Ethiopia: Background & Geography

Introduction Ethiopia
Background:
 Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception being the Italian occupation of 1936-41. 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, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender sensitive territory.
Geography Ethiopia
Location:
 Eastern Africa, west of Somalia
Geographic coordinates:
 8 00 N, 38 00 E
Map references:
 Africa
Area:
 total: 1,127,127 sq km
water: 7,444 sq km
land: 1,119,683 sq km
Area - comparative:
 slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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 - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
 none (landlocked)
Climate:
 tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation
Terrain:
 high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
Elevation extremes:
 lowest point: Denakil Depression -125 m
highest point: Ras Dejen 4,620 m
Natural resources:
 small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower
Land use:
 arable land: 9.9%
permanent crops: 0.65%
other: 89.45% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 1,900 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts
Environment - current issues:
 deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management
Environment - international agreements:
 party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
 landlocked - 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

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