Ethiopia
Updated: Sep 18, 2022
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Country Name
Ethiopia, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Location
Ethiopia is a landlocked country in East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest.
Capital
Addis Ababa.
The reason for naming the country
Ethiopia historically called Abyssinia is derived from the Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic name "ḤBŚT," modern Habesha. Al Habesha means the land of the Habesha people. The English name "Ethiopia" is thought to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, derived from the two Greek words, from αἴθω + ὤψ (aitho "I burn" + ops "face").
Flag
The Ethiopian flag was adopted on February 6, 1996, making it one of the world's newest flags. The Ethiopian colors date from the 1890s, when forces loyal to the emperor are believed to have flown pennants of green, yellow, and red as they fought against Italian forces. The first Ethiopian flag using these same colors was adopted in 1897. The flag of Ethiopia consists of three equal horizontal stripes green, yellow; and red. In the middle of the flag is the country's coat of arms on a blue circle. It is often seen without the blue circle and emblem. The red color represents power, faith, and blood; the yellow represents the church, peace, natural wealth, and love; and the green represents the land and hope. The star represents the unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity and the blue disk represents peace.
Language
There are 90 individual languages spoken in Ethiopia. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages which include the Oromo language, Somali, Amharic, and Tigrinya. Other Afroasiatic languages include the Cushitic Sidamo, Afar, Hadiyya, and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic Gurage languages, Harari, Silt'e, and Argobba languages. Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas. Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by Omotic ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions which include these languages Aari, Bench, Dime, Dizin, Gamo-Gofa-Dawro, Maale, Hamer, and Wolaytta. Languages from the Nilo-Saharan family are also spoken by ethnic minorities concentrated in the southwestern parts of the country. These languages include Nuer, Anuak, Nyangatom, Majang, Suri, Me'en, and Mursi. English is the most widely spoken foreign language, while Italian is still spoken by a few parts of the population, mostly among older generations, and is taught in many schools.
Religion
Ethiopia was one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to adopt the Christian religion, and its practice dates back to the 1st Century AD. The Ethiopian Orthodox religion is the most widely practiced. Islam began to enter Ethiopia as early as the foundation of the religion. In 615 AD, the prophet Muhammad encouraged a group of Muslims to seek refuge in Ethiopia as they escaped religious persecution in Mecca in Arabia. At that time, then-King Axum protected the religious refugees and refused demands to send them back to Arabia. Today, 33.9% of the population practices Islam making it the second most common religion in the nation, most Muslims in this country are Sunni. Protestants are the largest group of Christians who do not belong to the Orthodox Church, Other minority religions in the country include Waaq and indigenous beliefs, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Baha’i
Currency
Birr (ETB).
Time Zone
+03:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Ethnofederalist parliamentary constitutional republic.
Climate
In Ethiopia, the climate varies mostly with altitude, and it goes from the hot and arid climate of the lowlands to the cool climate of the plateau. Lying just north of the Equator, the country experiences little variation in temperature throughout the year. Rainfall is caused by the southwest monsoon, which affects the country from June to September (the rainy season is called Kiremt), but it only affects some areas, namely the plateau and the mountain slopes exposed to the south-west, while in the south-east of the country, there are two rainy periods, though less intense, usually from March to May and in October-November; in the latter area, during some years, the rains don't occur at all, causing drought.
International Phone Code
+251
Internet Code
.et