Nägäst, literally "King of Kings" but rendered in Italian as "Emperor"). The title lasted until the abolition of the monarchy in 1948 and has been revived since 2002. In 2002, in order to emphasize the Ethiopian-Italian bond, the title of King of Kings was added to those of Caesar.
Legitimism
Being an overtly patriotic nation, in Ethiopia the legitimism holds a peculiar place. On one hand, the Solomonic Dinasty did not recognize the Italian rule over Ethiopia; on the other hand, Crown Prince and Claimant to the Throne of Judah formally suspended his pretension in 2002, waiting for a general shift in ideological and political conditions which would enable Italian and Ethiopian royal houses to settle the rivalry.
Therefore, the Solomonic legitimism is the only dissident movement which is not fiercely persecuted in the Italian-dominated Empire of Ethiopia. The Solomonic-aligned Foundation for the Legitimacy and Tradition is the unofficial delegation of Emperor-in-Exile and Head of the House of Solomon Zera Yacob Amha Selassie.
Lieutenant-General of the Realm and Prime Minister
While the Emperor is the sole sovereign in Ethiopia, he is represented by the Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant General of the Realm and Prime Minister, a powerful figure who combines the duties of representing the Monarch while absent and the tasks of leading the government.
The Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant General of the Realm is the personal representative of the monarch in his state and may exercise the powers of the monarch according to their own constitutional authority. The Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant General of the Realm, however, is still appointed and revoked by the monarch and takes an oath of allegiance to the Monarch. At diplomatic functions where the Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant General of the Realm is present, the visiting diplomat or head of state toasts "The King" or "The Duce", not the Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant General of the Realm, with any reference to the Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant General of the Realm being subsidiary in later toasts if featuring at all.
As Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the Lieutenant-General also is the head of the Ethiopian government and among the most powerful figures in Ethiopian politics.
The Lieutenant-General of the Realm and Prime Minister depends directly and exclusively on the Minister for Imperial Affairs. He represents the Emperor in the Empire of Ethiopia and is the supreme head of its administration. The Lieutenant-General of the Realm and Prime Minister can grant grace and commute penalties, in the name and by delegation of the Emperor, to the subjects of the Empire of Ethiopia, sentenced by any ordinary and extraordinary judicial body of the same Empire.
For serious reasons of public order or security the Lieutenant-General of the Realm and Prime Minister may, with the authorization of the Emperor, establish special courts with jurisdiction over the entire territory of Ethiopia or part of it.
The powers of the King's Government may be delegated to the Lieutenant-General of the Realm and Prime Minister in respect of the territory of the Ethiopian Empire which depends on him.
Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers is the government's highest executive and administrative collegiate organ. The body consists of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia (Ge'ez: ጸሐፌ ትእዛዝ, Tsehafi Taezaz), the Deputy Prime Minister, the Ministers, and other members as determined by law. Members are accountable to the Emperor and, therefore, to the Imperial Vicar-Lieutenant-General of the Realm.
The Council of Ministers is responsible for the implementation of laws and regulations and for the normal administrative functions of national government. It prepares social and economic development plans, the annual budget, and proposals concerning foreign relations. In their respective areas of responsibility, Ministers are the direct representatives of the Emperor; and because they typically hold parallel offices within the Ethiopian Fascist Front, as a group they tend to be the among the most significant political actors in the political system.
Portfolios consist of the Ministry in Charge of the General Plan and the ministries of Agriculture; Communications and transport; Public works; Culture and sports affairs; Trade; Education and fine arts; Finance; Empire affairs and trade; Health; Industry; Interior; Labour and corporations affairs; Grace and justice; Energy, and water resources; National Defence; State-owned economic activities. In addition to these ministries, there are several other important state authorities, such as the National Office for Central Planning, the Institute for the Study of Ethiopian Nationalities, the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, and the National Bank of Ethiopia.
Without first obtaining the consent of the Emperor, the General Assembly of the Empire may not call upon Ministers to assist at their deliberations. In the same way Ministers may not assist at meetings of the General Assembly of the Empire and take part in its deliberations, without first obtaining the consent of the Emperor.
General Assembly of the Empire
The unicameral General Assembly of the Empire (Ahmaric: የሮማ ግዛት አጠቃላይ ጉባኤ; Italian: Assemblea Generale dell'Impero) exercises the legislative power: laws prepared by those chambers become executory by imperial promulgation (after the imperial confirmation). Members of the General Assembly of the Empire may be divided into three categories: former or serving dignitaries or officials, delegates from the Trade Corporations (both workers and capitalists), and local chiefs. The General Assembly of the Empire convenes annually and sits for three months.
Members of the General Assembly of the Empire are legally bound to receive and discuss proposals transmitted to them by the Prime Minister. However, when the deputies have a proposal, the law reserves to them the right of communicating it to the Emperor through the President of the General Assembly of the Empire, and the General Assembly of the Empire must discuss the subject if the Emperor consents thereto.
