Africa A to Z: Continental and Country Profiles: Third Edition

Ethiopia

COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z Africa Institute of South Africa | Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles 185 Ethiopia Orientation This large country, extending over more than one million km2 , forms the heartland of the Horn of Africa region. With much of its territory lying above 2 000 m, Ethiopia is one of Africa’s most mountainous regions; the national capital of Addis Ababa is situated more or less in the middle of the country, about 2 450 m above sea level. The territories of Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia, extending on Ethiopia’s north and east flanks, separate Ethiopia from the sea. On the west is Sudan and the Nile Basin and, to the south, Kenya. The Great Rift Valley bisects mountainous Ethiopia into northern and southern highlands; the mountains in the northern highlands are higher than those to the south and they stretch through northern Eritrea, as far as Egypt’s Red Sea coast; Ras Dashen in the far north of Ethiopia is Africa’s fourth highest peak, rising to 4 650 m above sea level. The southern highlands extend into northern Somalia along the Gulf of Aden. Both Djibouti and southern Eritrea are situated in the funnelshaped mouth of the Rift Valley; this valley has steep escarpments on both sides that continue to Lake Turkana on the border with Kenya; here, the valley splits into eastern and western branches, running through Eastern Africa. A chain of small lakes extends along the floor of the Ethiopian Rift Valley that is drained to the northeast by the Awash River. Ethiopia’s climate is generally tropical but the higher parts have a bracing mountain climate. Most rainfall (over 1 000 mm per year) occurs on the western mountain slopes, overlooking Sudan; consequently these areas have the densest vegetation, including indigenous coffee and ensete (false banana). The Blue Nile rises in Lake Tana, draining the northern highlands towards the Nile Basin. Rainfall decreases to the north and east where the mountain slopes have been denuded of vegetation, except for patches of coniferous forest on the highest levels. Cereals such as teff (indigenous to Ethiopia), barley, wheat, sorghum, millet and maize are grown in the highlands’ fertile volcanic soils. People Ethiopia’s over 60 million people makes it the third most populous country in Africa (after Nigeria and Egypt). This population constitutes racial types such as caucasoid and negroid and is culturally extremely diverse. Most of the languages spoken belong to the Afro-Asiatic linguistic family; the three principal Afro-Asiatic groups in COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z 186 Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles | Africa Institute of South Africa Ethiopia being the Semites, the Cushites and the Omotic cluster of peoples. In addition, relatively small groups of Nilotes of negroid origin such as the Anuak and the Nuer live near the border with Sudan, speaking Nilotic languages. The largest Ethio-Semitic group are the Amhara, accounting for about 30% of the total population, followed by the Tigray and the much smaller Gurage and Harari groups. The traditional heartland of the Amhara is the Amhara State in the northern highlands, to the north of Addis Ababa. The Tigray, speaking Tigrinya, are concentrated in the Tigray State, bordering on northern Eritrea where the Tigray are in the majority as well. Both the Amahara and the Tigray are almost exclusively Christian while the Harari, inhabiting the ancient city of Harar, in the southern highlands, are predominantly Muslim. The Gurage, found in Addis Ababa and the southern highlands, are partly Christian, partly Muslim. The speakers of Cushitic languages include the Afar, Agaw, Oromo, Sidamo and Somali peoples. Sometimes called the Galla, the Oromo group is by far the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, accounting for perhaps 40% of the total population. Speaking Orominya, the Oromo predominate in Addis Ababa and adjacent parts of the northern and southern highlands, constituting the Oromia State. While the Oromo are fairly evenly divided between Christianity and Islam, the pastoral Afar and Somali are exclusively Muslim. They are much smaller groups, related to the peoples of southern Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. Another distinct Cushitic group, the Sidamo, live in the Great Rift Valley, south of Addis Ababa. The small Agaw (Awngi) group live among the Amhara and Tigray in the northern highlands and have long been Christianised. A highly fragmented group who are neither Semites nor Cushites also live in the Rift Valley and its escarpments; they take their group name, Omotic or Ometo, from the Omo River that flows...