Coastline is very important for a country, a country with a coastline, you can build a port, relying on the port and trade with the rest of the world, a country has a coastline, but also has the confidence to trade with the world, so the world's coastal countries are vigorously building their own ports.
Some countries have long coastlines, such as the United States, Canada and the mainland have tens of thousands of kilometers of coastline, and there are many options. In some countries, the coastline is so short that they have to think of other ways.
For example, the Kingdom of Jordan in the Middle East, initially only 7 kilometers of coastline, which is too short for a country, the construction of a port is not enough, and finally had to use 7,000 square kilometers of land, with Saudi Arabia in exchange for 19 kilometers of coastline, the construction of the port of Aqaba, which is of great significance to the resource-poor Jordan.
This is the only seaport that carries Jordan's communication with the world. Jordan's territory is mostly desert, food and meat need to be imported in large quantities, the port of Aqaba is related to the timely access to food and necessities of life, related to the survival of the people.
Iraq, also a Middle Eastern country, is also hungry for a coastline. Iraq, with an area of nearly 440,000 square kilometers, has only 60 kilometers of coastline squeezed by Iran and Kuwait, and the coast is shoals, and what is even more depressing is that it is blocked by Kuwait's Babiyan Island, and even a port cannot be built. A variety of factors led to Iraq's blatant invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and directly to the Gulf War.
It can be seen that all countries in the world attach great importance to the coastline, although the coastlines of Jordan and Iraq are short, but it is better than nothing, after all, there is no better than nothing. You must know that there are 44 landlocked countries in the world, and there is not a single inch of coastline. Among them, the most populous is Ethiopia, which can be said to be the most "aggrieved" landlocked country.
Ethiopia is a country located in the northeast of Africa, the Great Rift Valley runs through the whole territory, the land area of about 1.1 million square kilometers, the total population of about 112 million, the plateau accounts for 2/3 of the country's area, the average altitude of nearly 3000 meters, known as the "roof of Africa".
In terms of population and land area, Ethiopia is a big country in Africa, but such a large country is a landlocked country, without a little coastline, if not, it is very close to the sea.
On the map, Ethiopia is surrounded by a trilateral group of Somali, Djibouti and Eritrea, leaving no outlet to the sea, only 40 kilometers from the nearest Eritrean port of Assab, and only about 200 kilometers from the Somali coastline.
In fact, in the past, Ethiopia had a coastline, and it was not short.
Ethiopia is an ancient country with a 3,000-year-old civilization. The Semites, who migrated from the southern Arabian Peninsula, were the first inhabitants. In recent centuries, with the change of royal power and resistance to colonialism, it has gradually evolved from a traditional monocultural state to a modern multicultural country.
Ethiopia and Somalia and Djibouti these Arab countries do not have much to do, but with the Red Sea coast of Eritrea "cut and chaos", for thousands of years The two countries are one, during the Second World War, Italian colonists invaded and divided the two places, so that the two sides gradually alienated, laying hidden dangers for the later division of Ethiopia and Eritrea. After World War II, Egypt and Eritrea formed a federal state, and Eritrea exercised self-government.
In 1962, Ethiopian Emperor Selassie forcibly revoked Eritrea's autonomy and became a province, and wanted to establish a dictatorship, which meant that existing privileges were abolished. The Eritreans were enraged by Ethiopia's "perfidy" and began a three-decade-long independence movement. In 1988, when a civil war broke out in Egypt, Eritrea took the opportunity to hold an independence referendum, and 99% of the population supported independence.
On 24 May 1993, Eritrea declared its independence, becoming the 53rd country on the African continent. The Federation's 1,200-kilometer coastline is on the Eritrean side, and Eritrea's independence has taken away all of Ethiopia's coastline and has since become a landlocked country.
At the beginning of Ecuador's independence, relations with Ethiopia were relatively close, but within a few years, the two sides broke off diplomatic relations due to economic disputes and border frictions, and a large-scale war broke out in 1998-2000, resulting in the loss of about 100,000 people on both sides.
Eritrea's independence and Ethiopia's feud was not good for either side. Due to poor relations with Egypt, the economic hinterland and market of 100 million were lost, and before the war, Eritrea's economic growth was often maintained at about 8%, and only 2% remained after the war. With a PER CAPITA GDP of only US$600 in 2020, it is one of the least developed countries in Africa.
In the past, when relations were good, The Egyptian country traded with the world through the Port of Assab on the Eritrean side, and after the two countries made a pact, the Eritrean side refused ethiopia to use the port of Assab, which could only go to sea through the ports of neighboring Djibouti and Somalia. Because Ethiopia has no coastline and Eritrea's access to the sea is not used, it has to turn to the port of Djibouti, which accounts for 85% of Ethiopia's import and export freight.
In recent years, Ethiopia has actively learned from the mainland's development model, from the construction of infrastructure, investment attraction to the construction of economic development zones and industrial parks and other measures, Ethiopia has been closely following china's pace, which allows Ethiopia to catch the "train" of China's high-speed economy.
With the help of the mainland, Ethiopia has figured out its own economic development shortcuts and developed a path suitable for its own development. In the process of attracting foreign investment, active cooperation with the mainland, The figure of Chinese enterprises can also be seen everywhere, ethiopian railways, light railways, hospitals, roads and buildings, almost all of which were built with Chinese assistance.
On January 1, 2018, the China-aided Yaji Railway was opened for operation, which is the first electrified railway in Africa, all built using Chinese standards and Chinese equipment, and the 752.7-kilometer Yaji Railway connects addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and Djibouti, with a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour, a total of 45 stations, and a total investment of about 4 billion US dollars. It is gradually becoming the "economic artery" of Ethiopia.
In recent years, Ethiopia's situation is stable, the country's various undertakings are booming, the economy is advancing by leaps and bounds, maintaining rapid growth every year, after just 20 years, Ethiopia's economy has directly doubled by nearly 10 times, achieving Chinese-style economic prosperity, becoming one of the top countries in Africa at present, the GDP in the first two years has surpassed Kenya, and it has been promoted to the largest economy in East Africa.
Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that has not been colonized, the people have a strong sense of national pride, the rapid development of the country's appearance makes the people full of self-confidence, people have great hopes for the future of the country, although it is still one of the least developed countries in the world, but the future is expected, is gradually becoming a rising economic star in Africa.