Even so, forces with inferior weapons have still emerged victorious at times, for example in the Wars of Scottish Independence and in the First Italo – Ethiopian War.

General Oreste Baratieri, commander of the Italian forces, knew the Ethiopian forces had been living off the land, and once the supplies of the local peasants were exhausted, Emperor Menelik's army would begin to melt away.

Estimates for the Ethiopian forces under Menelik range from a low of 73, 000 to a high of over 120, 000, outnumbering the Italians by an estimated five or six times.

This time the Italians employed vastly superior military technology such as tanks and aircraft, as well as chemical warfare, the Ethiopian forces were soundly defeated by May 1936.

Following the war, Italy occupied Ethiopia for five years ( 1936 – 41 ), before eventually being driven out during World War II by British Empire and Ethiopian patriot forces.

The eastern Somali region ( Ogaden ) hosts a large nomadic Somali population and is a conflict area where Ethiopian regular forces are fighting against Ogaden National Liberation Front ( ONLF ).

Al-Ghazi's forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, but the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama's Portuguese troops and maintain their domain's autonomy.

Sporadic armed conflict ensued between the two groups from 1972 to 1974, even as they fought Ethiopian forces.

With the withdrawal of Soviet support and supplies, the Ethiopian Army's morale plummeted, and the EPLF, along with other Ethiopian rebel forces, began to advance on Ethiopian positions.

Having defeated the Ethiopian forces in Eritrea, EPLF troops took control of their homeland.

In May 1991, a coalition of rebel forces under the name Ethiopian people liberation front ( EPRDF ) defeated the government of Mengistu regime.

According to OHCHR, the Oromia Support Group ( OSG ) recorded 594 extra-judicial killings of Oromos by Ethiopian government security forces and 43 disappearances in custody between 2005 and August 2008.

Al-Ghazi's forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, but the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama's Portuguese troops and maintain their domain's autonomy.

The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d ' Italia ) and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire ( also known as Abyssinia ).

** War in Somalia ( 2006 – 2009 ) – involved largely Ethiopian and Somali Transitional Federal Government ( TFG ) forces whom fought against the Somali Islamist umbrella group, the Islamic Court Union ( ICU ), and other affiliated militias for control of the country.

* May 28 – In the Ethiopian Civil War, the forces of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front seize Addis Ababa.

* March 9 – Yohannes IV is killed in the Battle of Metemma ; Sudanese forces, who had been almost defeated, rally and destroy the Ethiopian army.

In 1935, after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Rozman tried unsuccessfully to join the Ethiopian forces fighting the Italian invaders.

Following the 1993 victory of opposition forces against the Stalinist government in an Ethiopian civil war, Eritrea ( formerly known as " Bahri Negash " before being renamed to " Eritrea " by Italian colonizers from 1890 – 1941 ), seceded in a United Nations referendum with the blessing of the newly formed Ethiopian government.

* The flag of Afghanistan and the flag of Ecuador, as well as the flag of the Ethiopian Empire ( 1137 – 1974 ), are unusual in that their designs contain representations of themselves.

How the Leopard Got His Spots, in Just So Stories ( 1902 ), by Rudyard Kipling, tells of an Ethiopian man and a leopard, both originally sand-colored, deciding to camouflage themselves with painted spots, for hunting in tropical forest.

" As early as the 1820s, blackface performers called themselves " Ethiopian delineators "; from then into the early 1840s, unlike the later heyday of minstrelsy, they performed either solo or in small teams.

For example, while Buxton notes the existence of a tradition that " Abyssinians invoked the aid of foreigners " to construct these monolithic churches, and admits that " there are clearly signs of Coptic influence in some decorative details " ( hardly surprising given the theological, ecclesiastical, and cultural links between the Ethiopian Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches ), he is adamant about the native origins of these creations: " But the significant fact is remains that the rock-churches continue to follow the style of the local built-up prototypes, which themselves retain clear evidence of their basically Axumite origin.

