Besides being two of the oldest countries in Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt are also considered rivals in many aspects, and have been in many wars with each other in their history. This is mostly, if not only, due to the conflict of interest they have over the Abay River, a river that flows through 9 other African countries. Because of this river the two countries have been engaged in political conflict that was highly anticipated to erupt into an all-out war any time for decades. So, let’s compare these two rival countries in different categories with the information we have at hand and see who would end up on top:
With an area of about 1.112 million km2, Ethiopia is the wider of the two countries by a difference of 110,000km2, an area almost as big as Eritrea, Guatemala or Bulgaria. Egypt’s area of 1.002 million km2 puts the country 12th in Africa, While Ethiopia is 10th. Ethiopia is the largest landlocked country in Africa and the world. Egypt’s Geographical advantage is observed when looking at its surrounding. The country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The Suez Canal located in Egypt, which serves the purpose of connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, thereby facilitating trade between Asia and Europe is a source of massive income to Egypt ($7 billion USD yearly, $15 million USD daily). Although that is the case, most of Egypt’s land is desert, unlike Ethiopia, which is rainy and sunny for most of the year. This gives Ethiopia the upper hand as it makes almost the whole country suitable for any type of agriculture. This year, Ethiopia is the largest wheat producer country in Sub-Saharan Africa and has successfully managed to become the first African country to stop foreign aid of the crop. Ethiopia is also superior to Egypt in its abundance of fresh water.
Considering the well-known fact that Ethiopia is the second most populous African country following Nigeria, it should be quite obvious that Egypt has smaller population than Ethiopia. But, instead of looking at their population in the general sense, let’s try to go a little deeper and look at their population growth rate, population density, Gross domestic product per capita, and population diversity:
Information obtained at datacommons.org shows the 2020’s annual population growth rate to be 1.9% and 2.5% for Egypt and Ethiopia, respectively. This indicates that Ethiopia’s population is growing at faster rate than Egypt’s. So it’s logical to assume that Ethiopia’s population will stay higher than Egypt’s.
Population density shows how many people can be found in a given unit area of land if the population was distributed equally. It helps to control human impact on the environment and decide on infrastructure allocation. Egypt’s population density is calculated to be 103, while Ethiopia’s is 115 people per 1 kilometer square.
There are many different ethnic groups in Ethiopia, but the Oromo and Amhara make up the majority with 34.4% and 27% of the population, respectively. The Somali (6.2%), Tigray (6.1%), Sidama (4%), Gurage (2.5%), Wolayta (2.3%), Afar (1.7%), Hadiya (1.7%), and Gamo (1.5%) are some of the other significant ethnic groups. In Egypt, 91% of the overall population is ethnically Egyptian. The main ethnic minorities include the Siwis in the Siwa Oasis and the Nubian people along the Nile, as well as the Turks, Greeks, Abazas, and Bedouin Arab tribes in the Sinai Peninsula and the deserts to the east. From these, it can be agreed that Ethiopia is culturally and ethnically more diverse than Egypt with relatively proportional distribution of the population among major ethnic groups. In Egypt, 16 different languages are spoken. These include the Bedawi language (predominantly spoken by Bedouin people), Mattokki, Siwi, and the Nobiin language of the Nubian people. Ethiopians speak between more than 80 different languages. There are 5 official languages used by the government: Amharic, Oromo, Tigrigna, Afar and Somali. Amharic is a widely spoken common tongue among many ethnicities. Both Egypt and Ethiopia have their own Sign languages.
GDP per capita is the result of dividing a country’s total net earnings (GDP-Gross Domestic Product) by the total population size. It is an indication of how productive a country’s citizens are in terms of earning material or monetary income and is a strong hint of poverty reduction. In 2020, Ethiopia scored a GDP per capita of $936.34, which is 4 times lower than Egypt’s, which was $3,547.87. So, Egypt has the upper hand in this regard.
Believed to be found in the 10th century BC by Menelik I, Ethiopia, formerly called Abyssinia, originally rose to prominence in contemporary world events in 1896 after defeating colonial Italy in the Battle of Adwa, and then again in 1935–1936 after fascist Italy invaded and annexed the country. Ethiopia was never colonized and celebrates Adwa battle victory day and Patriots Victory day when Egypt and other African countries celebrate Independence Day. Egypt was colonized by The French from 1798 to1801 and by The British from 1882 to 1956. Egypt is the oldest country in Africa and has contributed a lot to the modern world, including Agricultural and Irrigation systems, as well as Science and Mathematics. Although both countries have contributed significantly to Architecture, Egypt’s contribution is significantly bigger than that of Ethiopia’s. Egypt is also said to have invented Writing.