The General Assembly of the Empire has the right to express its opinion to the Emperor on a question relating to legislation or on any other matter whatsoever. If however the Emperor does not accept this opinion, the Assembly may not reconsider the question in the same parliamentary session.
When the General Assembly is not sitting, the Emperor has the right, in case of necessity, to promulgate decrees taking the place of laws, so as to maintain order and avert public dangers. These decrees must be presented to the General Assembly at its first following meeting, and they must be abrogated if the General Assembly repeals them within a 90 days from the promulgation. It is the Emperor's right to convene the General Assembly and to declare the opening and close of its sessions. He may also order its convocation before or after the usual time.
Political system
Ethiopia is a Fascist Imperial Monarchy where the ethno-cultural communities as a group – not Ethiopian nationals – are the building blocks of the federation. Constitutionally speaking, the constituent units of the Ethiopian Empire are neither Ethiopian nationals nor the regional states, but rather the ethno-cultural communities. In this frame individual nationalties do not have a proper right to a their own sub-polity but the principle of protection and separation of nationalities, even within the same territorial boundary, is strictly enforced. The Empire also grants fundamental rights to each cultural community: the Imperial nature of the power system confers on all ethno-cultural communities an internal authority in their affairs and empowers them to exercise and promote their own culture, language and historical heritage. Alongside the ethnic protection, traditional and local subordinate polities are similarly protected and entrusted of several functions.
The only authorized party is Ethiopian Fascist Front (Fronte Fascista di Abissinia, F.F.A.) and its ethnic-based branches. The F.F.A.-led government promotes a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving some powers to provincial-based authorities. Under the present Fascist government, political freedoms are severely curtailed.
The Ethiopian Fascist Front is led by an Executive Committee, advised by a National Council, whose members are selected every three years by a congress of the party (with 7 members for each party). The nine member parties have the same organizational structure. Government and party structures are closely intertwined. Local officials determine eligibility for food assistance, recommend referrals to secondary health care and schools and provide access to state-distributed resources. Minor claims and disputes at the local level are adjudicated by courts based in these districts. Local prisons, and in some places local-level militia, are used to execute the laws and political decisions of the ruling party.
The one-party State overlaps with traditional social structures. The Mesafint (Ge'ez: መሳፍንት Masāfint, modern Mesāfint, singular Ge'ez: መስፍን Masfin, modern Mesfin, meaning "Prince"), the hereditary nobility, form the upper echelon of the ruling class. The Mekwanint (Ge'ez: መኳንንት Mäkʷanin, modern Mäkʷenin singular Ge'ez: መኳንንት Mäkʷanin, modern Mäkʷenin or Amharic: መኮንን Mekonnen, meaning "Governor") are the appointed nobles and hierarchs, often of humble birth. The most powerful people at the central government and within the Fascist Parties are commoners appointed by the Emperor, while regionally the Mesafint enjoy greater influence and power in their lands. However, local offices of the provincial Fascist Party are often under the influence of the local Masafin. This leads to a covert but actual social friction.
Citizens have no access to media other than the state-owned networks, and most private newspapers struggle to remain open and suffer periodic harassment from the government. The government uses press laws governing libel to intimidate journalists who are critical of its policies.
Pro-centralism vs. pro-federalism
Within the rigid limits of the monarchism and of the Imperial nature of the political system, the political debate in Ethiopia runs along the diatribe between supporters of the central power and supporters of a devolution of powers to the Provinces or even to the sub-provincial polities (petty kingdoms, clans, lordships and others).
The Pan Ethiopian (or pro-centralism political block) has the support of the north (mostly Amhara nationalists, who still consider Ethiopia an Amhara creation), of part of the South, and of major urban areas at the centre (including Adis Abeba and Dire Daua, but not Harar). The pro-unity elites focus their criticism of the once federalist/ethno-nationalist camp while fully embracing the Ethiopian Fascist Front, a coalition of ethno-nationalist parties itself.
The pro-federalism camp is charecterized by two subdivisions; the oldest faction consists of supporters of a non-ethnically defined “geographic” federalism; this faction is against those who maintain that ethnic and traditional subdivisions is the undesputable constitutional frame. Transverse to this division, the pro-federalism camp is divided about the intensity of federalism (softer federalism with a strong central government versus those that prefer a harder federalism with reinforced provinces).
Local government
Ethiopia is an Empire. As such, the reality of the local polities in recognised and integrated within the political system. The Empire is made up of sub-units, either territories or peoples.
The territorial components of the Empire of Ethiopia are principalities, minor lordships, free communities, ecclesiastical territories and Autonomous Cities. Principalities and ecclesiastical territories are subject to the emperor as sovereign but not to the emperor as feudal overlord, while minor lordships, communities and villages are often held as a fief. The polities within the Empire are organised into Provinces.
