Ethiopia was formerly known as Abyssinia and successfully resisted permanent European colonization.
The Ethiopian Empire defeated Italy at the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896. The victory followed Italy’s attempt to expand from its colony in Eritrea and forced Italy to recognize Ethiopian independence in the Treaty of Addis Ababa. Ethiopia was later occupied by Fascist Italy from 1936 to 1941, but that occupation did not become a permanent colonial settlement.
Ethiopia has one of Africa’s longest recorded histories and developed distinctive political, religious, and artistic traditions. Christianity became established in the ancient Kingdom of Aksum during the 4th century, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church remains central to the country’s cultural history.
The name Abyssinia was widely used in Europe for the northern highlands and, by extension, the Ethiopian state. Modern Ethiopia is a federal republic whose capital is Addis Ababa, a city that also hosted the founding headquarters of the Organization of African Unity in 1963.