Click to see a larger map

The former empire of Ethiopia, the only African country to escape colonization, is the cradle of an ancient civilization which adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 4th century. It has been landlocked since 1993, when Eritrea seceded. Ethiopia is mountainous except for desert lowlands in the northeast and southeast, and is prone to devastating drought and famine. A long civil war ended in 1991 with the defeat of the Stalinist military dictatorship that had ruled since 1974. A free-market, multiparty democratic system now provides substantial regional autonomy. War with Eritrea in 1998–2000 brought heavy losses on both sides before a peace agreement was signed in December 2000. Arbitrators began redefining the border in spring 2002.