Where? Spread across parts of what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia

When? circa 1137 CE – 1975 CE

Stretching from the Middle Ages all the way to the Cold War, the Ethiopian Empire (or Abyssinia, as it was also known) is the longest lasting of the African kingdoms on this list. It survived some of the most tumultuous events in modern-day history. It resisted various enemies attempting to encroach on its territory, from the Ottoman and Italian armies to the Egyptians, and some of its rulers are said to have been descended from King Solomon. During the Scramble for Africa which saw European powers asserting colonial authority across African territories, Ethiopia successfully fought off and defeated Italy in the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The empire’s decline began when they lost the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935 and the monarchy was abolished in 1974 by a military junta.