Current Environmental Issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management

Geography

Source: EIA

Location: Eastern Africa, west of Somalia

Geographic Coordinates: 8 00 N, 38 00 E

Area:

total: 1,127,127 sq km
land: 1,119,683 sq km
water: 7,444 sq km

Land Boundaries:

total: 5,328 km
border countries: Djibouti 349 km, Eritrea 912 km, Kenya 861 km, Somalia 1,600 km, [[Sudan[[ 1,606 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime Claims: none (landlocked)

Natural Hazards: geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts

Terrain

High plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley

Elevation Extremes:

lowest point: Denakil Depression -125 m
highest point: Ras Dejen 4,533 m

Climate

Tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation

Government

Type: Federal Republic

Capital: Addis Ababa

Independence Date: oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years

Legal System: based on civil law; currently transitional mix of national and regional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Agreements

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea

People and Society

Population: 78,254,090

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 43.1% (male 16,932,540/female 16,818,931)
15-64 years: 54.1% (male 21,128,196/female 21,211,755)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 979,166/female 1,183,502) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 2.231% (2008 est.)

Birthrate: 36.8 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 14.49 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration: NA

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 49.43 years
male: 48.26 years
female: 50.64 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 4.99 children born/woman (2008 est.)

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
total population: 42.7%
male: 50.3%
female: 35.1% (2003 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 110 cu km (1987)

Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):

total: 5.56 cu km/yr (6%/0%/94%)
per capita: 72 cu m/yr (2002)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, qat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish

Irrigated Lands: 2,900 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower

Land Use:

arable land: 10.01%
permanent crops: 0.65%
other: 89.34% (2005)

Health

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 4.4% (2003 est.)

Major Infectious Diseases:

degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

Conflict

International Disputes: 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): 66,980 (Sudan); 16,576 (Somalia); 13,078 (Eritrea)
IDPs: 200,000 (border war with Eritrea from 1998-2000, ethnic clashes in Gambela, and ongoing Ethiopian military counterinsurgency in Somali region; most IDPs are in Tigray and Gambela Provinces) (2007)

Illicit Drugs: 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

Economy

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 constitution, the state 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 during 2004-07.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $62.19 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $19.43 billion (2007 est.)

GDP- real growth rate: 11.4% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita: $800 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 47%
industry: 13.2%
services: 39.8% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 38.7% (FY05/06 est.)

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

lowest 10%: 3.9%
highest 10%: 25.5% (2000)

Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement

Exports: coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds

Export Partners: Germany 8.3%, Saudi Arabia 7.1%, US 7%, Djibouti 6.7%, Italy 6.5%, China 6.4%, Japan 5.9%, Netherlands 4.8% (2006)

Imports: food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles

Import Partners: Saudi Arabia 16.9%, China 16.4%, India 7.8%, Italy 5% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $1.6 billion (FY05/06)

Currency: birr (ETB)

Communications

Telephones- main line in use: 725,000 (2006)

Telephones- mobile/cellular: 1.208 million (2007)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 8, FM 0, shortwave 1 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (plus 24 repeaters) (2001)

Internet Hosts: 89 (2007)

Internet Users: 164,000 (2005)

Transportation

Airports: 84 (2007)

Railways:

total: 699 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)
narrow gauge: 699 km 1.000-m gauge
note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia but remains largely inoperable (2006)

Roadways:

total: 36,469 km
paved: 6,980 km
unpaved: 29,489 km (2004)

Ports and Terminals: Ethiopia is landlocked and uses ports of Djibouti in Djibouti and Berbera in Somalia