Ethiopia

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

The average lowest temperature of Afghanistan is 7,8°C (46,04°F) which ranks Afghanistan as the 49th coldest state. This means that Afghanistan's average lowest temperature is 5,5°C (41,9°F) below the average temperature of Afghanistan. Below, the average low temperature of all states is displayed.

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Ethiopia is known to have two distinct rain seasons which occur from January to March and from June to September. Its rainfall is unevenly spread out with the Western parts receiving 10 times as much rainfall as its eastern part. In total, Ethiopia receives 43 inches or 109 centimetres of rainfall per year which makes it the 87th state with the highest amount of rainfall.

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

A total of US$545 million or 0.57 percent of its GDP is the yearly budget of the Ethiopian military. This makes it the 93rd highest military spender in the world.

The Ethiopian military is one of the largest militaries of Africa. It consists of an Air Force and land forces due to its landlocked geography.

Military membership

It is a member of four international military organizations which makes it the 112th most militarily interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Conference on Disarmament
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
International Atomic Energy Agency
Non-Aligned Movement

Military membership

International wars

Ethiopia has partaken in 15 international wars. These are:

British Expedition to Abyssinia 1868-1868
First Italo-Ethiopian War 1895-1896
Somaliland Campaign 1900-1910
World War I 1914-1918
Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935-1936
World War II 1939-1945
Korean conflict 1945-present
Korean War 1950-1953
Eritrean War of Independence 1961-1991
Ethiopian–Somali Border War 1964-1964

Second Afar Insurgency 1995-1018
Eritrean–Ethiopian War 1998-1000
South Sudanese Civil War 2013-2010
Sudanese–Ethiopian clashes 2010-present

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

Ethiopia is a member of nine international political organizations which makes it the 153rd most politically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Member state of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
African Union
Intergovernmental Authority on Development
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
Interpol
Global Green Growth Institute
Association of World Election Bodies
World Organization for Animal Health

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

After the transfer of power from the socialist government, a new constitution was erected that provided free elections to the Ethiopian people. However, misallocation of funds as well as corruption are still largely taking place. This makes Ethiopia the 139th most democratic state in the world.

Democracy/Dictatorship

After the collapse of its socialist government, a federal parliamentary republic has been erected where the Prime Minister is head of government.

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Translated from ancient Greek “as the land of the people with burnt faces”, Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of coffee. Before its first contact with European explorers, it has had a rich history with Judaic migrants from the Arabian Peninsula, trading posts from the Roman and Byzantine Empire as well as the expansion of Christianity and later on Islam to the region. During the period of colonization, Ethiopia has prevented colonization and only became occupied by Fascist Italy between 1935 and 1941. After the second world war, efforts to modernize have led to the new Constitution in 1955 which created a parliament and a chamber of deputies. At the start of the 1970s, socialist movements had gained a large influence in Ethiopia and in 1974 a communist coup took place which installed a communist government. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the communist political party resigned. Simultaneously, the province of Ethiopia that was connected to the sea, Eritrea, declared its independence from Ethiopia. At present, the Ethiopian government is challenged with possible secessions from different tribes and provinces within Ethiopia.

Because of its size, Ethiopia has a diverse landscape which consists of rugged mountains that go from the northwestern part of Ethiopia to the southwestern part and the low-lying mountains on its central eastern part. The vegetation also varies heavily depending on the area with its central and western part being mild to densely forested and its northeastern and eastern part having a savanna or desert like vegetation. Ethiopia is a landlocked state that borders six other states. To its north it borders Eritrea and Djibouti, to its northeast and East it borders Somalia, to its south it borders Kenya and to its west it borders Sudan and South Sudan.

It has a total surface area of 1,110,000 square kilometers or 428,000 square miles. This makes Ethiopia the 26th largest state in the world being slightly smaller than Colombia and slightly larger than Bolivia.

It is home to several rivers and lakes which combined cover 105,000 square kilometers or 40,500 square miles. This makes Ethiopia the eighth state with the highest amount of water.

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

A large body of water, the Blue Nile, flows from Ethiopia into Sudan and is one of the two largest suppliers of the Nile River. Despite being a water rich state, the water distribution is uneven throughout Ethiopia. Other factors such as droughts as well as water mismanagement have created water scarcity in the eastern part of Ethiopia.

The climate of Ethiopia is quite diverse with a tropical rain forest climate in its central and southwestern part and an arid climate to its northeast and southeast. The average temperature is around 20.8 degrees Celsius or 69.4 degrees Fahrenheit which makes Ethiopia the 103rd warmest state in the world.

