Geography
Ethiopia was known as Abyssinia until the twentieth century. It is the oldest independent country in Africa. Ethiopia is in Northeastern Africa. Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia are known as the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia is located at 3 degree and 14.8 degree latitude, 33 degree and 48 degree longitude in the Eastern part of Africa laying between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. It is bounded on the Northeast by Eritrea and Djibouti, on the east and Southeast by Somalia, on the south by Kenya and on the west and Northwest by Sudan.
Since 1995, Ethiopia has been divided into 10 administrative regions based on ethnic lines. These are Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Benishangul, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR),, Gambella, Harar and Addis Ababa.
Map of Ethiopia, Historical Sites and administrative regions
Ethiopia covers 1,122,000 square kilometres with the population of 60 million. 90% of the populations live in rural areas and depend for survival mainly on agricultural products such as teff, wheat, maize, barley and sorghum. Ethiopia is the tenth largest and the third most populous state in Africa after Nigeria and Egypt.
Ethiopia is a mountainous country and is admired for its natural beauty by many visitors. The Ethiopian plateau is divided into north-east and south-west by the Great Rift Valley that extends from Mozambique to the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, passing in a south-north direction through Ethiopia. There are numerous lakes in the Great Rift Valley, many of them of tourist destinations. The northern part of the Great Rift Valley known as the Danakil Depression is about 125 metres below sea level and the hottest region in Ethiopia where the temperature climbs up to 50 degree Celsius. To the west of the plateau ranges lies the gorge of the Blue Nile river and Lake Tana, Ethiopia's largest lake and the source of Nile river.
Although the average elevation of the plateau is about 1600 metres; the lowest point is Danakil Depression (125 metres below sea level) and the highest peak is Ras Dashan (4620 metres above sea level). For more information, visit Wikipedia.org - Geography of Ethiopia.
References
- Roderick Grierson and Stuart Munro-Hay, The Ark of the Covenant, 2000, published by Phoenix, London, UK, ISBN 0753810107
- Stuart Munro-Hay, Ethiopia, The Unknown Land a Cultural and Historical Guide, 2002, published by I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd., London and New York, ISBN 1 86064 7448
- Jenny Hammond, Fire From The Ashes, A Chronicle of the Revolution in Tigray, Ethiopia, 1975-1991, 1999, published by The Read Sea Press, Inc., ISBN 1 56902 0868
- Philip Briggs, Ethiopia, The Bradt Travel Guide, Third Edition, 2002, published by Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, England, UK, ISBN 1 84162 0351
- Binyam Kebede (2002). http://www.ethiopiafirst.com (4ladies.jpg, Afar-lady.jpg, Afar-girl.jpg, lady-artful-lips.jpg, Man-face-art.jpg, Man-face-art2.jpg, Somal-lady.jpg, Debra-Damo.jpg, Buitiful-girls.jpg, lady-face-art.jpg, man-hair-style.jpg, yeha.jpg, harar.jpg,). Many thanks to Binyam Kebede for his permission to copy and use these pictures from his website.
- Fekadu Bekele, Ethiopian National Metrological Services Agency, http://ccb.colorado.edu/ijas/ijasno2/bekele.html, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Office of Population and Housing Census Commission Central Statistical Authority, November 1998, Addis Ababa
- Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and The Bible, The Schweich Lectures, The British Academy, Published by The Oxford University Press, first published 1968, Reprinted 1989, 1992, 1997, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, United Kingdom, ISBN 0-19-726076-4
- Mr. Solomon Kibriye (2003). Imperial Ethiopia Homepage, http://www.angelfire.com/ny/ethiocrown. Many thanks to Mr. Solomon Kibriye for the contribution and comments he has made to this website.
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