Ethiopia ( Ityop'iya Fede) is a country in Eastern Africa, west of Somalia. Ethiopia geographic coordinates 8 00 N, 38 00 E; area 1,119,683 sq km; area comparative slightly less than twice the size of Texas; land boundaries 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); climate tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation; terrain high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley; elevation extremes Ras Dejen 4,620 m; natural resources small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower; land use 88.54% (2001); irrigated land 1,900 sq km (1998 est.); natural hazards geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droug; environment current issues deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management; environment international agreements 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;

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Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, with the exception of the 1936-41 Italian occupation during World War II. 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 in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). 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. government type federal republic; capital Addis Ababa; administrative divisions 9 ethnically-based states (kililoch, singular - kilil) and 2 self-governing administrations* (astedaderoch, singular - astedader); Adis Abeba* (Addis Ababa), Afar, Amara (Amhara), Binshangul Gumuz, Dire Dawa*, Gambela Hizboch (Gambela Peoples), Hareri Hizb (Harari People), Oromiya (Oromia), Sumale (Somali), Tigray, Ye Debub Biheroch Bihereseboch na Hizboch (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples); independence oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years; national holiday National Day (defeat of MENGISTU regime), 28 May (1991); constitution ratified December 1994; effective 22 August 1995; legal system currently transitional mix of national and regional courts; suffrage 18 years of age; universal;

people

Ethiopia population 73,053,286 estimates for this country explici; age structure 2.7% (male 905,648/female 1,087,049) (2005 est.); median age 17.64 years; population growth rate 2.36% (2005 est.); birth rate 38.61 births/1,000 population (2005 est.); death rate 15.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.); net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population repatriation of Ethiopians who fled to Sudan for re; sex ratio 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.); infant mortality rate 105.3 deaths/1,000 live births; life expectancy at birth 50.03 years (2005 est.); total fertility rate 5.33 children born/woman (2005 est.); hiv adult rate 4.4% (2003 est.); hiv people with aids 1.5 million (2003 est.); hiv deaths 120,000 (2003 est.); major infectious diseases bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and hepatitis E; nationality Ethiopian; ethnic groups Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%; religions Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%; languages Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools); literacy 35.1% (2003 est.);

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