Background:
Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy
maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception being the
Italian occupation of 1936-41. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg,
deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and
established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings,
wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was
finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A
constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty
elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with
Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final
demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian
objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to
surrender sensitive territory.