The foreign relations of Ethiopia refers to overall diplomatic relationship of Ethiopia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs oversees foreign relations and diplomatic missions of the country. Ethiopia is one of few early African countries admitted to the League of Nations, becoming a member on 28 September , and was one of the founding members of the United Nations. During the Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia had maintained its full sovereignty over European colonial power and fought the First Italo-Ethiopian War in โ However, the League did not protect in accord with the envisaged "collective security" of the country, resulted Italy's occupation of Ethiopia for 5 years โ Virtually, Ethiopia maintains diplomatic relations to most countries, and is non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Trading commodities includes exports of Egypt; one of the most essential was incense , which was mainly used for religious rituals for embalming corpse. Other were ivory , spices , hides and exotic animals that convey route to coast of Ethiopia, thus Ethiopia has been an integral part of Punt. Some theorists hypothesized Ancient South Arabian people migrated out of Africa to the strait Bab-el-Mandeb when its sea level decreased to current status. When their civilization came to appear from 4th millennium BC, onward Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf , adaptation of Semitic language was from end of Mediterranean , though they used Canaanite alphabet developed from Syria or Palestine during second millennium BC.
Apparently, these languages similarity compared to Hebrew and Phoenician alphabets, even though lacked scholarly consensus. By BC, it was widely spoken such as the Ge'ez language. Writing system through inscription on stone often detailed historical rival kingdoms in the region, most notability the Saba, Qataban, Himyar, Hadhramaut , Ma'in and others.
In , American archeologists collected numerous artifacts and body of inscriptions in the area, belonging to primary sources. The inscription not only detailed about South Arabia, but also the early Ethiopian history associated with Kingdom of Aksum and its rulers. The Kingdom of Aksum has been a great power in classic Africa; once it has been referenced by Persian prophet Mani in the 3rd century and Greco-Roman trading guide Periplus of the Erythraean Sea in first century.
Axum maintained well-defined foreign relations with powerful realms in the era. According to Stuart Munro-Hay witness, the Aksumite had several account of ambassadors that had delegation with neighboring powers. Occasionally, Aksumite contact with foreign powers also attested by archaeological or scarce finds.
