Ethiopia

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Country Name

Ethiopia, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Location

Ethiopia is a landlocked country in East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest.

Capital

Addis Ababa.

The reason for naming the country

Ethiopia historically called Abyssinia is derived from the Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic name "ḤBŚT," modern Habesha. Al Habesha means the land of the Habesha people. The English name "Ethiopia" is thought to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, derived from the two Greek words, from αἴθω + ὤψ (aitho "I burn" + ops "face").

Flag

The Ethiopian flag was adopted on February 6, 1996, making it one of the world's newest flags. The Ethiopian colors date from the 1890s, when forces loyal to the emperor are believed to have flown pennants of green, yellow, and red as they fought against Italian forces. The first Ethiopian flag using these same colors was adopted in 1897. The flag of Ethiopia consists of three equal horizontal stripes green, yellow; and red. In the middle of the flag is the country's coat of arms on a blue circle. It is often seen without the blue circle and emblem. The red color represents power, faith, and blood; the yellow represents the church, peace, natural wealth, and love; and the green represents the land and hope. The star represents the unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity and the blue disk represents peace.