Although in different specialties, both Ethiopia and Egypt have built a massive reputation for themselves in the sports world. Ethiopia is well known and celebrated in the middle and long distance running events while Egypt’s dominance is highly observed in the football world. Egypt has won the African Cup of Nations a record seven times, while Ethiopia only did it once. Egypt and Ethiopia met 18 times, the Pharaohs won 13 times, while two matches ended in a draw, and Ethiopia won three times. Egypt scored 56 goals, and Ethiopia scored 16 goals. The last time Egypt and Ethiopia faced each other in a soccer match was for 2023 AFCON qualification, in which Ethiopia won 2:0. When it comes to the Olympic events, including the 2021 event, Egypt has won only 38 medals and only 8 of them are gold. Yet Ethiopia has won 58 medals, 23 of which are gold.
The 2022 annual GFP (Global Fire Power) review ranked Ethiopia 65th and Egypt 12th out of 142 countries. This shows Egypt dominates Ethiopia in terms of firepower. Ethiopia has participated in a number of African Union and United Nations peacekeeping missions. These have taken place in Rwanda, the border region with Burundi, and Ivory Coast. Prior to this, Ethiopia had two significant missions in Liberia and Darfur. In this regard, Ethiopia is the fifth top contributor of peacekeepers in the world by sending 4856 peacekeepers abroad, while Egypt comes seventh by contributing 2818.
The two countries are known for their incredible tangible and intangible heritages. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO, has registered seven heritage sites from Egypt, and 12 heritage sites from Ethiopia. All of the seven sites registered from Egypt are cultural heritage sites, while Ethiopia’s are a mix of intangible cultural heritage, natural heritage, and cultural heritage. So it’s safe to say Ethiopia has the upper hand in this one. You can read the details on the Ethiopian heritage in my other article titled 8 interesting facts about Ethiopia.
Just before the wake of the scramble for Africa, Egypt was actively trying to build an empire that extended to modern day Chad, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and Uganda, including all the countries along the Abay/Nile River, which includes Ethiopia, the source of the river. Following the annexation of Darfur in 1875, Egypt's focus shifted to Ethiopia. The Egyptian rulers were gaining so much land so quickly that they were confident that war with Ethiopia would result in a certain Egyptian victory. Many European and American officers served in Egypt's army, whose education and expertise increased the rulers' confidence. This led to the first recorded war between the two old civilizations, and the battle is known as The Battle of Gundet.
From Massawa, in what is now Eritrea, the Egyptians launched their invasion. The two forces finally came up at Gundet early on November 16, 1875, after a few fights. In addition to being greatly outnumbered, the Egyptians were entirely caught off guard as they marched through a constrained mountain route. The mass of Ethiopian soldiers emerged from their hiding spots and quickly descended upon the stunned Egyptian columns, negating the latter’s superiority in firepower and sending many of the subdued fellahin soldiers into panic. This battle resulted in the total destruction of the Egyptian expeditionary force under the command of Colonel Arrendrup.
Following the invasion's failure, the Egyptians attempted to conquer Ethiopia once more, this time with an army of roughly 13,000 soldiers. On December 14th, 1875, Egyptian soldiers arrived in Massawa. By March, they had arrived at the plain of Gura and had built two forts—one there and the other a short distance away near the Khaya Khor mountain pass. On March 7, 1875, the Ethiopians attacked them with a force of roughly 50,000 men (of whom only 15,000 could fight at once due to the nature of the battlefield), and Ratib, who was leading the Egyptian soldiers, gave orders for little over 5,000 of the 7,700 soldiers stationed at Fort Gura to leave the fort and combat the Ethiopians. This force was immediately surrounded by the Ethiopian advance guard, which was believed to have been led by Ras Alula and it dispersed. The Ethiopians retreated after that, and launched a second unsuccessful attack on Fort Gura on March 10. The following day, the Ethiopian force disbanded, and the defeated Egyptians quickly departed. So, Ethiopia has defeated Egypt twice in wars that were understandably fought to defend its independence.
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