• Location: Eastern Africa, west of Somalia
• Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 38 00 E
• Area: total: 1,127,127 sq km
land: 1,119,683 sq km
water: 7,444 sq km
• Land boundaries:
total: 5,328 km
border countries: Djibouti 349 km, Eritrea 912 km, Kenya 861 km, Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 1,606 km
• Climate: tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation
• Terrain: high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
• Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Denakil Depression -125 m
highest point: Ras Dejen 4,620 m
• Natural resources: small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower
• Land use:
arable land: 10.01%
permanent crops: 0.65%
other: 89.34% (2005)
• Irrigated land:
2,900 sq km (2003)
• Natural hazards:
geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts
• Environment - current issues:
deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management
• Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea
• Geography - note:
landlocked - entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; the Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T’ana Hayk (Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia; three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean
• Population: 76,511,887
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS;
this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)
• Birth rate: 37.39 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
• Death rate: 14.67 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
• Ethnic groups:
Oromo 32.1%, Amara 30.1%, Tigraway 6.2%, Somalie 5.9%, Guragie 4.3%, Sidama 3.5%, Welaita 2.4%, other 15.4% (1994 census)
• Religions:
Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census)
• Languages:
Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census)
• Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42.7%
male: 50.3%
female: 35.1% (2003 est.)
• Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands;
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three main colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors
(Source: CIA - The World Factbook – Ethiopia)