Ethiopia
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Ethiopia
About Ethiopia
Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley.
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and the second-oldest official Christian nation in the world after Armenia. Unique among African countries, Ethiopian maintained its freedom from colonial rule with the exception of a short-lived Italian occupation from 1936-41.
Ethiopia is in the northeast African region known as the Horn of Africa. It is the third-most populous nation in Africa (after Nigeria and Egypt), bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, and Sudan and South Sudan to the west.
Geography
With a total area of 1,104,300 sq km, Ethiopia is slightly five times of UK.The country has a high central plateau, with some mountains reaching more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). The Great Rift Valley splits the plateau diagonally. The western highlands gets summer rainfall; the lowlands and eastern highlands are hot and dry. The climate can be described as tropical monsoon but it varies greatly depending on the topography. Ethiopia'slowest point is at the Denakil Depression, -120 meter below sea level; the highest point is Ras Dejen standing at 4,543 meter .Ethiopia's 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, starts at Lake Tana in northwest Ethiopia. Three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and the castor bean. Volcanic activity in the Great Rift Valley; Erta Ale elev. 613 meter, which has caused frequent lava flows, is the country's most active volcano; Dabbahu became active in 2005, causing evacuations; other historically active volcanoes include Alayta, Dalaffilla, Dallol, Dama Ali, Fentale, Kone, Manda Hararo, and Manda-Inakir.
Climate
The predominant climate type is tropical monsoon, with wide topographic-induced variation. As a highland country, Ethiopia has a climate which is generally considered cooler than other regions at similar proximity to the Equator. Most of the country's major cities are located at elevations of around 2,000 - 2,500 meters (6,600 - 8,200 ft) above sea level, including historic capitals such as Gondar, Axum and Addis Ababa - the highest located capital city in Africa at 2,400 meters altitude (8,000 feet). Ethiopia has three different climate zones according to elevation:
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Kolla (Tropical zone) - is below 1830 meters in elevation and has an average annual temperature of about 27°C with annual rainfall of about 510 millimeters. The Danakil Depression (Danakil Desert) is about 125 meters below sea level and also the hottest region in Ethiopia where the temperature climbs up to 50 degree Celsius.
Woina dega (Subtropical zone) - includes the highland areas of 1830 - 2440 meters in elevation. It has an average annual temperature of about 22°C with annual rainfall between 510 and 1530 millimeters.
Dega (Cool zone) - is above 2440 meters in elevation with an average annual temperature of about 16°C with annual rainfall between 1270 and 1280 millimeters. The average annual temperature in Addis Ababa is 16°C (61°F), with daily maximum temperatures averaging between 20 - 25°C (68 - 77°F) throughout the year, and overnight lows averaging 5 - 10°C (41 - 50°F). A light jacket is recommended for the evenings, though many Ethiopians prefer to dress conservatively and will wear a light jacket even during the day.
Ethiopian Seasons
Kiremt or Meher (summer) - June, July and August are the summer season. Heavy rain falls in these three months.
Tseday (spring) - September, October and November are the spring season sometime known as the harvest season.
Bega (winter) - December, January and February are the dry season with frost in morning especially in January.
Belg (Autumn) - March, April and May are the autumn season with occasional showers. May is the hottest month in Ethiopia.
People and Society
Population: 93,815,992 (July 2012 est.), the third most populous country in Africa.
Religions: Orthodox 43.5%, Muslim 33.9%, Protestant 18.6%, traditional 2.6%, Catholic 0.7%, other 0.7% (2007 Census)
Ethnic groups: Oromo 34.5%, Amara 26.9%, Somalie 6.2%, Tigraway 6.1%, Sidama 4%, Guragie 2.5%, Welaita 2.3%, Hadiya 1.7%, Affar 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, other 11.3% (2007 Census)
Languages: Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia, although English, Italian, French, and Arabic are widely spoken. In areas outside of the larger cities and towns, indigenous languages are likely to be spoken — of which there are eighty-three, with some 200 dialects. The most common of these are Oromo and Tigrinya. Oromigna (official regional) 33.8%, Amarigna (Amharic) (official) 29.3%, Somaligna 6.2%, Tigrigna (official regional) 5.9%, Sidamigna 4%, Wolayitigna 2.2%, Guaragigna 2%, Affarigna 1.7%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, Gamogna 1.5%, other 11.7%, English (official) (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (official) (1994 census).
Time and calendar
Ethiopia uses the Ethiopian calendar, which dates back to the Coptic calendar 25 BC, and never adopted the Julian or Gregorian reforms. One Ethiopian year consists of twelve months, each lasting thirty days, plus a thirteenth month of five or six days. The Ethiopian new year begins on September 11 or 12 during leap year (in the Gregorian calendar), and has accumulated 7-8 years lag behind the Gregorian calendar: thus, for the first eight months of 2017, the year will be 2009 according to the Ethiopian calendar. On 11 September 2017, Ethiopia celebrates New Year's Day (Enkutatesh) for 2010. In Ethiopia, the 12-hour clock cycles do not begin at midnight and noon, but instead are offset six hours. Thus, Ethiopians refer to midnight (or noon) as 6 o'clock. Daylight: Being relatively close to the Equator, there is an almost constant twelve hours of daylight.
Public Holidays
January 07 : Ethiopian Christmas (Gena)
January 19 : Timket (Epiphany)
March 02 : Victory of Adowa
April 10 : Ethiopian Good Friday
April 12 : Ethiopian Easter (Fasika)
May 01 : Labour Day
May 05 : Patriots Victory Day
May 28 : Downfall of the Dergue (Derg Downfall Day)
September 11 : Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash)
September 27 : Finding of the True Cross (Meskel)
Mawlid al-Nabi (Birth of the Prophet) (Changes every year)
Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan) (Changes every year)
Eid-al Adha (Arafat) (Changes every year)