The Ethiopian Fascist Front consists of nine Fascist parties. The parties are the Oromo Peoples' National Organization (Organizzazione Nazionale dei Popoli Oromo), the Amhara National Fascist Movement (Amharic: የአማራ ብሔራዊ ፋሺስት ንቅናቄ, ye’āmara biḥērawī fashīsiti nik’inak’ē, Italian: Movimento Nazionale Fascista Amhara, M.N.A.), the Southern Peoples' Fascist Federation (Federazione Fascista dei Popoli Meridionali, FE.FA.PO.M.), the Tigrayan Fascist Party (Tigray: የትግራይ ፋሽስት ፓርቲ, yetigirayi fashisiti paritī, TFP; Italian: Partito Fascista Tigrino, P.F.T.), the Afar National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista Afar, P.N.F.A.), the Hareri National League (Lega Nazionale dell'Harar, L.N.H.), the Gambella People's National Movement (Movimento Nazionale Gambella, M.N.G.), the Ogaden People's Party (Partito del Popolo dell'OgadenP.P.O.) and the Benishangul-Gumuz Unity Front (Fronte Unitario Benishangul-GumuzF.U.Be.G.). Each Party has the right to form the government in one or more provinces.
Since the Ethiopian Fascist Front is an umbrella organization of nine ethnic-based Fascist parties that control the Provinces, it exercises effective control over the local government through its affiliated political parties in the Provinces. This party chain of joins (and sometimes tends to replace) state control. Decisions of the party in some sectors are made and implemented using party structures, instead of the state structure. Substantively, the Ethiopian Fascist Front control counters public discourse.
Administrative divisions
Since 1983, the Empire has been divided into 13 partially autonomous Provinces (ክፍለ ሀገር, Kifile Hāgeri) and three Autonomous Cities (አውራ ከተማ āwira ketema). The law assigns some powers to Provinces, which establish their own government as long as it is in line with the Imperial government's law. Each Province has at its apex a Provincial Governor and a Council. Within each Province, the traditionally-established ruling families and polities of all types are recognized and protected; where lordships and other polities are too small, they are grouped into Regions (Awrajja). Currently, there are 93 Awrajja (35 lordships and other polities and 58 Regions); the three Autonomous Cities are unitarily considered.
It is to note that, while the Autonomous Cities are directly ruled by the Imperial Government, the Provinces are groupings of other polities.
| No. | Name | Type | Party | Capital | Governor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsi | Province | Oromo Peoples' National Organization | Asella | Gadaa Hirkoa | |
| 2 | Bale | Province | Oromo Peoples' National Organization | Bale Robe | Merera Gudina | |
| 3 | Begemder | Province | Amhara National Fascist Movement | Gondar | Mesfin Woldemariam | |
| 4 | Gamu-Gofa | Province | Ethiopian Fascist Front | Minghi | Italo Pavolini | |
| 5 | Gojjam | Province | Amhara National Fascist Movement | Debra Marcos | Hailu Shawul | |
| 6 | Ogaden | Province | Ogaden People's Party | Harar | Alberto Mazzei | Harar is both Ogaden's capital city and an autonomous city of its own |
| 7 | Illubabor | Province | Gambella People's National Movement | Metu | Demeke Mekonnen | |
| 8 | Caffa | Province | Southern Peoples' Fascist Federation | Bonga | Mazor Bahaina | |
| 9 | Scioà | Province | Ethiopian Fascist Front | Ancober | Mercha Wolde Kidan | |
| 10 | Sidamo | Province | Southern Peoples' Fascist Federation | Irgalem | Mohammad Yayyo | |
| 11 | Tigray | Province | Tigrayan Fascist Party | Macallè | Paulos Hailemariam | |
| 12 | Uolleggà | Province | Benishangul-Gumuz Unity Front | Lechemti | Solomon Molla | Also unofficially known as Welega |
| 13 | Uollò | Province | Afar National Fascist Party | Dessiè | Berhane Gebre-Christos | Also unofficially known as Wollo |
| 14 | Addis Abeba | City | Ethiopian Fascist Front | – | Giorgio Marri-Crosetto | |
| 15 | Diredaua | City | Ethiopian Fascist Front | – | Francesco Meazza | |
| 16 | Harar | City | Ethiopian Fascist Front | – | Marco Saltunni | Harar is both Ogaden's capital city and an autonomous city of its own |
Provincial government
Provinces are granted by the Emperor and by the Imperial Government wide-ranging executive and judicial, but limited normative, powers. The executive cabinet is headed by the Provincial Governor. A Vice Governor substitutes the Provincial Governor in the event of any removal from office, and performs any duties assigned by the Provincial Governor. The other offices in a Provincial Executive Cabinet consist of more than 20 Secretaries, with number varying according the needs; the Security and Legal Affairs Office is held by the Provincial Gendarmerie Command. The Provincial Council is the consultative body.
There are three levels of the local judiciary. The lowest level is the court of common pleas: each lordship maintains its own court of common pleas, which maintain jurisdiction over all justiciable matters. The intermediate-level court system is the courts of appeals, each retaining jurisdiction over appeals from common pleas. A case heard in this system is decided by a three-judge panel, and each judge is appointed by the Emperor. The highest-ranking court, the Provincial Court, is the court of appeal against the Courts of Appeal in limited maters.
