ABYSSINIA (officially Ethiopia), an ancient kingdom of East Africa, now under a monarch who claims the title of empress. Pop. some 8,000,000. Abyssinia may be said to ex tend between lat. 5° and 15° N., and long. and 43° E. It is bounded on the north by the Italian colony Eritrea, on the west by the Anglo Egyptian Sudan, on the south by British East Africa and on the southeast and east by British, French and Italian Somaliland and Red Sea colonies. Its frontiers have been frequently changed, but in 1906 England, France and Italy agreed to preserve so far as possible the in tegrity of Abyssinia as it then existed. The country is divided into nine provinces which comprise the kingdoms of Shoa in the south (including Efat?, the strongest and best organized state in Abyssinia,— capital, Addis Abeba, former capital Ankobar with some 2,000 inhabitants, 8,000 feet above sea-level, with a salubrious climate; Amhara in the centre (including Gojam), capital, Gondar, situated on the Gondar plateau, 7,500 feet above the sea; and Tigre in the north, chief places, Antalo, Adua or Adowa and Axum, ancient capital of Ethiopia, the two latter with about 5,000 inhabitants. There are besides territories and dependencies extending to Kaffa and Harrar in the south and southeast, including large portions of Galla and Somali Lands. Addis Abeba, capital of Shoa, was founded in 1892 by King Menelik as the capital of Abys sinia. It consists of villages and suburbs scattered round the palace over an area of three square miles, and has between 50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants.
Topography.— The more marked physical features of the country may be described gen erally as consisting of a vast series of table lands of various and often of great elevations, and of numerous ranges of high and rugged mountains, some of them of very singular forms, dispersed over the surface in apparently the wildest confusion. From these mountains flow inexhaustible supplies of water, which, pouring down by the deep and tremendous ravines that everywhere intersect them, impart an extraordinary fertility to the plains and valleys below.
The loftiest and most remarkable mountain summits occur in the Simen range in the centre of the northern part of the kingdom, immedi ately west of the Tacazze River. Among the highest of these (so far as known) is Ras Dashan, calculated at 15,160 feet and capped with perpetual snow. Abba Yared and Bivat are slightly lower. Along the eastern side of the country extends a mountain range or es carpment forming a natural rampart, with a mean elevation of 7,000 or 8,000 feet for some 600 miles. No volcanoes are known to exist at present, but almost everywhere are numerous evidences of past volcanic action. Perhaps the
principal river of Abyssinia is the Tacazze, rising in the mountains of Lasta, about lat. 12° N.; long. 39° 20' E. It runs north and then west, and after leaving the bounds of Abyssinia takes the name of Atbara, and finally loins the Nile. The chief of the other rivers — if not indeed the chief of all — is the Abay or Abai in the centre which, after flowing through Lake Dembea, or Tsana, the largest lake in Abyssinia, runs south and then northwest, and later becomes the Bahr-el-Azrek or Blue Nile, of which it is in fact the upper portion. The Hawash is the principal river flowing east.
The domestic animals consist of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, mules and asses. Mules, camels and asses are the usual beasts of burden, the horses being generally reserved for war and the chase. Vast herds of oxen are met with throughout the country. The wild animals are the lion (rare), elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, crocodile, buffalo, hyena, leopard, boar, antelope, zebra, quagga, giraffe, gazelle and civet. The hippopotamus abounds in Lake Tsana, and great numbers are killed annually for their flesh and hides. The rhinoceros, like the elephant, inhabits the low, moist grounds, and is numerous in certain dis tricts. Crocodiles are found in various rivers, but the largest and most dreaded are those that inhabit the Tacazze. The buffalo, a compara tively harmless animal in other countries, is here extremely ferocious. Serpents are not numerous but several poisonous species are to be found as well as the boa, which often attains a length of 20 feet. There are many birds of beautiful plumage; bees are numerous, honey being a general article of food; locusts often lay the land waste, and the tsetse fly is destruc tive to cattle during the rainy season. The flora is very varied and in the low lands and valleys extremely luxuriant. Cotton, sugar cane, date palm, coffee, vine, bananas and other fruits would flourish, but are not extensively cultivated. A wild coffee plant runs riot in southern and western Abyssinia, and there are many valuable timber and rubber trees in the forests. Agriculture is the chief industry but is still in a primitive state, the soil belonging theoretically to the imperial government and the idea of landed property being little under stood by the natives. Manufacturing industries are very backward, but cattle, sheep, goats, small hardy horses, donkeys and mules are ex tensively raised. The chief native products are hides, skins, millet, wheat, barley; tobacco and an excellent Mocha coffee known as Hariri coffee.