Land and Resources

The heart of Ethiopia is a high tableland, known as the Ethiopian Plateau, covering more than one-half the total area of the country. The plateau is split diagonally in a northeastern to southwestern direction by the Great Rift Valley. Although the average elevation of the plateau is about 1675 m (about 5500 ft), it is cut by many rivers and deep valleys, some of which are 610 m (2000 ft) below the level of the plateau. The area is capped by mountains, the highest of which is Ras Dashan (4620 m/15,157 ft). These heights and indentations occur in northern Ethiopia, in the region surrounding Lake T'ana (the lake in which the Blue Nile rises). The northeastern edges of the plateau are marked by steep escarpments, which drop some 1220 m (about 4000 ft) or more to the sunbaked coastal plain and the Denakil Desert. Along the western fringe the plateau descends less abruptly to the desert of Sudan. Along the southern and southwestern limits, the plateau lowers toward Lake Turkana (formerly called Lake Rudolf).

Climate

The climate of Ethiopia varies mainly according to elevation. The tropical zone below approximately 1830 m (approximately 6000 ft) has an average annual temperature of about 27° C (about 80° F) and receives less than about 510 mm (about 20 in) of rain annually. The subtropical zone, which includes most of the highland plateau and is between about 1830 and 2440 m (about 6000 and 8000 ft) in elevation, has an average temperature of about 22° C (about 72° F) with an annual rainfall ranging from about 510 to 1530 mm (about 20 to 60 in). Above approximately 2440 m (approximately 8000 ft) is a temperate zone with an average temperature of about 16° C (about 61° F) and an annual rainfall between about 1270 and 1780 mm (about 50 and 70 in). The principal rainy season occurs between mid-June and September, followed by a dry season that may be interrupted in February or March by a short rainy season.

Natural Resources

The resources of Ethiopia are primarily agricultural. The plateau area is fertile and largely undeveloped. The wide range of soils, climate, and elevations permits the production of a diversified range of agricultural commodities. A variety of mineral deposits exist; iron, copper, petroleum, salt, potash, gold, and platinum are the principal ones that have been commercially exploited.

Plants and Animals

The great variations in elevation are directly reflected in the kind of vegetation found in Ethiopia. The lower areas of the tropical zone have sparse vegetation consisting of desert shrubs, thornbushes, and coarse savanna grasses. In the valleys and ravines almost every form of African vegetation grows profusely. The temperate zone is largely covered with grassland. Afro-alpine vegetation is found on the highest slopes.

The larger species of African wildlife are native to most parts of the country. These include the giraffe, leopard, hippopotamus, lion, elephant, antelope, and rhinoceros. The lynx, jackal, hyena, and various species of monkey are common. Birds of prey include the eagle, hawk, and vulture. Heron, parrot, and such game birds as the snipe, partridge, teal, pigeon, and bustard are found in abundance. Among the many varieties of insects are the locust and tsetse fly.

Soils

The highland of Ethiopia is made up of folded and fractured crystalline rocks capped by sedimentary limestone and sandstone and by thick layers of volcanic lava. The torrential rains of the main rainy season cause severe erosion, especially in areas where all natural vegetation has been cleared. The rains also leach the highland soils of much fertility, particularly those soils overlying crystalline rocks. The volcanic soils of the highland are less readily leached and therefore are more fertile.

Population

About 80 percent of the inhabitants of Ethiopia support themselves through agriculture, which is largely of a subsistence nature. The population is concentrated heavily in the central plateau region, where agricultural resources are most developed. The ethnic composition is extremely diverse, as a result of racial and linguistic integration that began in ancient times.

Population Characteristics

Political Divisions

In 1994 Ethiopia was divided into nine states comprised of specific ethnic groups. The states which have a significant degree of autonomy are: Tigrai, Afar, Amara, Oromia, Somali, Benshangul-Gumaz, Gambela Peoples, Harari People, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, which comprises about 41 ethnic groups.

Religion

The Ethiopian Orthodox Union church, an autonomous Christian sect headed by a patriarch and closely related to the Coptic church of Egypt, was the state church of Ethiopia until 1974.

About 40 percent of the people of Ethiopia are Christians, and Christianity is predominant in the north. All the southern regions have Muslim majorities, who represent about 45 percent of the country's population. The south also contains considerable numbers of animists. The Falashas, who practice a type of Judaism that probably dates back to contact with early Arabian Jews, were airlifted to Israel in 1991 during Ethiopia's civil war.

Language

Education

Culture

Ecclesiastical architecture is relatively rich because of the early advent of Christianity in the country. Such structures and their frescoes usually show both Byzantine and Coptic influences. Ethiopia's skillful and imaginative silversmithing is also notable.

Economy

In the early 1990s Ethiopia was one of the world's poorest nations, with a per-capita income estimated at about $130 a year. Estimated average life expectancy at birth was only 52 years; the infant mortality rate was 109 per 1000 live births, and famine was a constant threat. The economy of Ethiopia remains heavily dependent on the earnings of the agricultural sector. Participation by most of the people in the monetary economy is limited; much trading is conducted by barter in local markets. The estimated annual budget in the early 1990s included $1.4 billion in revenues and $2.3 billion in expenditures, including $565 million in development spending.

