Ethiopia
POPULATION 65,892,000
ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH 48 percent
ISLAM 34 percent
EVANGELICAL/CHARISMATIC 12 percent
NEO-CHARISMATIC 0.5 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 1.5 percent
INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS 4 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, located in eastern Africa, is home to some 81 distinct ethnic groups. It is bordered by Eritrea to the north, The Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Somalia and Djibouti to the east. To the north, beyond Eritrea, is the Red Sea. Most of Ethiopia's culturally diverse population resides on a great mountain massif, usually well watered by rain that provides ample water for irrigation projects in the western and eastern lowlands.
Ethiopia has been a religious battleground for centuries. Christianity penetrated the Axumite Kingdom in northern Ethiopia in the fourth century. When Islam was first launched in Arabia in the seventh century, persecuted followers of Muhammad fled to Axum for refuge. The peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims was short lived, as the Muslims soon cut both the east and west Axumite trade routes by controlling the Red Sea. The armed Axumite response initiated a retaliatory jihad by the Muslims. Eventually Christian Axum was encircled and weakened by Islamic sultanates. In the ninth century Queen Guedit, a pagan from the south, invaded Axum, further weakening Christianity there.
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