Ethiopia used to have a Red Sea frontage until 1993. Which new country made Ethiopia landlocked?
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Eritrea
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Ecuador
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Egypt
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Eswatini
The correct answer is "Eritrea". In 1952, Eritrea (a former Italian colony) and Ethiopia became a federation, as sanctioned by the United Nations. However, in 1962 this federation - which gave landlocked Ethiopia access to the Red Sea - was dissolved by Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian emperor, who quickly annexed Eritrea against the wishes of its population. This resulted in a bloody armed struggle that lasted until 1991. In 1993, Eritrea became officially independent, taking away Ethiopia's coastline. The Ethiopian Navy, which had been headquartered in Massawa, a port city in northern Eritrea, had to be dismantled.
Even after losing part of its territory, Ethiopia is still a very large country - the world's 26th-largest, and the sixth-largest landlocked country, with an area of 1,104,300 km² (426,400 sq mi).