Agriculture

Traditional agriculture by primitive methods, including the raising of livestock, is the most characteristic form of Ethiopian economic activity. Commercial estates, which are run by the government, supply coffee, cotton, sugar, fruit, and vegetables to the nation's processing industries and for export. Pulses (chickpeas, lentils, haricot beans) and oilseeds are also grown on a commercial scale. The most important food crops grown primarily for local consumption are cereal grains. Periodic droughts have greatly reduced agricultural output and forced Ethiopia to import basic foodstuffs.

Despite a government program of diversification, coffee remains Ethiopia's most important commodity. About one-fourth of the population is engaged in its production.

In the early 1990s the livestock population included about 31 million cattle, 23.2 million sheep, 18.1 million goats, 59 million poultry birds, and smaller numbers of horses, mules, donkeys, and camels. About one-third of the cattle are oxen used for heavy labor. Sheep and goats are raised primarily for skins and meat.

Mining

Although many mineral deposits exist in Ethiopia, thick layers of volcanic lava cover the older ore-bearing rock and render exploitation difficult. Outcroppings of iron, copper, zinc, and lead have been mined since ancient times. Small quantities of gold and platinum are mined, and deposits of petroleum and natural gas have been found. About 110,000 metric tons of salt were mined annually in the early 1990s. Ethiopia also has considerable untapped deposits of high-quality potash.

Manufacturing

Energy

Ethiopia has great potential for producing hydroelectricity. While in the late 1980s about 80 percent of the country's relatively small yearly electricity output was generated by hydroelectric facilities, the amount produced depends heavily upon regular rainfall. In the early 1990s the country had a total installed electricity-generating capacity of some 330,000 kilowatts, and annual production was about 650 million kilowatt-hours.

Currency and Banking

The Ethiopian birr is issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia (5.00 Ethiopian birr equal U.S.$1; official rate since 1992). Other banks in the country include the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank.

Trade

Ethiopia is primarily an exporter of agricultural products and an importer of consumer and capital goods. In 1991 exports amounted to about $188 million, a decrease of 240 percent in three years. Imports were valued at about $472 million. Coffee accounts for more than 62 percent of all exports and is the most valuable foreign-exchange earner. Other traditionally important exports are pulses, hides and skins, fruits and vegetables, and oilseeds, although drought has disrupted agricultural activity. Leading trade partners included Germany, the United States, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Italy.

Transportation and Communications

In the early 1990s Ethiopia had about 159,000 telephones; an estimated 9.4 million radios and 130,000 television sets were in use. The Voice of Ethiopia makes radio broadcasts daily in Amharic, Arabic, Somali, Afar, Oromifa, Tigrinya, English, and French. Television broadcasting is government controlled.

Government

Between 1974 and 1987, Ethiopia was governed by the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), also known as the Dirgue, made up of about 80 people, most of whom were members of the armed forces or police. The council came to power following the deposition of Emperor Haile Selassie I on September 12, 1974, when it suspended the revised constitution of 1955 and disbanded the bicameral Parliament. In March 1975 it abolished the hereditary monarchy. The council was headed by a chairman, who was the country's chief government official.

A program published by the council in late 1974 called for the state to play a leading role in the country's economy and in establishing a specifically Ethiopian type of socialism. It also called for the establishment of a single, all-embracing political party. The Union of Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations was created in 1977 as the sole legal party but was disbanded soon after. The Workers' Party of Ethiopia, a Communist organization, was the nation's only legal political group from 1984 until 1991, when other parties were legalized. The party changed its name to the Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party in 1990, after easing its ideology.

In 1991 the Marxist government was ousted by two allied rebel movements, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). Under a provisional charter, an 87-member elected Council of Representatives chose a president to govern Ethiopia, pending general elections. A separate government was established in Eritrea, and the province was recognized as an independent republic in May 1993. In June 1994 Ethiopian voters elected representatives to a constituent assembly, charged with drafting a new constitution; the constitution was adopted in December of that year.

Executive and Legislature

According to the 1994 constitution, the head of state is the president, who is nominated by the legislative body, the Council of Peoples' Representatives. A president may not serve more than two six-year terms. The council also nominates a prime minister from among its members. The prime minister is the chief executive and heads a Council of Ministers, made up of representatives from a coalition of parties constituting a majority in the legislature. The Council of Peoples' Representatives consists of a maximum of 550 directly elected members; at least 20 of these representatives must be members of minority ethnic groups.

Local Government

Ethiopia is made up of nine states, most with a distinct ethnic majority. Each state has a state council that may establish lower levels of jurisdiction to allow people to participate in self-government. In accordance with the 1994 constitution, individual ethnic groups within a state have the right to form their own states or to secede from the federation.