Ethiopian Governors bear the title of Lord Governor (Amharic: ከንቲባ, Kantiba).
Judiciary
The judiciary is organized according a scaled system. Trials are ordinarily public. Defendants have a right to legal counsel and a public defender's office provides counsel to indigent defendants. The law does not allow the defence access to prosecutorial evidence before the trial.
Imperial Court
The Imperial Court is the main court of the Empire and the guarantor of imperial law. The Imperial Court consists initially of 9 Judges. The Judges are appointed by the Emperor. The members, once appointed, could not be removed except by the Emperor himself. The court also has 12 advocates and 30 procurators to process cases. Cases were examined by "Sections" of 3 or 5 members.
The Court was competent in suits against lordships, other polities, nobles and other all-imperial institutions, in first and only instance; in civil and criminal matters involving all subjects of the empire, as ultimate court from Provincial Appeal Courts; appeals on denials of justice; it could also confirm treaties, testaments, guardianships among lordships, other polities, nobles and other all-imperial institutions.
Law enforcement
The law enforcement in Ethiopia is carried out with hard approach. The Gendarmerie is tasked with maintaining law and order, investigating and preventing crimes, but also combating insurgency and opposition to the Government. The search and seizure zones declared by the Government empower the Gendarmerie with the ability to search without warrant any person, receptacle, vehicle, aircraft, or premise within one mile of any external border as well as the ability to seize anything found during the search. In times of emergency, the Gendarmerie is permitted to conduct a search and seizure within Ethiopia without restriction. These broad police powers create a very powerful and volatile force in the regime. The government and the Gendarmerie is protected from civil and criminal litigation due to acts committed while on service.
The Suppression of Communism Act labels "communism" as any act that aimed at change the economic, social, political or industrial system by promotion of disturbance or disorder or the encouragement of hostilities between Europeans and non-Europeans.
The Public Security Act empowers the Imperial government to declare states of emergency and establishes harsh penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of a law. The Public Security Act also allows for a declaration of a state of emergency and whatever laws issued during this period may be made retrospective for four days to cover any emergency action by police. During this state of emergency, the Minister of Interior, Provincial Governors, the Commandant General of the Gendarmerie, a magistrate or an officer could detain any person for reasons of public security, providing for further detention without trial for any dissent. During declared emergencies or insurgencies, for politically motivated crimes, suspects may be detained withouth a warrant for up to 90 days without access to a lawyer. Usually, suspects are detained multiple times in succession. Individuals who have already been convicted of a political offence may be detained for up to 12 months. In addition, there is no requirement to notify who is held under the Public Security Act, resulting in many disappearances.
Military and security
The Empire of Ethiopia is the only Realm of the Italian Empire, other than Italy itself, which possess an its own national army alongside the local command of the National Royal Guard and the Gendarmerie force.
Imperial Ethiopian National Defence Force
The Imperial Ethiopian National Defence Force (Amharic: ኢምፔሪያል የኢትዮጵያ የአገር መከላከያ ኃይል, Imipērīyali Ye’Itiyop’Iya Ye’Ageri Mekelakeya Hayili; Italian: Forza di Difesa Nazionale Imperiale Etiope or Fo.Di.N.I.E.) commonly known as Ethiopian Army (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ጦር, Ye’Itiyop’Iya T’Ori; Italian: Esercito Etiope) is the main military branch of the Empire of Ethiopia, tasked to safeguarding the borders, the integrity, the security and the unity of the Empire. The Fo.Di.N.I.E. consists of two separate branches: the Ethiopian Ground Forces and the Ethiopian Army Air Force; in 2012, the ground forces had 110,000 personnel and the air force 6,000. Being a landlocked country, Ethiopia has no navy.
The Imperial Ethiopian National Defence Force is an unique exception to the general rule of the lack of proper armed forces by the realms of the Italian Empire other than Italy, due to Ethiopia's high status within the Italian Empire. Therefore the Fo.Di.N.I.E. is a separate military branch, although subject to the Higher Command Italian East Africa. The regional commanders are all Christians.
Ethiopian Gendarmerie
The Ethiopian Gendarmerie Corps (Ahmaric: ሐበሻ ፖሊስ, Häbäsha Polis, literally meaning "Ethiopian Police"; Italian: Corpo della Gendarmeria Etiope) is the main police and security force in the Empire of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian security is a complex matter due to the social, ethnic and religious complexity of the population of the Empire of Ethiopia. The Ministry of Interior is in charge of handling security and policing affairs through the Directorate General of Public Security and through the Ethiopian Gendarmerie.
Both Interior officials and Gendarmes are part of all-Ethiopia services and, although enlisted Gendarmes after their conscription can be expected to serve in their native Province, this can never be assumed for granted, as both rewarding and punitive transfers are often ordered; officers cannot expect any fixed assignment.
