But it has become better known for its periodic droughts and famines, and for its long civil war and subsequent border war with Eritrea.

OVERVIEW

In the first part of the 20th century Ethiopia forged strong links with Britain, whose troops helped evict the Italians in 1941 and put Emperor Haile Selassie back on his throne. During the 1960s and early 1970s British influence gave way to that of the US, which in turn was supplanted by the USSR.

Although relatively free from the coups that have plagued other African countries, Ethiopia's turmoil has been no less devastating. Drought, famine, war and ill-conceived policies brought millions to the brink of starvation in the 1970s and 1980s.

 In 1974 this helped topple Haile Selassie. His regime was replaced by a self-proclaimed Marxist junta under which thousands of opponents were purged or killed, property was confiscated and defence spending spiralled.

 With the overthrow of the junta in 1991, political and economic conditions stabilised somewhat, but not enough to restore investors' confidence, which received a further blow with the war with Eritrea in the late 1990s.

 Ethiopia remains one of Africa's poorest states, with a very low income per capita and a population that is almost two-thirds illiterate. Its economy is highly dependent on agriculture, which in turn is almost entirely dependent on rainfall.

 Many Ethiopians rely on food aid from abroad. In 2004 the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east. It said the programme was a lasting solution to food shortages.

FACTS

• Population: 74.2 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Addis Ababa
• Area: 1.13m sq km (437,794 sq miles)
• Major languages: Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali
• Major religions: Christianity, Islam
• Life expectancy: 45 years (men), 46 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Birr = 100 cents
• Main exports: Coffee, hides, oilseeds, beeswax, sugarcane
• GNI per capita: US $90 (World Bank, 2003)
• Internet domain: .et
• International dialling code: +251

LEADERS

Head of state: President Woldegiorgis Girma

Prime minister: Meles Zenawi

Meles Zenawi was re-elected by parliament for a second five-year term in October 2000, following Ethiopia's first multi-party elections. Mr Zenawi took part in the guerrilla campaign against the Mengistu regime, and was chosen as transitional head of state after the overthrow of the dictator in 1991.

He was one of the architects of the 1994 constitution, which provided for a federal republic with ethnically-based regions.

In 1995 he became prime minister. Initially a Marxist-Leninist, by the 1990s he had become a champion of the free market and parliamentary democracy.

• Foreign minister: Mesfin Seyoum
• Finance minister: Ahmad Sufyan

MEDIA

Although the state controls radio and television, the print and broadcast media have seen dramatic changes since Mengistu's demise. Deregulation has been on the cards for some years. Would-be private radio broadcasters were given licence application forms in 2004.

 Some opposition groups beam radio broadcasts to Ethiopia using hired shortwave transmitters overseas. The number of privately-owned newspapers has grown; some are available online.

The Walta website also hosts a few pro-government English-language newspapers. The private press offers quite different reporting to the state-owned newspapers and is often critical of the government.

 The relationship between the press and the authorities has sometimes been uneasy and media rights organisations have expressed concern about the jailing of journalists.

The press

• Addis Zemen - state-owned daily
• Ethiopian Herald - state-owned English-language daily
• Menelik - private, weekly Addis
• Admas - private, weekly
• Seifenebelbal - private,weekly
• Tobya - private, weekly
• Wonchif - private, weekly
• Tomar - private, weekly
• The Reporter - private, English-language web pages
• The Sun - private, English-language weekly
• Addis Tribune - private, English-language weekly
• Capital - English-language, business weekly

Television

Ethiopian Television (ETV) - state-owned

Radio

• Radio Ethiopia - state-owned, operates National Service and External Service
• Voice of Tigray Revolution - Tigray Regional State government radio
• Radio Fana - founded in 1994 by ruling party

News agencies

• Walta Information Centre (WIC) - privately-owned, pro-government
• Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) - state-owned