Countries

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the only African country never colonized by a European power: when Italy invaded in 1895, Emperor Menelik II's forces decisively defeated them at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, the first time an African nation beat a European colonial army in open war.

One of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, carved directly down into the volcanic bedrock

A rock-hewn church at Lalibela

Photo: Radosław Botev, CC BY 3.0

Green, yellow and red: the Pan-African colors, adopted by Ethiopia first and later borrowed by many other African nations' flags after independence. The central star represents the unity and equality of Ethiopia's peoples.

How it has changed

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