Ethiopia

total:

5.56 cu km/yr (6%/0%/94%)

per capita:

72 cu m/yr (2002)

• 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

noun:

Ethiopian(s)

adjective:

Ethiopian

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.75 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

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

vectorborne diseases:

malaria

respiratory disease:

meningococcal meningitis

animal contact disease:

rabies

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis (2009)

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)

chief of state:

President GIRMA Woldegiorgis (since 8 October 2001)

head of government:

Prime Minister MELES Zenawi (since August 1995)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers ministers selected by the prime minister and approved by the House of People's Representatives; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president elected by both chambers of Parliament for a six-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 9 October 2007 (next to be held in October 2013);
• 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 - 79%

• Afar National Democratic Party or ANDP [Mohammed KEDIR];
• Arena Tigray;
• Argoba People's Democratic Organization or APDO;
• Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Party or BGPDP [Mulualem BESSE];
• Coalition for Unity and Democratic Party or CUDP;
• Ethiopian Federal Democratic Forum or FORUM (a UDJ-led 8-party alliance established for the 2010 parliamentary elections);
• Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF;
• Gambella Peoples Unity Democratic Movement or GPUDM [Umod UBONG];
• Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement or GNDM;
• Harari National League or HNL [Murad ABDULHADI];
• Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement or OFDM [BULCHA Demeksa];
• Oromo People's Congress or OPC [IMERERA Gudina];
• Somali Democratic Alliance Forces or SODAF;
• Somali People's Democratic Party or SPDP;
• United Ethiopian Democratic Forces or UEDF [BEYENE Petros];
• Unity for Democracy and Justice or UDJ [Birtukan MEDEKSA, currently imprisoned]

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador GIRMA Birru

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 E. BOOTH

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;
• green represents hope and the fertility of the land, yellow symbolizes justice and harmony, while red stands for sacrifice and heroism in the defense of the land;
• the blue of the disk symbolizes peace and the pentagram represents the unity and equality of the nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia

note: Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three main colors of her flag (adopted ca. 1895) were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the Pan-African colors; the emblem in the center of the current flag was added in 1996

name:

"Whedefit Gesgeshi Woude Henate Ethiopia" (March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia)

lyrics/music:

DEREJE Melaku Mengesha/SOLOMON Lulu

note: adopted 1992

agriculture:

85%

industry:

5%

services:

10% (2009 est.)

lowest 10%:

4.1%

highest 10%:

25.6% (2005)

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

general assessment:

• inadequate telephone system with the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) maintaining a monopoly over telecommunication services;
• open-wire, microwave radio relay;
• radio communication in the HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies;
• 2 domestic satellites provide the national trunk service

domestic:

the number of fixed lines and mobile telephones is increasing from a small base; combined fixed and mobile-cellular teledensity is only about 5 per 100 persons

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) (2009)

• 1 public TV broadcast station broadcasting nationally and 1 public radio broadcaster with stations in each of the 13 administrative districts;
• a few commercial radio stations and roughly a dozen community radio stations (2009)

total:

681 km (Ethiopian segment of the 781 km Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)

country comparison to the world: 102

narrow gauge:

681 km 1.000-m gauge

note: railway is under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia but is largely inoperable (2008)

total:

36,469 km

country comparison to the world: 95

paved:

6,980 km

unpaved:

29,489 km (2007)

• 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
• no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct callups when necessary and compliance is compulsory (2011)

males age 16-49:

19,067,499

females age 16-49:

19,726,816 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

11,868,084

females age 16-49:

12,889,260 (2010 est.)

male:

967,411

female:

981,714 (2010 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;
• 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):

• 66,980 (Sudan);
• 16,576 (Somalia);
• 13,078 (Eritrea)

IDPs:

200,000 (border war with Eritrea from 1998-2000, ethnic clashes in Gambela, and ongoing Ethiopian military counterinsurgency in Somali region; most IDPs are in Tigray and Gambela Provinces) (2007)

• 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