| Ethiopia |
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| 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 border war with Eritrea late in the 1990's ended with a peace treaty in 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 territory considered sensitive to Ethiopia. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Addis Ababa
geographic coordinates: 9 02 N, 38 42 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 1,127,127 sq km |
| Area Land: 1,119,683 sq km |
| Area Water: 7,444 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation |
| Terrain: high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Denakil Depression -125 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Ras Dejen 4,620 m |
| Natural Resources: small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower |
| Land Use Arable Land: 10.01% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 0.65% |
| Land Use Other: 89.34% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 2,900 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts |
| Environment Current Issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management |
| 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 |
| Population |
Population: 76,511,887
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 43.4% (male 16,657,155/female 16,553,812) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 53.8% (male 20,558,026/female 20,639,076) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 2.7% (male 953,832/female 1,149,986) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 18 years |
| Median Age Male: 17.8 years |
| Median Age Female: 18.1 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 2.272% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 37.39 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 14.67 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.03 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.006 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.996 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.829 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.995 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 91.92 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 101.57 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 81.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 49.23 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 48.06 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 50.44 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 5.1 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 4.4% (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 1.5 million (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: 120,000 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census) |
| Languages: Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census) |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 42.7% |
| Literacy Male: 50.3% |
| Literacy Female: 35.1% (2003 est.) |
| 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) |
| Legal System: currently transitional mix of national and regional courts |
| Economy |
| Overview: Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for almost 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 $350 million in 2006, 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, and in December 2005 the IMF voted to forgive Ethiopia's debt to the body. 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 3.3% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather patterns helped agricultural and GDP growth recover in 2004-06. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $71.63 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 9.6% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 46.7% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 12.9% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 40.4% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 27.27 million (1999) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 80%
industry: 8%
services: 12% (1985) |
| Unemployment Rate: NA% |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 33.7% (1995) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 13% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 7.4% (2001 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 2.294 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 1.3% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 97.6% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 1.2% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 2.133 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 29,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 214,000 bbl (1 January 2002) |
| Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 24.92 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $1.085 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds |
| Exports Partners: Germany 15.5%, China 10.5%, Japan 8.5%, Saudi Arabia 6.9%, Djibouti 6.8%, Switzerland 6.4%, Italy 5.9%, US 5.5%, Netherlands 4.2% (2005) |
| Imports: $4.105 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles |
| Imports Partners: Saudi Arabia 14.7%, China 12.6%, US 12.4%, India 6.7%, Italy 4.6% (2005) |
| Debt External: $6.038 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $1.6 billion (FY05/06) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 610,300 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 410,600 (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: adequate for government use |
| Telephone System Domestic: open-wire; microwave radio relay; radio communication in the HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies; 2 domestic satellites provide the national trunk service |
| Telephone System 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) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 8, FM 0, shortwave 1 (2001) |
| Radios: 15.2 million (2002) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (plus 24 repeaters) (2002) |
| Televisions: 682,000 (2002) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 1 (2002) |
| Internet Users: 113,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 681 km 1.000-m gauge |
| Airports: 84 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 3% (2006 est.) |
| Disputes International: 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 And Internally Displaced Persons: 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) |
| IllicitDrugs: 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 |