The average high temperature is around 25.7 degrees Celsius or 78.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

The capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa is home to around 3 million people. The capital that is closest to Addis Ababa is Djibouti city of Djibouti with a distance of 547 kilometers or 340 miles. The capital that is furthest removed from Addis Ababa is Apia Samoa with a distance of 16,600 kilometers or 10,340 miles.

Known as the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is the largest coffee producer of Africa. Aside from coffee, most of its exports are agricultural and vary from seeds to animal hides. These are mainly shipped to China, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the United Arab Emirates which combined represent around 35 percent of total exports. Most of its imports comes from China which solely accounts for 30 percent of total imports. The economy of Ethiopia is characterized as a mixed market economy with room for private enterprise, but guided by the state. With the ability of obtaining micro credits, the Ethiopian economy has grown steadily over the last decade with an average growth of nine percent per year.

Ethiopia is a member of 13 international economic organizations which makes it the 76th most economically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Alliance for Financial Inclusion
African development Bank
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
International Monetary Fund
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization
World Trade Organization
International Bamboo and Rattan Organization
Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
International Renewable Energy Agency
International Solar Alliance
Group of 77
Group of 24

Ethiopia has the 73rd highest GDP in the world which is estimated to be US$72 billion.

Its GDP per surface area is the 161st highest in the world and is around US$65,000 per square kilometer or US$169,000 per square mile.

Its GDP per capita is among the 15 lowest in the world and is ranked as the 183rd highest with an average annual income of US$649.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

The purchasing power of the Ethiopian citizens is the 170th highest and is arounds US$2400.

Ethiopia is the 12th most populous state in the world with a population of 111.4 million people. Because of its rich history as well as its many interstate tribes, Ethiopia is considered to be one of the most economically diverse states in the world. Nearly 100 languages are spoken within Ethiopia by each tribe and there are three official languages that are being used as a way of intertribal communication.

It is the 85th most densely populated state with a population density of 100 people per square kilometer or 259 people per square mile.

Emigration from Ethiopia has been relatively low at 0.7 percent of the population or 800,000 people. Migration mainly occurred during the rule of the Communist Party between 1974 and 1992 when political persecution drove many people out of Ethiopia. Other, and more recent forms of migration, mainly occur in the form of brain drain where high educated people are looking for better financial opportunities abroad. This is most prevalent in the Ethiopian medical sector where one in four works abroad.

Immigration to Ethiopia has been largely deterred by the state. This deterrence is mainly in the form of harassment or the request of bribes. Around 1.2 million people or 1.14 percent of the population has migrated to Ethiopia. This means that one in every 200 migrants have migrated to Ethiopia. These are mainly refugees from neighbouring states with the majority originating from Somalia.

The literacy rate in Ethiopia is among the lowest in the world. With an estimated 49.8 percent able to read, Ethiopia is the 182nd most literate state in the world. This is mainly due to low investment in its educational system as well as the inability to educate children in rural areas.

Despite being the 163rd state with the highest life expectancy, Ethiopia has made large strides in the last three decades. It has increased the average life expectancy from 44 years to 67.8 years with women reaching 69.8 years and men reaching 65.9 years. Other improvements in its healthcare system are the treatments of preventable diseases as well as a vaccination program for the immunization of communicable diseases.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution. However, interfaith discrimination, destruction of holy sites and marginalization has increased in the last two decades.

Christianity was introduced in the fourth century and with the conversion of the king of Ethiopia, Christianity became adopted as the state religion. Today, Christianity is followed by 58.6 percent of the population which makes it the 110th most Christian state in the world. Several denominations have been introduced throughout the century, but the Coptic Orthodox Church has remained the largest denomination in Ethiopia.

There are no official organizations related to Buddhism in Ethiopia.

Islam is the second largest religion and is followed by 37 percent of the population. Islam arrived in Ethiopia with the expansion and conquests of Mohammed during the sixth century. Shortly after its arrival, Islam was widely accepted by the Ethiopian population.

The spread of Hinduism started around the third century when maritime trade was established between India and Ethiopia. Between the third and the 21st century, the amounts of Hindus increased as a result of immigration from India. After the start of political instability in the 1970s, many Indians re-migrated to India. However, some high educated Indians remain and are mostly present in its educational system.

Before its conversion to Christianity in the fourth century, Ethiopia was a Jewish state. After its conversion to Christianity, many Jews were forced to convert or face expulsion. This has led to a large migration of Ethiopian Jews to other regions in Africa as well as a reallocation to Israel after its foundation. At present around 0.37 percent of the population adheres to Judaism.

Around 1.77 percent of the population adheres to other faiths. These are mainly Rastafarianism as well as animism.

A relatively low percentage, 0.05, is irreligious. This is largely due to the establishment of the major religions for many centuries as well as a pragmatic choice.