A# SUMMARY By Amos J. Peaslee 1956

INTERNATIONAL STATUS#

Ethiopia is a member of the United Nations. It signed the Charter of that organization in San Francisco on June 27, 1945.

Ethiopia was invaded by Italy in 1934 and was annexed to Italy in 1936, remaining so until1941. In 1941 it was occupied by British forces and was re-established as a sovereign nation. Under an Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty, British and Imperial troops were withdrawn, except those defending certain strategic points.

It joined the League of Nations in 1923. It signed the Statute of the old Permanent Court of International Justice on July 12, 1926 and deposited its ratification on July 16, 1926.* It was a party to the Paris Treaty of 1928 for the renunciation of war. It is a member of various international organizations.

FORM OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT#

The Constitution of 1931 was suspended during the Italian occupation and restored in 1942. A new Constitution is in the course of being drafted which will embody a thoroughgoing revision of the 1931 Constitution and provide for the federation with Eritrea. Federation occurred in accordance with a Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, recommending that Eritrea (which had been an Italian colony prior to World War II) be an autonomous unit, federated with Ethiopia, under the sovereignty of the Ethiopian crown. On September 15, 1952, the British administration handed over sovereignty of Eritrea to Ethiopia.

AREA, POPULATION, LANGUAGE#

The federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea has an area of approximately 395,000 square miles and an officially estimated (1953) population of 16,000,000. The Statesman’s Yearbook of 1953 considers eight to ten million a more probable estimate. The Coptic branch of Christianity is the religion of the imperial family and is the dominant religion of Ethiopians and Eritreans. Mohammedanism prevails in the northwest and in most parts of the perimeter of the country. The official language is Amharic. [Afan Oromo] is spoken by a large proportion of the population.

  • It adhered to the optional clause regarding obligatory jurisdiction (Article 36) on the sole condition of reciprocity for limited periods. Ethiopia is not at the time of our going to press deemed to be subject to the obligatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice; though it is, of course, a party to the 1945 Statute by virtue of its membership in the United Nations. See Art. 93 of the U.N. Charter.