Ethiopia 

Goal: This page has been created for students who may be interested in taking World Regional Geography also known as Geography 1020. In Geography 1020 we covered the Geography of the African Continent, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Asia and China. I will examine one country from one of these areas of study to best describe what is being learned in Geography 1020. The country of choice is Ethiopia from the African Continent. 

Location Location Location

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is located in Eastern Africa, west of Somalia. Geographic coordinates are 8 00 N, 38 00 E. It a slightly less than twice the size of Texas. Boarding countries include Djibouti(349km), Eritrea(912km), Kenya(861), Somalia(1600km) and Sudan(1606km). Ethiopia does not have any coastline and is considered landlocked.  

Map of Ethiopia

We have just touched on one of the four traditions of Geography, which is Spatial Tradition. Spatial tradition (also called Locational Traditions) deals with mapping, spatial analysis, boundaries and densities, spatial patterns and central place theory. 

History of Ethiopia

The capital of Ethiopia is called Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. Recently being regarded as "the cradle of civilization". Unique among African countries, Ethiopia was never colonized, maintaining its independence throughout the Scramble for Africa (also called the race for Africa). Human settlement in Ethiopia is very ancient: bones of the earliest ancestors to the human species, discovered in Ethiopia, have been assigned dates as long ago as 5.8 million years. 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, uprising, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled in 1991 by a coalition of revel forces, the People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A constitution was adopted in 1994, and Ethiopia's first multipart elections were held in 1995. A border war with Eritrea late in the 1990's ended with a peace treaty in December 2000. Finally demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian objectives to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender territory considered sensitive to Ethiopia.

Emperor Haile Selassie 

Population

Ethiopia's population is estimated about 74,777,981 million people (July 2006 est.).

Estimates for this country take seriously 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 that would otherwise be expected.

Population growth rate: 2.31%

Birth Rate: 37.98 births/ 1,000 population

Death rate: 14.86 deaths/1,000 population

Major infectious diseases include: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, hepatitis E, malaria, rabies and meningococcal meningitis.

Population Pyramid for Ethiopia (2006)

The Ethiopian population has always been predominantly rural, engaging in sedentary agricultural activities such as the cultivation of crops and livestock-raising in the highlands. In the lowlands, the main activities traditionally have been subsistence farming by seminomadic groups and seasonal grazing of livestock by nomadic people. 

The distribution of Ethiopia's population generally is related to altitude, climate, and soil. These physical factors explain the concentration of population in the highlands, which are endowed with moderate temperatures, rich soil, and adequate rainfall. About 14 percent of the population lives in areas above 2,400 meters (cool climate zone), about 75 percent between 1,500 and 2,400 meters (temperate zone), and only 11 percent below 1,500 meters (hot climatic zone), although hot zones encompasses more than half of Ethiopia's territory. The general terrain is of high plateau with a central mountain range divided by the Great Rift Valley. Places with elevations above 3,000 meters and below 1,500 meters are sparsely populated. Above 3,000 meters, the temperatures tend to be very cold and the terrain is rugged; this limits agricultural activities. Below 1,500 meters, temperatures are high and rainfall is low, except in the west and southwest.

Ethnic groups include: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2% and others 1%.

Religions include: Muslim 45-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35-4-%, animist 12% and others 3-8% 

Their Languages include: Amharic, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, and other local languages, English is the major foreign language taught in schools.

Language map of Ethiopia

Population Density Map of Ethiopia

Ethiopia's natural resources include small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas and hydropower. Ethiopia is susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions because of it's position on the geologically active Great Rift Valley. Landlocked, the 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. 

Environment

Overgrazing, deforestation, and poor agricultural practices have contributed to soil erosion so severe, particularly in the Tigray and Eritrea regions, that substantial areas of farmland have been lost to cultivation. As of 1994, 600,000 acres of arable land were washed away each year. The combined effects of severe drought and a 17-year civil war have also added to Ethiopia's environmental problems. Ethiopia's forests are also endangered. Each year, the nation loses 340 square miles of forest land. Its forests and woodland decreased by 3.4% between 1983 and 1993. The government did not begin afforestation and soil conservation programs until the early 1970s.

Ethiopia's water crisis

 The need for water and sanitation in Ethiopia is severe. Only 24% of the population has access to an improved water supply, and only 12% of the population has access to adequate sanitation services. In rural areas, only 12% of the population has access to improved water supply, and a mere 7% of the population has access to adequate sanitation services.

In rural areas, women and children walk up to six hours to collect water. Most people collect water from shallow, unprotected ponds which they share with animals. Other people collect water from shallow wells. Both these sources are subject to contamination as rain water washes waste from surrounding areas into the source. They then carry the large clay jugs of water back to their villages.

