The
Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia is located in the north-eastern part of Africa
commonly known as the Horn of Africa. It is strategically proximate
to the Middle East and Europe, together with its easy access to the
major ports of the region, enhances its international trade.
It is bordered by the Sudan in the west, Somalia and Djibouti in the
east, Eritrea in the north and Kenya in the south.The country
covers 1,112,000 square kilometres (472,000 sq. miles) making it
roughly as large as France and Spain combined and is five times the
size of the UK. Ethiopia is one of the biggest economies of East
Africa and Central Africa in terms of GDP, and it is one of the
fastest growing economics of the world.
Flag and Emblem of FDRE
The
flag of Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has three colors which are set
horizontally. Green is on the top , yellow in the middle and red at the
bottom,
and a blue circular background is found on the centre .When the
African nations became independent after World War II, many countries
adopted
the colors of Ethiopian flag.
Time and calendar
Ethiopia
uses the Ethiopian
calendar, which dates back to the Coptic calendar 25 BC, and never
adopted the Julian or Gregorian reforms. One Ethiopian year consists of
twelve
months, each lasting thirty days, plus a thirteenth month of five or
six days (hence the “Thirteen Months of Sunshine” tourism slogan).
The Ethiopian new year begins on September 10 or 11 (in the
Gregorian calendar), and has accumulated 7-8 years lag behind the
Gregorian calendar:
thus, for the first nine months of 2018, the year will be 2010
according to the Ethiopian calendar. On 11 September 2018, Ethiopia
celebrated New
Year’s Day (Enkutatesh) for 2011. In Ethiopia, the 12-hour clock
cycles do not begin at midnight and noon, but instead are offset six
hours. Thus,
Ethiopians refer to midnight (or noon) as 6 o’clock.
Official Language
There
are more than 83
individual languages spoken in Ethiopia and there are 3 official
languages of Ethiopia – Amharic, Oromifa and Tigrigna. English is widely
spoken
in the country and FDRE has adopted Amharic as the official
language. The nine member states have been provided the rights to fix on
their working
language.
Area
The
total area of Ethiopia is
1,112,000 square kilometers and there is great variation in the
climate, natural vegetation, soils and settlement patterns. 65% of total
area is arable
and 15 % is cultivable.
People
Ethiopia
is multiethnic,
multilingual and multicultural nation where 62.8% of inhabitants are
Christians, 33.9% are Muslims, 2.6 % of other faiths and 0.6 % of other
religion (as per 2007 census).The constitution guarantees equal
religious, political and social rights to its citizens.
Capital City
The
capital city of
Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, and it was founded in 1883 by Emperor
Minilik II. It is largest city of Ethiopia having population of
3,384,569
(as per 2007 census).
Official Language
There are more than 83 individual languages spoken in Ethiopia and there are 3 official languages of Ethiopia – Amharic, Oromifa and Tigrigna. English is widely spoken in the country and FDRE has adopted Amharic as the official language. The nine member states have been provided the rights to fix on their working language.