Polities

Ethiopian Empire

Citation Formats

General Reference

History Atlas. "Ethiopian Empire." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/polities/ethiopian-empire.

APA Style

History Atlas. (n.d.). Ethiopian Empire. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/polities/ethiopian-empire

BibTeX

@misc{historyatlas-ethiopian-empire,
  author = {History Atlas},
  title = {Ethiopian Empire},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-history.interactiveatlas.org/polities/ethiopian-empire},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a country that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak around 1270 until the 1974 coup d'etat by the Derg, which ended the reign of the final Emperor, Haile Selassie. Under Emperor Menelik II in the late 19th century, the empire expanded significantly to the south and secured its independence through a victory over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896.

Facts

Capital

Addis Ababa (from 1889) 1

Final and longest-held capital; earlier capitals included Gondar (1635-1855), Debre Tabor and Mekelle.

Start Year

1270 1

End Year

1974 1

Cross-Tradition Connections