Judiciary

The Ethiopian judicial system consists of two principal branches; the Federal Supreme Court has final jurisdiction over federal cases, and the state supreme courts have final jurisdiction over state concerns. State supreme courts may also serve as federal first-instance courts. Federal judges are nominated by the prime minister and appointed after approval by the Council of Peoples' Representatives.

Defense

In the late 1980s the Ethiopian army had 313,000 members; the air force, 4000; and the navy, 1800. Following the overthrow of Ethiopia's Marxist government in 1991, the armed forces ceased to exist. Army equipment was divided between the EPRDF and the EPLF. Today membership in the EPRDF is estimated at 90,000. In the late 1970s and in the 1980s Ethiopia received military equipment from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to use in fighting rebel forces; Cuban troops were stationed in Ethiopia from 1977 until 1989.

History

During the 1st millennium BC, Semitic people from Saba' (Hebrew Sheba) crossed the Red Sea and conquered the Hamite on the coast of what was eventually to become the Ethiopian Empire. By the 2nd century AD the victors had established the kingdom of Aksum. The kingdom was ruled by the Solomonid dynasty, so called because the kings claimed direct descent from the biblical king Solomon and the queen of Sheba. Aksum converted to Christianity, belonging to the same tradition as the Coptic Christians of Egypt. It flourished for a while, but beginning in about the 7th century the kingdom declined as the Solomonids lost control of section after section of their realm. Early in the 10th century the Solomonid dynasty was overthrown and replaced by the Zagwe dynasty, the ruling family of a region on the central plateau known as Lasta. Regaining control of the country around or after 1260, the Solomonids gradually succeeded in reasserting their authority over much of Ethiopia, although Muslims retained control of the coastal area and the southeast. During the reign (1434-1468) of Zara Yakub, the administration of the Ethiopian church, which had become divided by factionalism, was reformed, and religious doctrines were codified. At about this time a political system emerged that lasted until the middle of the 20th century. It was characterized by absolutist monarchs who exacted military service in return for grants of land.

European Influence

The only unifying force that remained throughout this period was the Ethiopian church. Gaining the support of high church officials, a successful brigand from the northwestern frontier, Ras Kassa, had himself crowned Emperor Theodore II in 1855, after having defeated a number of petty feudal rulers who controlled various sections of the country. Later, when Theodore imprisoned some British officials for conspiring against him, the British dispatched an expeditionary force to Ethiopia, and the emperor committed suicide in 1868 rather than be taken prisoner. After a four-year struggle for the throne by various claimants, Dejaz Kassai, governor of the province of Tigre, succeeded, with British aid, in being crowned Johannes IV, emperor of Ethiopia.

The Italo-Ethiopian Wars

With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Red Sea coast had become increasingly attractive to the European powers as an object for colonization. Italy focused its attention on Ethiopia, seizing Assab in 1872 and Massawa in 1885. In 1889 Menelik and the Italians signed the Treaty of Wichale (Ucciali). The treaty was one of friendship and cooperation, but the Amharic and Italian versions of it differed, and the Italians claimed that it made all of Ethiopia their protectorate. As a result, war broke out between Italy and Ethiopia in 1895, and Italian forces were decisively defeated at Adwa (Aduwa) the following year. Italy was forced to recognize the independence of Ethiopia, and Menelik's present-day boundaries. The successor of Menelik, Emperor Lij Iyasu (reigned 1913-1916), was deposed in favor of his aunt, crowned Empress Zauditu. Tafari Makonnen, her cousin, was selected as heir apparent; he succeeded to the throne as Haile Selassie I. In 1931 he granted Ethiopia its first constitution.

The Later Reign of Haile Selassie

According to the terms of the Allied peace treaty with Italy, signed in 1947, agreement was to be reached within a year on the disposition of the former Italian colonies of Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, and Libya. In the absence of such an agreement, however, the decision was left to the United Nations (UN). The UN General Assembly voted for the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia, to be completed by September 1952.

In 1955 Haile Selassie issued a revised constitution, which was a half-hearted attempt to move the country into the 20th century. For example, it gave certain limited powers to the Parliament. Progressive elements in the country, however, felt it was insufficient. After an unsuccessful attempt by members of the imperial guard to overthrow Haile Selassie in December 1960, the emperor increased government efforts toward economic development and social reform.

In the early 1970s Haile Selassie continued to play a major role in international affairs, helping to mediate disputes between Senegal and Guinea, Tanzania and Uganda, and northern and southern Sudan. Nevertheless, he largely ignored urgent domestic problems: the great inequality in the distribution of wealth, rural underdevelopment, corruption in government, rampant inflation, unemployment, and a severe drought in the north from 1972 to 1975.

The Mengistu Regime

In February 1974 students, workers, and soldiers began a series of strikes and demonstrations that culminated on September 12, 1974, with the deposition of Haile Selassie by members of the armed forces. A group called the Provisional Military Administrative Council, or the Dirgue, was established to run the country, and in late 1974 it issued a program calling for the establishment of a state-controlled socialist economy. In early 1975 all agricultural land was nationalized, and much of it was soon parceled out in small plots to individuals. In March 1975 the monarchy was abolished, and Ethiopia became a republic.