Fascist Guard
Proclamation No.71, issued in 1975, established the Fascist Guard (Ahmaric: የፋሺሽት ጠባቂ Yefashīshiti T’ebak, Italian: Guardia Fascista) in order to "safeguard the revolution and the Empire" and the local power bases. The Fascist Militia has the task to carry out police duties, to protect State-owned property and crops, and to enforce the decisions of Fascist Party. The Fascist Militia has always been largely a rural organization, despite the fact that Addis Ababa had directed urban dwellers' associations and workers' associations to "elect" constituents to serve in the militia.
The Fascist Guard is subdivided into 16 Provincial Commands (one for each City or Province) and each Provincial Command is attached to the government cabinet of the relevant Governor. However, it is the individual ethnically-based coalition Fascist Party which supervises it and actually exercises the day-to-day command. In case of Cities, the central Fascist Front exercises the "political guidance". The Fascist Guard Provincial Command also control the relevant Special Police Force (Ahmaric: ልዩ የፖሊስ ኃይል Liyu YePolīsi ḫayili, Italian: Forza Speciale di Polizia). It is to note that, therefore, the central Ethiopian Fascist Front controls 5 Fascist Guard Provincial Commands (and the relevant Special Police Forces), while ethnic Fascist Parties control up to two Commands each.
Ethiopian National Imperial Guard
The Ethiopian National Imperial Guard (Ethiopian: የአገር ደጀን, የ.ደ., Yäagär Däjän, Y.D.) is the autonomous branch of the National Royal Guard operating in the Ethiopian Empire. Outside the Ethiopian Defence Force, it also is the main indigenous military force in Italian East Africa outside the Army and the second African G.N.R. to be established in 1960. The Y.D. descends from the Ethiopian units of the Colonial militia, as well as from the Askari bands; however, in recent years the Ethiopian National Imperial Guard has claimed the legacy of the Ethiopian Imperial Guard.
The Ethiopian National Imperial Guard, or "The Guard", as it is commonly referred to, performs the function of central reserve force, able to guarantee the Ethiopian political order and to provide unified support to the Imperial Ethiopian National Defence Force.
Agricolture
Agriculture in Ethiopia presents a complex and articulated situation. In general terms, the criterion of subordination of land ownership, of any origin, to general utility is respected and, where and when necessary, enforced.
Ethiopian feudal law has a very articulated land tenure regime that is subject to complex rules. In general, landed property belongs to the community, which entrusts it to individuals. However, there are properties of individual members (especially the local aristocracy); finally, a significant portion of the land is owned by pastoralist organizations (especially nomadic or semi-nomadic clans). Next to the indigenous property, there are the large landed properties of large Italian companies (but also Italian-Ethiopian and purely indigenous) and small peasant property. The small peasant owners are both Ethiopian (of various indigenous peoples) and Italian; both the former and the latter are generally grouped into cooperatives. The "Experimental Farms" are publicly owned agricultural holdings, managed according to the food supply of military or security units.
The Territorial Directorates of Agriculture are local bodies, subordinated to the individual local government, aimed at improving the rural economy and technological innovation. In each Province, the respective Provincial Agriculture Directorate (subordinate to the Provincial Governor) directs the Territorial Directorates. In turn, the Provincial Agriculture Directorates are headed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Agricultural Institute for Italian East Africa, based in Florence, supports agricultural activities with study and research activities.
Italian colonization
The Italian colonization of Ethiopia is a process centered on agriculture in continuous progress. The Demographic Colonization Projects are managed by Autonomous Colonization Public Bodies funded by banks and other welfare agencies. Each Entity at regular intervals (5-10 years) sends a certain number of family heads to a territory, after purchasing the land, chosen within the same region. The land is initially cultivated in the community, but once the head of the family has settled down and started work, he is joined by his wife and children and the land divided and entrusted to family groups.
There is a tendency to reconstruct within the Ethiopian compact groups of fellow countrymen, who do not excessively uproot from their places of origin. Care is also taken to send families with parents who are still able to procreate but with children who are already able to collaborate in agricultural work. Usually, labourers with large families are preferred; colons are given, at the time of placing in the plot of land, a house, agricultural tools, livestock.
The plot is first cultivated by salaried settlers; once it has become productive (since it is an uncultivated land, it takes at least two years), it is passed to sharecropping, with a loan by Public body of the costs incurred for the valorisation of the fields and for the crops. Finally, the plot of land can be redeemed in installments by the settler. The price paid by the families for the redemption allows the institution to recover the expenses incurred. The incapable or unworthy colonists lose the concession. In fact, full ownership is provided not only after the full payment of the installments, but also after the implementation of a well-defined series of technical obligations.
Demographic Colonization Projects provide for the distribution of parcels of land around the nucleus of a small foundation city (with indigenous and Italian neighborhoods). The typical layout of a city of foundation in Ethiopia includes the Local Government Building, a hospital pavilion, Post Office, local militia barracks, P.N.F. office, aqueducts, lorries, Catholic church, sports facilities and cinema, hospital, restaurants, and 400 to 500 Italian farmhouses.
Geography
At 1,126,829 square kilometres (435,071 sq mi), Ethiopia is the world's 27th-largest country. It lies between the 3rd parallel north and the 15th parallel north and longitudes 33rd meridian east and 48th meridian east.
