Seven years after the rest of the world, Ethiopia entered the third millennium on 12 January 2007. The event was marked with parties, prayers and gestures of political reconciliation. Thousands of joyous Ethiopians packed the main square of Addis Ababa for overnight festivities that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said should mark the vast Horn of Africa nation’s renaissance. In his speech he said that the occasion marked a ‘glorious new page’ in the history of a country that, from the 1980s, became synonymous with conflict and hunger. “A thousand years from now, when Ethiopians gather to welcome the fourth millennium, they shall say the eve of the third millennium was the beginning of the end of the dark ages in Ethiopia,” he said. Celebrations were not confined to the capital; they were simultaneously held in regional capitals throughout Ethiopia.

As home to the 3-million-year-old skeletal remains of ‘Lucy’ skeleton, Ethiopians live in the cradle of humanity, the birthplace of coffee and the only African nation not to be colonized. Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world. It has yielded some of the oldest traces of humanity, making it an important area in the process of human evolution.

Although not colonized during the historic Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was occupied by Mussolini’s Italy in 1935 before the occupiers were defeated in 1941 with help from allies. Having converted during the fourth century AD, Ethiopia is also the second-oldest country to become officially Christian, after Armenia, although it has been secular since 1974.

Historically a mountain empire, Ethiopia has become a crossroads of global international cooperation. She joined the League of Nations in 1923; signed the Declaration by United Nations in 1942; was one of the fifty-one original members of the United Nations; founded the UN headquarters in Africa; and currently hosts the headquarters of the African Union (former OAU) of which it was the principal founder.

Ethiopia’s highly diverse population has grown dramatically in the last few decades, from 33.5 million in 1983 to over 76 million in 2007. Most Ethiopians speak a Semitic or Cushitic language, and since English is taught very early in the academic lives of children, the language is widely spoken. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigray and Somali make up more than three-quarters of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members. Ethiopians and Eritreans, especially those that are Semitic-speaking, collectively refer to themselves as Habesha or Abesha.

 

Year-Long Festivities

The Mission of the National Millennium Secretariat is “To organize an excellent, unique and unforgettable millennium celebration and year long festivities that embraces and involves the entire people of Ethiopia, to foster unity in diversity and create a shared vision for all the people of Ethiopia and to establish a platform to promote national development, good governance, national heritages and image of the country”. The specific mission is to:

• Enhance national understanding by fostering unity in diversity;

• Attract as many people as possible to attend the festivities and the various events;

• Promote the millennium events nationally and internationally;

• Facilitate a technically excellent year-long Millennium Celebration and provide a unique millennium experience for all stakeholders;

• Create a platform for Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to support Health, Education, Environment improvement and Youth/Gender related initiatives;

• Promote entrepreneurship so that opportunities to create jobs;

• Direct the nation in coordinating the celebration by remembering the past, experiencing the present and preparing for the future; and to,

• Promote Ethiopia’s positive image to the world.

The Ethiopian Millennium Festival will run from September 2007 to September 2008 and will showcase several participatory events which are expected to attract thousands of Ethiopians from the diaspora, as well as non-Ethiopian visitors from all over the world.

The Festival under the theme of “On the move to a prosperous Ethiopia by establishing a politically strong and economically dynamic society,” will give everyone in Ethiopia the opportunity to participate in events and projects that will make a lasting difference to society, thus making a difference to all walks of life. Festival events scheduled to take place during 2007/2008 are covered in detail on the Millennium 2000 website: www.ethiopia2000.com/.

Travelogues on Ethiopia (North & South) with photos can be viewed at www.diplomatist.com under the International Travelogues links at the top of the homepage.