In the last 20 years, Ethiopia has experienced recurring droughts followed by food shortages and famines. Poverty is accentuated during the droughts. Staple foods, like cabbage, experience sharp increases in prices, while families find that they must sell their cattle for half what they would get in a non-drought year. Scientists project that in a few years, with rainfall steadily decreasing the crops will die, and so will the people of Ethiopia. 

This is an example of the Man-Land Tradition of Geography. This includes, human impact on nature, impact of nature on humans, natural hazards, environmentalism and cultural, political, and population geography. 

Regions Of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is divided into 9 ethnically-based administrative regions (kililoch; singular - kilil) and two chartered cities (astedader akababiwach, singular - astedader akabibi). The word "kilil" more specifically means "reservation" or "protected area" and the ethnic basis of the regions and choice of the word "kilil" has drawn fierce criticism from the opposition, who have drawn comparisons to the bantustans of Apartheid South Africa. 

The nine regions of Ethiopia are: 1. Addis Ababa, 2. Afar, 3. Amhara, 4. Benishangul-Gumez, 5. Dire Dawe, 6. Gambela, 7. Harari, 8. Oromia, 9. Somali, 10. Southern Nations, Nationalists and Peoples Region, 11. Tigray 

Addis Ababa:

This is the capital city of Ethiopia The city has as many as 80 nationalities speaking 80 languages, and Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities. Addis Ababa is located about 2,500 m above sea level.The site was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul and the city was founded in 1886 by her husband, Emperor Menelik II, and now has a population of around four million, and an eight per cent annual growth rate.The city lies at the foot of Mount Entoto, and is home to Addis Ababa University. Addis Ababa University was formerly known as Haile Selassie I University, after the former Emperor of Ethiopia, who donated his Guenete Leul Palace to be the University main campus in 1961.The CSA of Ethiopia estimated in 2005 that farmers in Addis Ababa had a total 20,700 head of cattle (representing less than 0.1% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 7,900 sheep (less than 0.1%), 3,150 goats (less than 0.1%), 380 horses (less than 0.1%), 270 mules (0.18%), 4,780 donkeys (0.19%), 21,420 poultry of all species (less than 0.1%), and 170 beehives (less than 0.1%).

Pictures Of Addis Ababa

Afar: 

Afar in one of the nine ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Assab highway is under construction.The Afar Depression, locally known as the Danakil depression, is the three-way junction where the spreading ridges that form the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift. The Depression, the lowest point in Ethiopia and one of the lowest in Africa, is found in the north of the region.

Hadar, a community in Afar, was the site of the discovery of "Lucy", the Australopithecus afarensis skeletal remains, by Donald Johanson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. On March 5, 2005, another skeleton, estimated to be 3.8 million years old and said to be the world's oldest bipedal hominid skeleton, was found in the region.
On March 24, 2006 it was reported that a "significantly complete" cranium had been found at Gawis in the Gona area.[4]. The cranium appears as an intermediate form between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.

Sites of Afar

The Afar Triangle

Normally new rivers, seas and mountains, are born in slow motion. The Afar Triangle near the Horn of Africa is another story. A new ocean is forming there with staggering speed - at least by geological standards. Africa will eventually lose its horn. Researchers said it was like a zipper opening up.

Amhara:

Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar.
Ethiopia's largest inland body of water, Lake Tana, is located in Amhara, as well as the Semien Mountains National Park, which includes the highest point in Ethiopia, Ras Dashan.
During Ethiopia's feudal (medieval) era, Amhara was divided into several provinces (such as Gondar, Gojjam, Begemder and Lasta), most of which were ruled by native Ras or Negus. The Amhara Region incorporates most of the provinces of what was (until 1995) formerly Begemder, Gojjam, and Wollo.

Ethiopian highlands and Ras Dashan

Dire Dawe:

Dire Dawa (which means “place of Remedy”) is one of two chartered cities (astedader akabibi) in Ethiopia (the other being the capital, Addis Ababa). With a latitude and longitude of 9°35′N 41°52′E, this city is the second largest in Ethiopia.
The city is an industrial centre, home to several markets and the Aba Tenna D. Yilma International airport. Dire Dawa lies in the east of the nation, on the Dechatu River, at the foot of a ring of cliffs that has been described as "somewhat like a cluster of tea-leaves in the bottom of a slop-basin."
Dire Dawa was founded in 1902 after the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway reached the area. The railroad could not reach the city of Harar at its higher elevation, so Dire Dawa was built nearby.
Soon afterwards, Ras Makonnen, the governor of Harar, ordered the construction of a road from Dire Dawa to Harar, one of the first in this part of the country. This road was substantially improved in 1928 with the aid of foreign engineers and equipment, improving travel times between the two cities from two days to only a few hours. Dire Dawa was separated from the Oromia Region around 1998 to become a chartered city.

