on ethiopia

facts and figures

Name	The Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Capital City	Addis Ababa
Population	64 Million (estimate for 2004)
Population Growth Rate	Approximately 2.5% per annum
Percentage of Population under 16	More than 50%
Literacy Rate	38.5 % (World Bank)
Secondary School Enrolment	12%
Tertiary Education Enrolment	1%
Life Expectancy	45 Years
Land Area	1,100,000 Sq. Km
GDP/Capita	$700 (2005 estimate)
Currency	Birr (15.4 Birr = £1.00 July 2006)
Language	Amharic (English widely spoken)
Time	GMT +3

The Federal Republic of Ethiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, is a land locked republic in North East Africa. Ethiopia shares its border with Somalia (and the yet unrecognised state of Somaliland), Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan.

Ethiopia, with a landmass of 1.1 Million square kilometres, is the tenth largest country in Africa and is approximately five times the size of the United Kingdom or New Zealand.

The country’s population is nearing 65 million making it the third most populous country in Africa after Nigeria and Egypt.

Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest nations with a per capita income of $700 and an economy dominated by subsistence agriculture.

The Ethiopian Highlands are very fertile, and are criss-crossed by large rivers with enormous untapped potential for irrigation projects, but many parts of the country, particularly in the East and North East, are prone to periodic rain failure and locust plagues, so there is a constant threat of local famines.

The growing of coffee occupies 25% of the population and coffee accounts for 55% of Ethiopian exports.

Ethiopia is rich in mineral deposits and ores such as gold and iron have been mined since ancient times. There has, however, been little commercial exploitation of Ethiopia’s minerals, largely due to inaccessibility. The main product mined is Salt. Manufacture in Ethiopia is limited almost entirely to the processing of agricultural products.

At present, government expenditure is principally directed towards three things: education, health and development of infrastructure (particularly roads). However, tourism is thought to have the greatest growth potential of any economic activity in Ethiopia.

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