Ethiopian National Day, 27 May 2010

Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc for Peace and Prosperity-

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National Day of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

May 27, 2010, 4:52pm

Ethiopia celebrates its National Day today (Friday). A landlocked state in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is bounded on the northeast by Eritrea and Djibouti, on the east and southeast by Somalia, on the southwest by Kenya, and on the west and northwest by Sudan.

Ethiopia has a diverse population, with more than 70 distinct ethnic and linguistic groups. The 1995 constitution established Ethiopia as a federation and created nine regions for the country's main ethnic groups.

Known as Abyssinia until the 20th century, Ethiopia is the oldest independent nation in Africa. It was home to the powerful Christian kingdom of Aksum in the first centuries A.D. and became a Christian empire in the 15th century. After the 1500s, Ethiopia divided into a number of small kingdoms, which were reunified by Menelik II in the 1880s. Eritrea, which had been part of Ethiopia since the 1950s, became an independent nation in 1993 after a protracted civil war. Addis Ababa is Ethiopia's capital and largest city.

Ethiopia became a member of the League of Nations in 1923, signed the United Nations Declaration in 1942, and was one of the 51 original members of the United Nations (UN). The headquarters
of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is in Addis Ababa, as is the headquarters of the African Union (formerly the Organization of African Unity), of which Ethiopia was the principal founder.

Ethiopia was the original source of the coffee bean, and coffee beans are the country's largest export commodity.

Ethiopia is also the 10th largest producer of livestock in the world. Other main export commodities are khat, gold, leather products, and oilseeds. Recent development of the floriculture sector means Ethiopia is poised to become one of the top flower and plant exporters in the world.

We congratulate the people and government of Ethiopia led by Their Excellencies, President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, on the occasion of their National Day. We wish them success in all their endeavors.