ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Ethiopia. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the third most populous country in Africa, with a mixed ethnic makeup reflecting its imperial heritage. Ethiopia's long tradition of imperial rule ended in 1974, when Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a Marxist military coup. Human Rights Watch has accused the Ethiopian authorities of using "brutal violence" at Addis Ababa University, stating that the government used "the ensuing crisis to justify a general crackdown on figures critical to the government." Women traditionally have few land or property rights and, especially in rural areas, few opportunities for employment beyond agricultural labor.
