Ethiopia

• deforestation;
• overgrazing;
• soil erosion;
• desertification;
• water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban

• 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

0-14 years:

44.8% (male 14,944,168; female 14,871,164)

15-64 years:

52.4% (male 17,474,403; female 17,384,817)

65 years and over:

2.8% (male 840,057; female 1,042,944) (2003 est.)

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.81 male(s)/female

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2003 est.)

noun:

Ethiopian(s)

adjective:

Ethiopian

conventional long form:

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

conventional short form:

Ethiopia

local short form:

Ityop'iya

former:

Abyssinia, Italian East Africa

local long form:

Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik

abbreviation:

FDRE

• 9 ethnically-based states (kililoch, singular - kilil) and 2 self-governing administrations* (astedaderoch, singular - astedader);
• Adis Abeba* (Addis Ababa), Afar, Amara (Amhara), Binshangul Gumuz, Dire Dawa*, Gambela Hizboch (Gambela Peoples), Hareri Hizb (Harari People), Oromiya (Oromia), Sumale (Somali), Tigray, Ye Debub Biheroch Bihereseboch na Hizboch (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples)

chief of state:

President GIRMA Woldegiorgis (since 8 October 2001)

head of government:

Prime Minister MELES Zenawi (since NA August 1995)

cabinet:

• Council of Ministers as provided for in the December 1994 constitution;
• ministers are selected by the prime minister and approved by the House of People's Representatives

elections:

• president elected by the House of People's Representatives for a six-year term;
• election last held 8 October 2001 (next to be held NA October 2007);
• prime minister designated by the party in power following legislative elections

election results:

GIRMA Woldegiorgis elected president; percent of vote by the House of People's Representatives - 100%

• Afar National Democratic Party or ANDP [leader NA];
• Amhara National Democratic Movement or ANDM [ADDISU Legesse];
• Bench Madji People's Democratic Organization or BMPDO [leader NA];
• Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front or BGPDUF [leader NA];
• Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF [MELES Zenawi] (an alliance of ANDM, OPDO, SEPDF, and TPLF);
• Gedeyo People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or GPRDF [leader NA];
• Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement or GNDM [leader NA];
• Kafa Shaka People's Democratic Organization or KSPDO [leader NA];
• Kembata, Alabaa and Tembaro or KAT [leader NA];
• Oromo People's Democratic Organization or OPDO [JUNEDI Sado];
• Sidamo People's Democratic Organization or SPDO [leader NA];
• South Omo People's Democratic Movement or SOPDM [leader NA];
• Tigrayan People's Liberation Front or TPLF [MELES Zenawi];
• Walayta, Gamo, Gofa, Dawro, and Konta People's Democratic Organization or WGGPDO [leader NA];
• dozens of small parties

• Afar Revolutionary Democratic Union Front or ARDUF [leader NA];
• Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy in Ethiopia or CAFPDE [BEYANE Petros];
• Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Coalition or SEPDC [BEYANE Petros]

chief of mission:

Ambassador KASSAHUN Ayele

chancery:

3506 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles

consulate(s):

New York

FAX:

[1] (202) 686-9551

telephone:

[1] (202) 364-1200

chief of mission:

Ambassador Aurelia A. BRAZEAL

embassy:

Entoto Street, Addis Ababa

mailing address:

P. O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa

telephone:

[251] (1) 550666

FAX:

[251] (1) 551328

• 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

lowest 10%:

3%

highest 10%:

33.7% (1995)

general assessment:

open-wire and microwave radio relay system; adequate for government use

domestic:

• open-wire;
• microwave radio relay;
• radio communication in the HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies;
• two domestic satellites provide the national trunk service

international:

• open-wire to Sudan and Djibouti;
• microwave radio relay to Kenya and Djibouti;
• satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Pacific Ocean)

total:

681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)

narrow gauge:

681 km 1.000-m gauge

note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2002)

total:

31,571 km

paved:

3,789 km

unpaved:

27,782 km (2000)

• none;
• Ethiopia is landlocked and was by agreement with Eritrea using the ports of Assab and Massawa;
• since the border dispute with Eritrea flared, Ethiopia has used the port of Djibouti for nearly all of its imports

total:

9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 81,933 GRT/101,287 DWT

ships by type:

cargo 5, container 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 2 (2002 est.)

• Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 independent boundary commission delimitation decision, but demarcation, scheduled to begin in 2003, has been hampered by technical delays and Ethiopian concerns that the decision ignored "human geography" and awarded Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war, to Eritrea, demarcation of the boundary has been postponed indefinately;
• Ethiopia maintains only an administrative line and no international border with the Oromo region of southern Somalia and maintains alliances with local clans in opposition to the Transitional National Government in Mogadishu;
• "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities and trade ties to land-locked Ethiopia;
• efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Sudan have been delayed by civil war there

• transit hub for heroin originating in Southwest and Southeast Asia and destined for Europe and North America as well as cocaine destined for markets in southern Africa;
• cultivates qat (khat) for local use and regional export, principally to Djibouti and Somalia (legal in all three countries);
• the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center