The city was flooded in August 2006 when the Dechatu River overflowed its banks. About 200 people were reported dead, thousands were displaced and there was extensive damage to homes and markets.

An old Railroad in Dire Dawa

Flood of August 6th 2006

The examination of the different regions of Ethiopia is an example of Area Studies Tradition. Area Studies Tradition (also called Regional Tradition) covers description of regions or areas, world regional geography, international trends and relationships, and how regions different from one other. 

Geography of Ethiopia 

Satellite Image of Ethiopia

Climate:

The climate of Ethiopia and its dependent territories varies greatly. The Somali Region and the Danakil lowlands in the Afar Region have a hot, dry climate producing semi-desert conditions; the country in the lower basin of the Sobat is hot, swampy and malarious. But over the greater part of Ethiopia as well as the Oromia highlands the climate is very healthy and temperate. The country lies wholly within the tropics, but its nearness to the equator is counterbalanced by the elevation of the land. In the deep valleys of the Tekezé and Abay, and generally in places below 4000 ft, the conditions are tropical and diseases such as malaria are prevalent. On the uplands, however, the air is cool and bracing in summer, and in winter very bleak. The mean range of temperature is between 60 °F and 80 °F (15 °C to 25 °C). On the higher mountains the climate is Alpine in character. The atmosphere on the plateaus is exceedingly clear, so that objects are easily recognizable at great distances. In addition to the variation in climate dependent on elevation, the year may be divided into three seasons. Winter, or the cold season, lasts from October to February, and is followed by a dry hot period, which about the middle of June gives place to the rainy season. The rain is heaviest in the Tekezé basin in July and August.

Topography:

Between the valley of the Upper Nile and Ethiopia's border with Eritrea is a region of elevated plateaus from which rise various mountain ranges. These tablelands and mountains constitute the Ethiopian Highlands. On nearly every side, the walls of the plateaus rise abruptly from the plains, constituting outer mountain chains. The highlands are thus a clearly marked orographic division. In Eritrea, the eastern wall of this plateau runs parallel to the Red Sea from Ras Kasar (18° N.) to Annesley Bay (also known as the Bay of Zula) (15° N.) It then turns due south into Ethiopia and follows closely the line of 40° E. for some 400 miles (600 km). About 9° N. there is a break in the wall, through which the Awash River flows eastward. The main range at this point trends southwest, while south of the Awash Valley, which is some 3000 ft (1000 m) below the level of the mountains, another massif rises in a direct line south

Nabro and Mallahle Volcanoes, Eritrea and Ethiopia - SRTM Colored Height and Shaded Relief.

Hydrology:

Most of the Ethiopian uplands have a decided slope to the north-west, so that nearly all the large rivers find their way in that direction to the Nile, comprising some 85% of its water. Such are the Tekezé River in the north, the Abay in the center, and the Sobat in the south, and about four-fifths of the entire drainage is discharged through these three arteries. The rest is carried off by the Awash, which runs out in the saline lacustrine district along the border with Djibouti; by the Shebelle River and the Jubba, which flow southeast through Somalia, though the Shebeli fails to reach the Indian Ocean; and by the Omo, the main feeder of the closed basin of Lake Turkana. 

The chief river of Ethiopia flowing east is the Awash River (or Awasi), which rises in the Shoan uplands and makes a semicircular bend first southeast and then northeast. It reaches the Afar Depression through a broad breach in the eastern escarpment of the plateau, beyond which it is joined on its left bank by its chief affluent, the Germama (Kasam), and then trends round in the direction of the Gulf of Tadjoura. Here the Awash is a copious stream nearly 200 ft (60 m) wide and 4 ft (1.2 m) deep, even in the dry season, and during the floods rising 50 or 60 ft (15 to 20 m) above low-water mark, thus inundating the plains for many miles along both its banks.

The Koppen Climate Classification for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is Cwb, Maritime Temperate climates. 

Lake Tana

The Blue Nile

The Physical Geography is part of the Earth Science Tradition, which deals with a country's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. It also deals with the Earth Sun interaction and the study of the earth as the home to humans.

This is the end of my page, I hope that it has given you some knowledge of what goes on in Geography 1020!!! There is so much more to the world than just what we can see in front of us. I hope that you take this class, and I'll be viewing YOUR own web page next semester!!!

http://web.syr.edu/~affellem/raslinx.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Ethiopia

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ettoc.html

http://www.water.org/programs/ethiopia/crisis.htm