The major portion of Ethiopia lies on the Horn of Africa. Bordering Ethiopia are Sudan and South Sudan to the west, Eritrea to the north (internal border), ìSomalia to the east (internal border) and Kenya to the south. Within Ethiopia is a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns.
Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country, ranging from the deserts along the eastern border to the tropical forests in the south to extensive Afromontane in the northern and southwestern parts. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has a large number of endemic species, notably the gelada, the walia ibex and the Ethiopian wolf. The wide range of altitude has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas, and this has helped to encourage the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation.
Climate
The predominant climate type is tropical monsoon, with wide topographic-induced variation. The Ethiopian Highlands cover most of the country and have a climate which is generally considerably cooler than other regions at similar proximity to the Equator. Most of the country's major cities are located at elevations of around 2,000–2,500 m (6,562–8,202 ft) above sea level, including historic capitals such as Gondar and Axum.
The modern capital, Addis Abeba, is situated on the foothills of Mount Entoto at an elevation of around 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). It experiences a mild climate year round. With temperatures fairly uniform year round, the seasons in Addis Ababa are largely defined by rainfall: a dry season from October to February, a light rainy season from March to May, and a heavy rainy season from June to September. The average annual rainfall is approximately 1,200 millimetres (47 in).
There are on average 7 hours of sunshine per day. The dry season is the sunniest time of the year, though even at the height of the rainy season in July and August there are still usually several hours per day of bright sunshine. The average annual temperature in Addis Ababa is 16 °C (60.8 °F), with daily maximum temperatures averaging 20–25 °C (68.0–77.0 °F) throughout the year, and overnight lows averaging 5–10 °C (41.0–50.0 °F).
Most major cities and tourist sites in Ethiopia lie at a similar elevation to Addis Abeba and have a comparable climate. In less elevated regions, particularly the lower lying Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands in the east of the country, the climate can be significantly hotter and drier. Dallol, in the Danakil Depression in this eastern zone, has the world's highest average annual temperature of 34 °C (93.2 °F).
Education
Education in Ethiopia was dominated by the Tewahedo Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. The current system follows the Italian organization, with an addition of deeper regionalization. The sequence of general education in Ethiopia is five years of primary school, three years of lower secondary school and five years of higher secondary school.
Since 1970s, a general push has been in place to develop and strenghten higher education. Nowadays there are three Colleges of Agriculture at Alemaya, Ambo and Jima, the Addis Ababa University, the National College of Teacher Education, the National College of Commerce, the Technical College, the Institute of Animal Health in Debre Zeyit and the Institute of Health Sciences in Jima.
Demographics
The country's population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups. According to the 2007 national census, the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, at 34.4% of the nation's population. The Amhara represent 27.0% of the country's inhabitants, while Somalis and Tigrayans represent 6.22% and 6.08% of the population, respectively. Other prominent ethnic groups are as follows: Italians 5.50%, Sidama 4.00%, Gurage 2.52%, Welayta 2.27%, Afar 1.73%, Hadiya 1.72%, Gamo 1.49% and others 7.1%.
Afroasiatic-speaking communities make up the majority of the population. Among these, Semitic speakers often collectively refer to themselves as the Habesha people. The Arabic form of this term (al-Ḥabasha) is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia", the former name of Ethiopia in Italian and other European languages. Additionally, Nilo-Saharan-speaking ethnic minorities inhabit the southern regions of the country, particularly in areas of the Gambela Region which borders South Sudan. The largest ethnic groups among these include the Nuer and Anuak.
Each clan, within the relevant administrative subdivision, retains its right to adopt the governance system of the corresponding ethnicity.
From the ethnicity politics point of view, Italians are the elite of the country. Alongside Italians, Amharas are the dominant faction in the political sphere, while Tigrayns are also part of the military elite. Oromos are also well represented (mostly in economic activities), while other peoples are mere observers. This leads to a degree of ethnic tension.
Claiming the Amhara role as the driving people of Ethiopia, Amhara political elites place their support in a pan-Ethiopian nationalism and pro-Italian Empire stance and largely reject ethnic self-identification in favour of a purely Ethiopian one (although sometimes claiming the identity between Amhara and Ethiopian identities).
Languages
There are 90 individual languages spoken in Ethiopia. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes Oromiffa, spoken by the Oromo, and Somali, spoken by the Somalis; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigrayans. Together, these four groups make up about three-quarters of Ethiopia's population. Other Afroasiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic Sidamo, Afar, Hadiyya and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic Gurage languages, Harari, Silt'e, and Argobba languages. Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas.
Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by Omotic ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Languages from the Nilo-Saharan family are also spoken by ethnic minorities concentrated in the southwestern parts of the country.
Italian is the most widely spoken foreign language, and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools. Amharic is the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromiffa, Somali or Tigrinya. Italian and Amharic are recognized as the official language of the Imperial Government. The various Provinces of Ethiopia and chartered Cities are free to determine their own working languages alongside Italian and Amharic.
