At Origin: Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Situated between Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Eritrea, the African nation boast a diverse and interesting history. Not least the discovery of the native plant, coffee Arabica, which grew wild in the forests of the Kaffa region

Within Ethiopia's borders, archaeologists have also found remnants of the oldest identified human ancestors, dating back 3 million years ago. Ancient Ethiopia reached its ultimate reign in the 5th century during the ruling of the Solomonic dynasty. However, the country was ultimately isolated by the rise of Islam and deteriorated by primitive wars

In 1896, modern Ethiopia come to fruition under the reign of Emperor Menelik II, who established the country's independence by stopping an Italian invasion. In 1931 Emperor Haile Selassie outlawed slavery, an immense problem in the country at the time. He was overthrown in 1974 and Ethiopia was declared socialist under a military dictatorship called the PMAC or Derg

For the next three years, national forces would fight against Somali rebels, as well as their own citizens, in a movement called the "Red Terror". Between 1998 and 2000, they we also engaged in battle with Eritrea, losing 80,000 lives along the way

Today, Ethiopia is the world's seventh largest producer of coffee and the third largest producer in Africa, growing approximately 200,000 tones of clean coffee a year. Popular regions include Harar, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Limu

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