Ethiopia (Differently)

Ethiopian Empire
የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ
Timeline: Differently
Ethiopian Empire የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተTimeline: Differently
Flag	Coat of arms
	Motto: ; ኢትዮጵያ ታበፅዕ እደዊሃ ሃበ እግዚአብሐር; "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God"
	Anthem: ; ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ ደስ ይበልሽ; "Ethiopia, Be Happy" https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/File:Ethiopia,_Be_Happy_-_Anthem_of_the_Ethiopian_Empire.mp3;
Capital; (and largest city)	Addis Ababa
Official languages	Ge'ez, Amharic, others
Religion	Eastern Christianity
Government	Parliamentary Selassist monarchy
Establishment
Area
Population
Currency	birr
Drives on the	right

Ethiopia, officially the Ethiopian Empire, is a country in northeast Africa. It is bounded by the Red Sea on the northeast and borders Egypt to the north, Bornu to the east, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the south and east and Djibouti to the east.

Ethiopia's population of 127 million inhabitants make it the most populous country in Africa and the tenth-most populous in the world. A surface area of over 2.1 million square kilometers rank it the fifth among Africa's largest countries and 19th globally.

With a history going back to prehistoric dates about 200,000 years ago, when the first modern human beings emerged, Ethiopia is considered one of the oldest nations in the world, if not the oldest. Early Ethiopian kingdoms are mentioned in the Bible and the country has been ruled by different states. The current state was formed in the 13th century and has remained a powerful and influential empire since then.

Together with Carthage, Syria Palaestina, and Arabia, it is one of the four Semitic nations of the world.

In 1935 and 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie was the Time Person of the Year.

History[]

The Ethiopian Empire was established in 1272, after a long warring war between different Christian Orthodox kingdoms. Abyssinia emerged victorious, establishing the Abyssinian Empire, or now known as the Ethiopian Empire. The Empire was ruled by the Solomonic Dynasty, who claimed direct descent from Ancient Israeli King, Solomon.

For the next five centuries, Abyssinia expanded their borders in all directions. Clashing with numerous tribes and kingdoms, such as the Oromos and the Adal Sultanate, Ethiopia eventually conquered the Somali tribes to the coast of the Indian Ocean to parts of Nubia and Kush.

Ancient Abyssinia was also known for their insane amounts of riches. Legend says Prester John, King of Abyssinia, had many riches. Although this legend was proven false, and Prester John never actually existed, the myth did bring an end to the Christian-Zoroastrian conflicts through threats that their Orthodox "Allies" would attack from the south. This never happened, but it was enough to back down a full-scale war.

In the 19th century, Italian raiders landed in the Eritrean coast. The Ethiopians had an empire stretching from Khartoum to Addis Ababa; controlling most of the Horn of Africa except for the Adal Sultanate and the Mogadishu Sultanate, but the Italians, armed with better weapons, defeated the Ethiopians and forced them to fall back. The Ethiopians would enter into a coalition with the Adal Sultanate and the Sultanate of Mogadishu in an joint effort to push the Europeans out of the horn once and for all. With the British capturing the capital of the Adal Sultanate and the Italians conquering the Sultanate of Mogadishu, Yohannes IV asked for a ceasefire. Somalia was ceded to the Italians, and Somaliland to the Somalis. Somaliland was annexed by Britain a few years after. This war is often called the "War of the Horn", and was one of the largest armed conflicts in African history.

Ethiopia was neutral during the Great War, but supplied the Egyptians with weapons. Although Ethiopia did not have a geographical position close to the communists, it joined the First World. The Soviets thought that gaining influence in Ethiopia would be followed by others, due to their ancient history. However, the only communist group in Ethiopia known to the outside world was the Derg, but the Derg has been outlawed and their members either executed or exiled. So, the Soviets looked another way. The Eritreans have been longing for independence, but have failed every time. The Soviets supplied the Eritreans with modern equipment and war tactics, in exchange for being a communist nation. The Eritreans agreed, and attacked the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians were taken by surprise, but they managed to corner the Eritreans near the coast. By then, the new Chairman of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, stopped funding the Eritreans. With no Soviet support, the Eritreans surrendered.

After asserting their control over Eritrea, Emperor Haile Selassie started gradual reforms which transitioned the Empire into a parliamentary monarchy. His reign as a parliamentary monarch was short, as he was killed in his bath in 1974. His son Amha Selassie succeeded him, continuing his policies and transitioning Ethiopia into a parliamentary monarchy. Democracy was introduced to Ethiopia, and mass genocides ceased operations. Oromos and many other small ethnic groups were pardoned and each one given a pension of 365,800 Birr.

Today, Ethiopia is a developed country with a high Democracy Index. Although many people still live below the poverty line, a universal system in which a magistrate of a local district can give a plot of land to anyone who needs it. This idea, called Selassism, is a universal law in Ethiopia. The idea of anyone having land if needed, or healthcare, is a "variation of social equality", as Selassie called it. Although similar to the concepts of communism, Selassie still believed that a monarch should hold power, similar to the Bhutanese regime, in which people can be granted land from the government. Many people during the reign of Selassie disagreed with his principles, stating that the system only worked with such a small country, like Bhutan, but Selassie continued his policies, making the nation modern and developed.