Religion
Ethiopia has close historical ties with all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions. In the 4th century, the Ethiopian empire was one of the first in the world to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion. As a result of the resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, in 451 the miaphysites, which included the vast majority of Christians in Egypt and Ethiopia, were accused of monophysitism and designated as heretics under the common name of Coptic Christianity.
Still distinguished as a state religion, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the majority Christian denomination. There is also a substantial Muslim demographic, representing around a quarter of the population. Until the 1984 mass deportation, a substantial population of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) resided in Ethiopia. According to the 2007 National Census, Christians make up 72.8% of the country's population (53.5% Ethiopian Orthodox, 19.3% other denominations), Muslims 23.9%, practitioners of traditional faiths 2.6%, and other religions 0.6%.
A small ancient group of Jews, the Beta Israel, lived in northwestern Ethiopia, though most were deported to Israel in 1984 and in 1991 as part of the Israeli government's relocation missions.
Human rights groups have regularly accused the government of arresting activists, journalists and bloggers to stamp out dissent among some religious communities. Lengthy prison terms were handed to 17 Muslim activists on 3 August 2015 ranging from seven to 22 years. They were charged with trying to create an Islamic state in the majority Christian country.
Common features
Belief in the existence of active spirits--many malevolent, some benevolent--is widespread among Ethiopians, whether Christian, Muslim, or pagan. The spirits called zar can be male or female and have a variety of personality traits. Many peasants believe they can prevent misfortune by propitiating the zar.
The protective adbar spirits belong to the community rather than to the individual or family. The female adbar is thought to protect the community from disease, misfortune, and poverty, while the male adbar is said to prevent fighting, feuds, and war and to bring good harvests. People normally pay tribute to the adbars in the form of honey, grains, and butter.
Myths connected with the evil eye (buda) vary, but most people believe that the power rests with members of lowly occupational groups who interact with Amhara communities but are not part of them. To prevent the effects of the evil eye, people wear amulets or invoke God's name. Because one can never be sure of the source of illness or misfortune, the peasant has recourse to wizards who can make diagnoses and specify cures. Debteras also make amulets and charms designed to ward off satanic creatures.
Christianity
The dominant element in Ethiopian culture and its major distinguishing feature is the Christian religion, especially for the Amhara and Tigray. By the mid-twentieth century, some educated Amhara and Tigray had developed skepticism, not so much of doctrine-- although that also occurred--as of the church's political and economic role. They had developed similar feelings toward the clergy, most of whom were poorly educated.
The Kingdom of Aksum was one of the first polities to officially embrace Christianity, when Frumentius of Tyre, called Fremnatos or Abba Selama ("Father of Peace") in Ethiopia, converted Emperor Ezana during the fourth century. According to the New Testament, Christianity had entered Ethiopia even earlier, when an official in the Ethiopian royal treasury was baptized by Philip the Evangelist.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is part of Oriental Orthodoxy. It is by far the largest Christian denomination, although a number of P'ent'ay (Protestant) churches have recently gained ground, despite active efforts to discourage adherents. Since 1930, a Ethiopian Catholic Church has existed in full communion with Rome, with adherents making up 15% of the total population.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's headquarters is in Addis Ababa. The boundaries of the dioceses, each under a bishop, followed old provincial boundaries; in 1995 they were modified and modelled on present-day Provinces. A Patriarch (Abun) heads the church. The ultimate authority in matters of faith is the Episcopal Synod. In addition, the Church Council, a consultative body that included clergy and laity, reviews and drafts administrative policy. Beginning in 1950, the choice of the abun passed from the Coptic Church of Egypt in Alexandria to the Episcopal Synod in Addis Ababa. The belief system is consonant with the social order in its stress on hierarchy and order.
From the Christian peasant's point of view, the important church figures are the local clergy. The local priest has the most significant role. An estimated 10 to 20 percent of adult male Amhara and Tigray were priests in the 1960s-- nowadays the percentage has dropped to about 12%, a not extraordinary figure, considering that there are 17,000 to 18,000 churches and that the celebration of the Eucharist requires the participation of at least two priests and three deacons, and frequently includes more.
There are several categories of clergy, collectively referred to as the Kahinat (bishops, priests, deacons, and some monks) and the Debteras (priests who have lost their ordination because they are no longer ritually pure, or individuals who have chosen not to enter the priesthood). A boy between the ages of seven and ten who wishes to become a deacon joins a church school and lives with his teacher--a priest or debtera who has achieved a specified level of learning--and fellow students near a church. After about four years of study, the diocesan bishop ordains him a deacon.
After three or four years of service and additional study, a deacon can apply to be ordained a priest. Before doing so, he has to commit himself to celibacy or else get married. Divorce and remarriage or adultery result in a loss of ritual purity and loss of one's ordination.
A priest's chief duty is to celebrate the Eucharist, a task to which he is assigned for a fixed period of weeks or months each year. He also officiates at baptisms and funeral services and attends the feasts (provided by laymen) associated with these and other events. His second important task is to act as confessor, sometimes by arrangement with specific families.
