Ethiopia

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

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

• 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

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.006 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.996 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.829 male(s)/female

total population:

0.995 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and cutaneous leishmaniasis are high risks in some locations

respiratory disease:

meningococcal meningitis

animal contact disease:

rabies

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis (2007)

noun:

Ethiopian(s)

adjective:

Ethiopian

conventional long form:

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

conventional short form:

Ethiopia

local long form:

Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik

local short form:

Ityop'iya

former:

Abyssinia, Italian East Africa

abbreviation:

FDRE

name:

Addis Ababa

geographic coordinates:

9 02 N, 38 42 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 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)

• based on civil law;
• currently transitional mix of national and regional courts;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

chief of state:

President GIRMA Woldegiorgis (since 8 October 2001)

head of government:

Prime Minister MELES Zenawi (since 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 (eligible for a second term);
• election last held 15 May 2005 (next to be held in October 2010);
• 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;
• Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front or BGPDUF [Mulualem BESSE];
• Coalition for Unity and Democratic Party or CUDP [TEMESGEN Zewdie] (contains elements of the former CUD);
• Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF [MELES Zenawi] (an alliance of Amhara National Democratic Movement or ANDM, Oromo People's Democratic Organization or OPDO, the South Ethiopian People's Democratic Front or SEPDF, and Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front or TPLF);
• Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement or GNDM;
• Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement or OFDM [BULCHA Demeksa];
• Somali People's Democratic Party or SPDP;
• United Ethiopian Democratic Forces or UEDF [BEYENE Petros];
• dozens of small parties

• Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front or EPPF;
• Ogaden National Liberation Front or ONLF;
• Oromo Liberation Front or OLF [DAOUD Ibsa]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Samuel ASSEFA

chancery:

3506 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 364-1200

FAX:

[1] (202) 587-0195

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles

consulate(s):

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Donald Y. YAMAMOTO

embassy:

Entoto Street, Addis Ababa

mailing address:

P. O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa

telephone:

[251] 11-517-40-00

FAX:

[251] 11-517-40-01

• 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

agriculture:

80%

industry:

8%

services:

12% (1985)

lowest 10%:

3.9%

highest 10%:

25.5% (2000)

• cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers;
• hides, cattle, sheep, goats;
• fish

general assessment:

• inadequate telephone system;
• the number of fixed lines and mobile telephones is increasing from a very small base;
• combined fixed and mobile-cellular teledensity is only about 2 per 100 persons

domestic:

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

international:

• country code - 251;
• 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:

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

narrow gauge:

699 km 1.000-m gauge

note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2006)

total:

36,469 km

paved:

6,980 km

unpaved:

29,489 km (2004)

total:

10 ships (1000 GRT or over) 120,383 GRT/152,418 DWT

by type:

cargo 8, roll on/roll off 2 (2007)

males age 18-49:

14,568,277

females age 18-49:

14,482,885 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

8,072,755

females age 18-49:

7,902,660 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

803,777

females age 18-49:

801,789 (2005 est.)

• Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement;
• UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six months in 2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and reduced force of 17,000;
• the undemarcated former British administrative line has little meaning as a political separation to rival clans within Ethiopia's Ogaden and southern Somalia's Oromo region;
• Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007;
• "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia;
• civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia

refugees (country of origin):

73,927 (Sudan), 15,901 (Somalia), 10,700 (Eritrea)

IDPs:

100,000-280,000 (border war with Eritrea from 1998-2000 and ethnic clashes in Gambela; most IDPs are in Tigray and Gambela Provinces) (2006)

• transit hub for heroin originating in Southwest and Southeast Asia and destined for Europe, 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