Which country was historically known as Abyssinia?

Which country was historically known as Abyssinia? Ethiopia. In English and many international contexts, Abyssinia was the historical name used for Ethiopia, especially its Christian highland kingdom.

The term comes from forms of Habash or Ḥabašat, names associated with the peoples and kingdom of the Horn of Africa. European languages adopted a Latinized form, Abissinia, which developed into “Abyssinia.” The name was widely used for the Ethiopian Empire, particularly before the modern international preference for “Ethiopia.”

Abyssinia is not a perfect synonym for every part of the modern country. Historically, it most directly referred to the northern and central highlands inhabited by Ethiopian and Eritrean highland peoples. The broader Ethiopian state expanded and changed considerably over time, especially during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The country name Ethiopia has much older Greek roots and was used by the Aksumite kingdom by the fourth century. That history explains why both names appear in historical writing. Eritrea is a common distractor because parts of the historical Abyssinian highlands extended into present-day Eritrea.