Introduction to Ethiopia

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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!

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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.

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

17. Additional unique facts about
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the cradle of human kind
Ethiopia 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

18. 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.