Christianity in Ethiopia is the largest religion in the country and dates back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, when the King Ezana first adopted the faith. This makes Ethiopia one of the first regions in the world to officially adopt Christianity. Various Christian denominations are now followed in the country. Of these, the largest and oldest is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስትያን Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) an Oriental Orthodox church centered in Ethiopia. The Orthodox Tewahedo Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa Cyril VI. Ethiopia was the only region of Africa to survive the expansion of Islam as a Chris