Ethiopia is a landlocked Tier III nation located in East Africa. It borders 
Sudan, 
South Sudan, 
Kenya, 
Eritrea, 
Djibouti, and 
Somalia.
Background
Ethiopia is very old and has much history behind it. Ethiopia was able to avoid being conquered by foreign powers for many centuries. It has only been conquered once, barely. It is viewed with great potential in Africa in modern times.
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The Kingdom of Ethiopia is one of the oldest kingdoms in the world and certainly the oldest independent country in Africa. Ancient Ethiopia is mentioned in Greek history as well as Hebrew history. Ethiopia managed to avoid colonization from Europe unlike most other African areas and countries. It managed to stave off Italian aggression in 1896 in the First Italo-Ethiopian War. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia again in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and occupied it until 1941, when Ethiopia was liberated by the Allies as part of WW2. The last Italian remnants surrendered in 1943. In modern times Ethiopia has been ravaged by famine and military coups. In 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was forcibly removed by the military and the Derg, a socialist military junta, took power over the country. For many years Ethiopia was a place of unrest and civil strife. Refugees starved as different military regimes fought for power. 11 years after the Derg took power, a massive famine hit the country hard, which caught international attention. One of the most famous examples of attempts to raise public awareness was in 1985 with Live Aid -many popular bands and musicians, such as Queen and David Bowie, performed in both Philadelphia and London. Over 150 million pounds were raised to help the population of Ethiopia. In 1987, the Derg transitioned from a military junta and transitioned to civilian rule, establishing the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In 1991, the socialist state was toppled. 2 years after the toppling of the PDRE, Eritrea gained independence. Some peace was restored in 1995 with the establishment of a constitution and multiparty elections. In 2020, a civil war broke out between Tigray separatists in the north and the Ethiopian government. The civil war brought many separatist groups to form a confederation against the Ethiopian government, appropriately called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces. This led to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, to lead his forces on the frontlines and raised morale for the hardened men. The troops forced the Tigrayans to retreat back to Tigray, and as of December 28, 2021, the civil war is ongoing. |
Base Statistics
Economy
Ethiopia starts with an income of $498,375. $482,071 from tax and $16,304 from resources. Their economy is not strong, however compared to their neighbors, they're a regional power.
Resources
Ethiopia has a rather meager production of resources, however it has almost enough gold to run two electronics factories without buying gold.
Military
Ethiopia starts with 40k home guards. It produces around 790 manpower at the start of the game and on the volunteer conscription law. Ethiopia's military isn't too strong at the start of the game, however its manpower gives it an edge over its neighbors.
| Base Manpower Capacity of Ethiopia per Conscription Law | |
|---|---|
| The following columns below present the manpower capacity from lowest (Disarmed) to highest (Required). RP stands for "Recruitable Population". | |
| Disarmed [1% RP] |
|
| Volunteer [2% RP] |
|
| Limited [5% RP] |
|
| Extensive [10% RP] |
|
| Required [25% RP] |
|
Geography
Ethiopia has most of its Mountainous terrain in its west and center. Its Semi-Mountainous terrain surrounds its Mountainous terrain, and to its east lies flat terrain.
Ethiopia is affected by the Arid biome to its east and nothing to its west. It is unaffected by winter.
Cities
Ethiopia has 35 cities. The largest city is the capital, Addis Ababa, which has a population of 3,100,000 people. Another large, important city is Kebridahar, which is Ethiopia's second most populous city with a population of 3,100,000 people and is also the nation's sole producer of oil.
Borders
Ethiopia borders 6 nations, Eritrea and Djibouti to the north, Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. The greatest threats of these neighbors are Sudan and Kenya.
Threats
Ethiopia has the strength and terrain to mount a good defense in case of an attack. However, there are still many threats to Ethiopia's sovereignty. The threats are as follows:
Italy, which needs you for the 
Italian Empire.
Egypt and sometimes Sudan.- They player should also keep an eye out for nations like
Nigeria and 
South Africa. They may launch an invasion to knock out a rival power in Africa and get closer to forming the 
African Union.
Formables
Ethiopia can form:
Ethiopian Empire by annexing Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia.- African Union by annexing all African nations.
Strategy
Starting Moves
When starting with Ethiopia, you must first build 2 electronic factories, 1 steel factory, and 1 motor factory. The steel and motor factories will allow you to build tanks. Then you should buy the necessary materials needed to sustain these factories through trade. The electronic factories will produce 32 electronics, which you should use to sell to AI nations. (only sell 29 of them if you are going to pursue consumer goods) You should also enact the press censorship policy and raise your taxes to earn more revenue as you can take the downside of the lower stability.
Forming the Ethiopian Empire
Forming a formable allows you to integrate countries instantly as well as having a stability boost, and the most accessible formable Ethiopia has in the start is the Ethiopian Empire, so you should quickly pursue it. Justify conquest on Eritrea and Djibouti. When you declare war, lure the AI and then defeat the Home Guard. After that, taking them should be a breeze. To invade Somalia, utilize AI luring to destroy its army, then use 1.2k tanks (preferably split with the form line mechanic) or higher to take over Somalia.
If Italy is a Player
Italy will likely always want to form Italian Empire, and will likely invade you to achieve this. In the event that Italy is a player, you should construct a submarine on the Eritrean coast after you have formed the Ethiopian Empire and place your submarine on the Suez Canal or take Egypt over yourself to close the canal using naval invasions, or ask the current Egyptian player to close the Suez Canal to Italy. This will be enough to subdue the expansion of most Italy players, however if the Italy player has already placed troops inside the Red Sea, you should use your submarine to destroy their units instead. With Italy being subdued, you have many possibilities ahead of you, and if you do the right things, you can dominate Africa.
Trivia
- Ethiopia has the biggest population gap in the game with a population more than 15 times smaller than real life.
- Ethiopia may be attacked by Egypt in the future due to their Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which threatens to limit water flow to the Nile.
- Although you might not think it, Ethiopia is actually the 12th most populated country in the world and on track to beat Japan.