* A late ethnogenesis of the Beta Israel between the 14th to 16th Centuries, from a sect of Ethiopian Christians who took on Biblical practices, and came to see themselves as Jews.

However, the 19th century Ethiopian historian Asma Giyorgis suggests that the Walashma themselves spoke Arabic, which is similar to Ge ' ez.

In addition, modern Christians, such as Ethiopian Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox still practice circumcision while not considering it a part of conversion to Judaism, nor do they consider themselves to be Jews or Jewish Christians.

While Debre Markos and Addis Derra were being captured, other Ethiopian patriots under Ras Abebe Aregai consolidated themselves around Addis Ababa in preparation for Emperor Selassie's return.

" Selassie was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian and many Rastafarians identify themselves as such, though others identify as Jewish by religion and Rastafari by ideology.

Byzantine Emperor Justinian ( 527 – 565 ) persecuted the Monophysite churches and the Armenians found themselves speaking on behalf of the Syriac, Coptic and Ethiopian churches, a leadership role the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem still assumes.

Mary Wroth joined the Queen and her friends in the production ; all of whom painted their skin to portray black, Ethiopian nymph who called themselves the ' twelve daughters of Niger '.

Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) released a report on March 24, 2005 that documents systematic and widespread atrocities committed against the Anuak by Ethiopian military units and local Ethiopians defending themselves from Anuak Militants.

However, the 19th century Ethiopian historian Asma Giyorgis suggests that the Walashma themselves spoke Arabic, which is similar to Ge ' ez.

The two independent exceptions were the tiny Republic of Liberia on the west coast of the continent and the ancient Ethiopian Empire in the strategic Horn of Africa.

Chris Prouty observes that " a failure of nerve on the part of Menelik has been alleged by both Italian and Ethiopian sources.

From then on, until 1959, the Pope of Alexandria, as Patriarch of All Africa, always named an Egyptian ( a Copt ) to be the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Church.

This promotion was completed when Joseph II consecrated the first Ethiopian-born Archbishop, Abuna Basilios, as head of the Ethiopian Church on 14 January 1951.

The Coptic Orthodox Church refused to recognize the election and enthronement of Abuna Takla Haymanot on the grounds that the Synod of the Ethiopian Church had not removed Abuna Theophilos, and that the Ethiopian government had not publicly acknowledged his death, and he was thus still legitimate Patriarch of Ethiopia.

Formal relations between the Coptic Church of Alexandria and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church were resumed on July 13, 2007.

During the protracted Ethiopian-Adal War ( 1529 – 1559 ), Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi defeated several Ethiopian Emperors and embarked on a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash (" Conquest of Abyssinia "), which brought three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the power of the Muslim Adal Sultanate.

But, in late-summer, when torrential rains fall on the Ethiopian plateau, the Atbarah provides 22 % of the Nile's flow.

They established bases on the northern highlands of the Ethiopian Plateau and from there expanded southward.

An early Muslim tradition is that the Negus Ashama ibn Abjar offered asylum to a group of Muslims fleeing persecution during Muhammad's life ( 615 ), but Stuart Munro-Hay believes that Axum had been abandoned as the capital by then – although Kobishchanov states that Ethiopian raiders plagued the Red Sea, preying on Arabian ports at least as late as 702.

dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains

The African Union report on September 14 commended " the Ethiopian people's display of genuine commitment to democratic ideals and on September 15 the US Carter Center concluded that " the majority of the constituency results based on the May 15 polling and tabulation are credible and reflect competitive conditions ".

The African Union report on September 14 commended " the Ethiopian people's display of genuine commitment to democratic ideals ", and on September 15 the US Carter Center concluded that " the majority of the constituency results based on the May 15 polling and tabulation are credible and reflect competitive conditions ".

Prior to the outbreak of the 1998 – 2000 Eritrean – Ethiopian War, landlocked Ethiopia mainly relied on the seaports of Asseb and Massawa in Eritrea for international trade.