World Facts

conventional long form: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Capital: Addis Ababa
Type of Government: federal republic-
Administrative Divisions: 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)
Age Structure: 0-14 years: 43.9% (male 16,082,504/female 15,999,602)
Agriculture: cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, sugarcane, potatoes, qat; hides, cattle, sheep, goats
Airports: 83 (2004 est.)
With Paved Runways: total: 14
With Unpaved Runways:
Area: total: 1,127,127 sq km. slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Background: Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, with the exception of the 1936-41 Italian occupation during World War II. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender sensitive territory.
Birth rate: 38.61 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget: revenues: $2.338 billion
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)-
Climate: tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation
Communications:
Constitution: ratified December 1994, effective 22 August 1995
Currency: birr (ETB)
Current account balance: $-1.023 billion (2005 est.)
Death rate: 15.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external: $2.9 billion (2001 est.)-
Dependency status: -
Dependent areas:
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Aurelia A. BRAZEAL
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador KASSAHUN Ayele
Disputes - international: Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations and armed posturing prevail, preventing demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to withdraw to the delimited boundary until technical errors made by the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications; Ethiopia has only an administrative line and no international border with the Oromo region of southern Somalia where it maintains alliances with local clans in opposition to the unrecognized Somali Interim Government in Mogadishu; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; the UNHCR expects most of the remaining 23,000 Somali refugees in Ethiopia to be repatriated in 2005; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Sudan have been delayed by civil war-
Distribution of family income: -
Economic aid - donor:
Economic aid - recipient: $308 million (FY00/01)
Economy - overview: Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $156 million in 2002, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 2% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather patterns late in 2003 helped agricultural and GDP growth recover in 2004-05.
Electricity - consumption:
Electricity - exports:
Electricity - imports:
Electricity - production:
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Denakil Depression -125 m
Environment - current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management
Environment - International Agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
Ethnic groups: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%
Exchange rates: birr per US dollar - 8.72 (2005), 8.68 (2004), 8.5997 (2003), 8.5678 (2002), 8.4575 (2001)
Executive branch: chief of state: President GIRMA Woldegiorgis (since 8 October 2001)
Exports: $612 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - partners: Djibouti 13.3%, Germany 10%, Japan 8.4%, Saudi Arabia 5.6%, US 5.2%, UAE 5%, Italy 4.6% (2004)
Fiscal year: 8 July - 7 July
Flag description: 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
GDP (official exchange rate): $9.034 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $59.93 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 40.1%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6.5% (2005 est.)
Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 38 00 E
Geography - note: 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-
Government - note:
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 4.4% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 120,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.5 million (2003 est.)-
Heliports:
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3%-
Illicit drugs:
Imports: $2.722 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - partners: Saudi Arabia 25.3%, US 15.8%, China 6.6% (2004)
Independence: oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years
Industrial production growth rate: 6.7% (2001 est.)
Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement
Infant mortality rate: total: 95.32 deaths/1,000 live births
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (2005 est.)
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)
Internet country code: .et
Internet hosts: 9 (2003)
Internet users: 75,000 (2003)
Investment (gross fixed): 20.8% of GDP (2005 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,900 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch: Federal Supreme Court (the president and vice president of the Federal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits to the House of People's Representatives for appointment candidates selected by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council)
Labor force: NA (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
Land boundaries: total: 5,328 km
Land use: arable land: 10.71%
Languages: Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools)
Legal system: currently transitional mix of national and regional courts
Legislative branch:
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 48.83 years
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Location: Eastern Africa, west of Somalia-
Major infectious diseases: -
Manpower available for military service:
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 8,072,755 (2005 est.)-
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
Map references: Africa
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Median age: total: 17.75 years
Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 81,933 GRT/101,287 DWT-
Military - note:
Military branches: Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF): Ground Forces, Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $337.1 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.6% (2004)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service (2001)
National holiday: National Day (defeat of MENGISTU regime), 28 May (1991)
Nationality: noun: Ethiopian(s)-
Natural gas - consumption: -
Natural gas - exports: -
Natural gas - imports:
Natural gas - production:
Natural gas - proved reserves: 12.46 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Natural hazards: geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts
Natural resources: small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Oil - consumption: 27,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: NA (2001)
Oil - imports: NA (2001)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: 214,000 bbl (1 January 2002)-
People - note: -
Political parties and leaders: Afar National Democratic Party or ANDP [leader NA]; Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front or BGPDUF [Mulualem BESSE]; Coalition for Unity and Democracy or CUD [HAILU Shawil]; Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF [MELES Zenawi] (an alliance of ANDM, OPDO, SEPDF, and TPLF); Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement or GNDM [leader NA]; United Ethopian Democratic Forces or UEDF [MERARA Gudina]; dozens of small parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: 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]
Population: 73,053,286
Population below poverty line: 50% (2004 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.36% (2005 est.)
Ports and terminals: Ethiopia is landlocked and has used ports of Assab and Massawa in Eritrea and port of Djibouti-
Public debt:
Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 0, shortwave 1 (2001)
Railways: total: 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)-
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
Religions: Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.192 billion (2005 est.)
Roadways: total: 33,856 km
Sex ratio:
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system: general assessment: adequate for government use
Telephones - main lines in use: 435,000 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 97,800 (2003)
Television broadcast stations: 1 plus 24 repeaters (2002)
Terrain: high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
Total fertility rate: 5.33 children born/woman (2005 est.)-
Transportation - note:
Unemployment rate: NA (2002)-
Waterways: