ETHIOPIA

. Located in northeastern Africa, in an area known as the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is one of the largest and most populous countries in Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti and the former Ethiopian autonomous region of Eritrea on the north, Somalia on the east, Kenya on the south, and Sudan on the west. Ethiopia's landscape varies from lowlands to high plateaus and its climate from very dry to seasonally very wet. The Ethiopian population is also very mixed, with broad differences in cultural background and traits, methods of gaining a livelihood, languages, and religions. While influenced and even occasionally occupied by other nations, Ethiopia is one of the few countries in Africa or Asia never truly colonized. Since World War II Ethiopia has often been economically, politically, or militarily dependent on the major world powers. Its substantial balance-of-trade deficit has been attributed to internal disorder.