[2] Those who acquire nationality at birth include: Naturalization can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand one of the languages used in Ethiopia, and the customs and traditions of the society.

[10] General provisions are that applicants have good character and conduct; have no criminal convictions; and can legally and economically be self-sufficient.

[14] The state does not allow persons who have not completed their military service or time for criminal prosecution to renounce their nationality.

[23] Subjects, in exchange for paying taxes, received the protection of the emperor and his administrators, as well as socio-economic mobility in the hierarchical structure of the society.

[24] In 1517, the Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt and began an assault taking most of the Ethiopian territory along the Red Sea.

[25] Three years later at the request of the regent, Eleni of Ethiopia, a Portuguese mission arrived to establish an alliance and neutralize the Muslim expansion.

[31] Regional rivalries and internal conflicts were characteristics of the period, but no serious attempts were made by the rivals to separate from the empire.

[35] Conflicts with Egypt and attempts at Muslim expansion into Ethiopian territory continued into the twentieth century.

[40][41] Menelik II continued southern expansion of the empire and embarked upon a campaign of modernizing the administrative institutions of Ethiopia.

[42] He established a ministerial system of governance, but it would be up to his successor Haile Selassie to promulgate the first constitution of Ethiopia.

[46] Naturalization could be obtained by legal adults after a five-year residency by persons who were self-supporting, were fluent in Amharic, and had no criminal record.

Those children born outside of marriage, who were legitimated, or legally recognized and registered in official colonial birth records, were also automatically granted Italian nationality with full citizenship.

[56] In 1933, an Italian statute formalized the practice of allowing illegitimate mixed-race children to choose metropolitan status upon reaching their majority.

The new statute retained the provision that a colonial subject was one not descended of a metropolitan Italian or national of any other state.

Further, anti-miscegenation legislation passed in 1937 prohibited concubinage and another promulgated the following year banned formal marriages between metropolitan and native subjects.

[69] In December 1944, the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement restored Ethiopia's independence, but left the matter of Eritrea unsettled.

[70] Under terms of the Hague Convention, Britain was to administer Eritrea in a manner to maintain its economic and social stability.

[72] The policies they did implement were with the thought of partitioning Eritrea after the war to expand British interests and resulted in political unrest and economic instability.

[74] Eduardo Anze Matienzo of Bolivia was selected to serve as the UN commissioner in Eritrea, implement the act to federate the nation with Ethiopia and draft a constitution after consultation with the populace.

[75] He began his consultation in May 1951,[76] and completed the project giving Eritrea internal autonomy but subject to federal Ethiopian authority.

The Order also provided that persons born in Eritrea to one parent or grandparent who was Eritrean automatically became Ethiopian subjects, unless they stated a desire to retain a foreign nationality within six months of the date of the decree.

[83] The Dergue regime, a military junta which governed Ethiopia between 1974 and 1987, was oppressive and repressive, leading to large numbers of Ethiopians fleeing the country and living abroad as exiles.

[83] That same year, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front achieved de facto (unofficial) independence and expelled Ethiopians from its territory.

[86] In 1995, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia promulgated a constitution with a provision that granted nationality from birth to children of Ethiopian parents.

It added for the first time clear provisions for children adopted as minors by Ethiopian parents to acquire nationality.

[6] Naturalization could be attained after a four-year residency period by those who met qualifications, or by persons who had performed exceptional service to the nation.