Chronology: Key events in Ethiopia since 1991

Ethiopian voters will cast their ballots on Sunday in the country's parliamentary election, which is the third since Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1991.

The following is a chronology of key events in Ethiopia since 1991.

1991 -- The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front captures the capital Addis Ababa, forcing Mengistu Haile Mariam to flee the country; Eritrea establishes its own provisional government pending a referendum on independence.

1993 -- Eritrea becomes independent following referendum.

1994 -- New constitution divides Ethiopia into nine ethnically- based regional states.

1995 -- Negasso Gidada becomes titular president; Meles Zenawi assumes post of prime minister.

1998 -- Ethiopian-Eritrean border dispute erupts into armed clashes.

1999 -- Ethiopian-Eritrean border clashes turn into a full- scale war.

June 2000 -- Ethiopia and Eritrea sign a ceasefire agreement which provides for a UN observer force to monitor the truce and supervise the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Eritrean territory.

December 2000 -- Ethiopia and Eritrea sign a peace agreement in Algeria, ending two years of conflict. The agreement establishes commissions to delineate the disputed border and provides for the exchange of prisoners and the return of displaced people.

February 24, 2001 -- Ethiopia says it has completed its troop withdrawal from Eritrea in accordance with UN-sponsored agreement.

April 2002 -- Ethiopia, Eritrea accept a new common border, drawn up by an independent commission, though both sides then lay claim to the town of Badme.

April 2003 -- Independent boundary commission rules that the disputed town of Badme lies in Eritrea. Ethiopia says the ruling is unacceptable.

November 2004 -- Ethiopia says it accepts "in principle" a boundary commission's ruling on its border with Eritrea.

2005 April -- The ancient Axum obelisk, looted by Italy in 1937, is returned to Ethiopia from Rome.