The **Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia** is an
[authoritarian](authoritarianism "wikilink") and
[capitalist](Capitalism "wikilink") [state](List_of_States "wikilink")
bordering [Kenya](Kenya "wikilink"), [Somalia](Somalia "wikilink"),
[Somaliland](Somaliland "wikilink"), [Djibouti](Djibouti "wikilink"),
[Eritrea](Eritrea "wikilink"), [Sudan](Sudan "wikilink") and [South
Sudan](South_Sudan "wikilink").

## History

### Socialist State (1974 - 1991)

*Main Article: [Socialist Ethiopia](Socialist_Ethiopia "wikilink")*

After a [USSR](USSR "wikilink")-backed military coup led to the deposing
of the monarchy and creation of a
[Marxist-Leninist](Marxist-Leninism "wikilink") state, Ethiopia became
an authoritarian socialist state for 17 years. Although it established a
very successful educational system and gender equality, the government
was largely dependent on aid from the USSR, [East
Germany](East_Germany "wikilink") and [Cuba](Cuba "wikilink") and faced
several major droughts, famines and insurrections the led to an unstable
regime that eventually collapsed.