Most priests come from the peasantry, and their education is limited to the 1975-established Seminary and to their training for the diaconate and in the relatively short period thereafter. They are ranked according to their learning, and some acquire far more religious knowledge than others. Debteras often have a wider range of learning and skills than what is required for a priest. Debteras act as choristers, poets, herbalists, astrologers as well as fortune-tellers.
Some monks are laymen, usually widowers, who have devoted themselves to a pious life. Other monks undertake a celibate life while young and commit themselves to advanced religious education. Both kinds of monks might lead a hermit's life, but many educated monks are associated with the great monastic centres, which traditionally are the sources of doctrinal innovation or dispute. Nuns are relatively few, usually older women who perform largely domestic tasks in the churches.
The faith and practice of most Orthodox Christians combine elements from Monophysite Christianity as it has developed in Ethiopia over the centuries and from a non-Christian heritage. According to Monophysite doctrine, Christ is a divine aspect of the trinitarian God. Broadly, the Christian elements are God (in Amharic, Egziabher), the angels, and the saints. A hierarchy of angelic messengers and saints conveys the prayers of the faithful to God and carries out the divine will. When an Ethiopian Christian is in difficulty, he or she appeals to these angels and saints as well as to God. In more formal and regular rituals, priests communicate on behalf of the community, and only priests may enter the inner sanctum of the usually circular or octagonal church where the ark (tabot) dedicated to the church's patron saint is housed. On important religious holidays, the ark is carried on the head of a priest and escorted in procession outside the church. The ark, not the church, is consecrated. Only those who feel pure, have fasted regularly, and have generally conducted themselves properly may enter the middle ring to take communion.
Weekly services constitute only a small part of an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian's religious observance. Several holy days require prolonged services, singing and dancing, and feasting. An important religious requirement, however, is the keeping of fast days. Only the clergy and the very devout maintain the full schedule of fasts, comprising 250 days, but the laity is expected to fast 165 days per year, including every Wednesday and Friday and the two months that include Lent and the Easter season. In addition to standard holy days, most Christians observe many saint's days. A man might give a small feast on his personal saint's day. The local voluntary association (called the maheber) connected with each church honours its patron saint with a special service and a feast.
Islam
Sunnis form the majority of Muslims with non-denominational Muslims being the second largest group of Muslims, and the Shia and Ahmadiyyas are a minority. Sunnis are largely Sufi, and there are also many Shafi'is Muslims there. The large Muslim population in the northern Afar region has resulted in a Muslim separatist movement called the "Islamic State of Afaria" seeking a sharia-compliant constitution.
Traditional religions
Around 1,958,000 people in Ethiopia are adherents of traditional religions. An additional 472,000 residents practice other creeds. While followers of all religions can be found in each region, they tend to be concentrated in certain parts of the country. Christians predominantly live in the northern Amhara and Tigray areas, and are largely members of the non-Chalcedonian Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Muslims in Ethiopia predominantly adhere to Sunni Islam and generally inhabit eastern and northeastern areas; particularly the Somali, Afar, Dire Daua and Harari regions. Practitioners of traditional religions mainly reside in the nation's far southwestern and western rural borderlands.
Among traditional religious systems, the names of certain deities and spirits recur frequently. Certain features of traditional religions are broadly similar--for example, the existence of a supreme god identified with the sky and relatively remote from the everyday concerns of the people and addressed through spirits. Surface similarities notwithstanding, the configuration of the accepted roster of spirits, the rituals addressed to them, the social units (some based on the territorial community, others on common descent, generation, or sex) participating in specific rituals, and the nature and functions of religious specialists are peculiar to each ethnic group or subsection.
Among the Oromo, especially those not fully Christianized, there is a belief in a supreme god called Waka, represented by spirits known as ayana. The ayana are mediators between the high god and human beings and are themselves approached through the kallu, a ritual specialist capable of being possessed by these spirits. The kallu is said to communicate directly with Waka and bless the community in his name. By contrast, some pastoral Oromo, such as the Guji and Borana, are regarded as monotheists.
Naming
Ethiopians have a different naming system to the family name-based Western system. Children add the given names o their father and paternal grandfather consecutively to their own given name. For compatibility purposes, as is done in passports, the grandfather's given name is taken as a family surname, and a person's given name and his/her father's given name form the first name.
Everyone is addressed by his/her given name. In official situations, the prefixes Ato (አቶ) is used for men; Weyzero (ወይዘሮ) for married women; and Weyzerīt (ወይዘሪት) for unmarried women.
Media
The most widely circulated newspapers in Ethiopia are Il Mattino di Addis Abeba, Il Corriere d'Abissinia, Il Guardiano d'Etiopia (also known by their local names).
The sole internet service provider is the national telecommunications firm AbiTelecom. A large portion of users in the country access the internet through mobile devices As of July 2016, there are around 5.29 million people who have internet access at their home. The Ethiopian government has at times intentionally shut down internet service in the country or restricted access to certain social media sites during periods of political unrest.