Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a country located in the Horn of Africa bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south

Land

Ethiopia is the tenth largest by area in Africa, occupying 1,122,000  km2

Population

Ethiopia is the second-most populous nation on the African continent, with over 84,320,000 inhabitants.

Topography

Ethiopia is a land of wonder and enchantment, a land of contrasts and surprises, of remote and wild places. There are 25 mountains whose picks rise over 4000 metres and the hottest place in the world Dalol is found in Ethiopia with an average temperature of 34.6c.

Climate

Ethiopia is in the tropical zone lying between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. It has three different climate zones according to elevation: Tropical zone below 1830 meters, Subtropical zone 1830 - 2440 meters and Cool zone above 2440 meters.There are four seasons: Summer June- August with heavy rain falls. Spring September- November is the harvest season. Winter December- February with frost in morning. Autumn March- May with occasional showers. May is the hottest month in Ethiopia.

Language

Ethiopia is a multi ethnic state with a great variety of languages spoken in the country. There are as many as 84 languages with 200 dialects. The main ones are Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigriny. Ethiopia has its own Alphabet and Numeric

Calendar & Time

Ethiopia, following the Julian calendar consisting of 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 or 6 days, making Ethiopia 7 and half years behind the Gregorian Calendar.

Ethiopians celebrate the New Year on the 11th of September

Ethiopia is in the GMT +3 hours time zone. The sun dictates the Ethiopian time, when you get up early in the morning you start by counting one and you end up at twelve when the day ends, and start counting again from one when the night begins and end at twelve o’clock just before the sun rises in the morning. The Ethiopian midday and midnight is six o’clock.

Economy & Currency

The local currency is the Ethiopian birr (ETB), made up of 100 cents. Birr notes are available in dominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100.

Recently, Ethiopia has had a fast-growing annual GDP and it was the fastest-growing non-oil-dependent African nation.

Agriculture accounts for almost 41% of the (GDP), 80% of exports, and 80% of the labor force. Products Ethiopia exports to the world market include coffee, pulses, oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, cut flowers and vegetables chat, gold, leather products, and oilseeds

Economy continued…

Ethiopia is Africa’s: largest coffee producer and

exporter largest livestock producer and

exporter largest chickpeas producer largest leather producer largest honey producer largest in horse population second biggest maize producer second largest cut flowers

producer

Ethiopia is World’s: sixth biggest coffee producer tenth largest livestock

producer. third largest nut producer sixth biggest timber producer third largest beehives and ninth

honey producer nine largest in horse population second largest in donkey

population the fourth largest

biodiversity zone

Capital

Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa named as among the top 10 cities to visit in 2013. Addis Ababa is the location of several global organisations which includes African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce, UNECA and the African Standby Force.

Ethiopian food

Ethiopian food is diverse, different and exotic . The food is not found anywhere else, it is truly unique. There is a rainbow of different foods ; meat, vegetables, pulses

Injera - the Ethiopian staple food

Injera is served with almost every meal. This looks like a big pancake and made from a cereal grain known as Tef that is unique to Ethiopia. Ethiopians don't use knives and forks.

This is how it is done: Put some injera on your plate, covering the plate. Then add some of the sauce. Take a piece of injera in your hand and scoop it all up!

Ethiopian Coffee- more than a drink

If an Ethiopian asks you "Would you like a cup of coffee?", it is very important to consider how long you can stay, if you are in a hurry or not. It is not just to boil water and make a cup of coffee, it is a whole ceremony.

Ethiopian music and dancing

The music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse. It uses a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes. Even if you can't understand the words, Ethiopian music is so expressive and soulful that you will enjoy it anyway!

Traditional Ethiopian dance is unique. Mainly comprised of fast, rhythmic upper body movements, the dancing is not only beautiful, but tells a story of life, culture, and tradition in Ethiopia.

Water resource

Ethiopia is often referred to as the "water tower" of Eastern Africa because of the many (14 major) rivers that pour off the high tableland. It also has the greatest water reserves in Africa.

Ethiopia is the source of the great blue Nile river which runs a distance of 1450 kilometers and contribute 85% of the Nile river

Tourism

Ethiopia has earned the distinction of having the most UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world – ten in total.  Many of these destinations are home to mosques, ancient ruins, and jaw dropping landscapes.

Long distance running

Ethiopia is the land of the great long distance runners, believed to be the result of high altitude of the country

Additional unique facts about EthiopiaEthiopia is the cradle of human kindEthiopia has never colonized Ethiopia and Ethiopians are mentioned many times both in the holy Bible and holy Qur’an The very first and oldest illustrated book on Christianity is found in Ethiopia. This is in the form of a gospel that was written in 494 AD,Ethiopians are the pioneers to use a tool before 2.8 million years ago

unique facts continued…

Where the original Ark of the Covenant is found More than 70% of Africa’s maintains found in Ethiopia Preserves the piece of true cross on which Jesus Christ is believed to have

been crucified The Great Rift Valley which is the only geographical feature of planet earth

visible from the moon, cuts Ethiopia in to two crossing the country from top to bottom

The single tallest monument ever erected by humanity in the BC is found (Axum)

Ert’ale is one of the few places on planet earth where one can see active, live, continued and dramatic volcanic eruption  

Has more unique species of flora than any other country in Africa Ethiopia is the only African country with its own spoken and written language Ethiopia is believed to be home of Moss’s Arc of the Covenant and the piece

of the True Cross on which Jesus Christ is believed to have been crucified.