Ethiopia

The Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Corne of Africa, which was private of its access to the sea following the independence of the Erythrée in 1993. Ethiopia divides common borders with the Erythrée, corresponding to its zone colonized by Italy to north, the Sudan in the west, the Kenya in the south, Djibouti in the North-East and the Somalia in the east.

Second country of Africa by its population, Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world, and one of the only nations of Africa to have preserved its sovereignty during the dismemberment of Africa at the 19th century. Regarded as the cradle of humanity, Ethiopia sees cohabiting a Christian population, being the second older nation Christian in the world and maintaining this tradition since 330, and a Muslim population, in particular in the area of the Harar, Holy City of Islam.

On the international plan, Ethiopia is member of the Société of the Nations of 1923, signatory of the Déclaration of the United Nations since 1942 and one of the 51 States Founding members of UNO. Its capital, Addis-Abeba, are today the seat of the African Union whose Haïlé Selassié was one of the principal promoters (under the name of OAU).

History

See also: History of Ethiopia

See also: List of the kings d' Éthiopie

The Italy invades Ethiopia in October 1935 and occupied the capital of the May 5th 1936 at May 5th 1941.

In 1974, a military junta ( Derg ) relieved the emperor Hailé Sélassié I {{er}} (ቀዳማዊኃይለሥላሴ) which reigned since 1930. The junta establishes a socialist State directed by Mengistu Haile Mariam. Supported militarily by the the USSR and Cuba, Mengistu wished to empty the North of its inhabitants, because of their hostility to the mode. In 1987 is created the “Party of the workers of Ethiopia” (EWP); Ethiopia becomes a “popular democratic republic”. In 1991, after having undergone several attempted murders, Mengistu gave up the capacity and flees of the country.

A democratic regime is then instituted. A new Constitution gives competences increased to the provinces, making of Ethiopia a Federal state. But certain margins of this old empire aspire gradually to self-determination and the parties and independence movements know a strong passion.

The Érythrée declares its independence in 1993, after years of armed struggle. A war bursts between the two countries of 1998 with 2000, making more than 80.000 dead.

The May 15th 2005, of the general elections to renew the 548 seats of the Parliament of the representatives of the people take place. The opposition (Coalition for the unit and democracy (CUD)) affirm since its victory was “stolen to him” by the party in power, the revolutionary democratic Face of the people.

At the beginning of November of the same year, violent demonstrations take place with Addis-Abeba, causing the death of at least 33 people and the arrest of 2.000 opponents, of which leaders of the CUD.

The Ethiopian political principal parties are:

The current mode thus tries to consolidate its capacity, relatively fragile, while being opposed on the international scene to Erythrée, which symbolizes the external enemy, like to the Organization of the Islamic courts in Somalia. The opposition parties denounce what they regard as a dangerous operation who would seek to create non-problems to mask those abroad, quite real, that the Government would not succeed in managing (unemployment, illiteracy, corruption, etc).

Policy

See also: Political of Ethiopia

The work of the Ethiopian institutions is codified by the constitutional text ratified in December 1994 and come into force the August 22nd 1995.

The parliamentary Régime instituted then rests on two assemblies (Bicaméralisme) which represent the Legislative power :

  • the Room of the representatives of the people: composed of 549 deputies elected with the Vote for all direct every five years, it is qualified out of matters legislative, tax and budgetary;

  • the Room of the Federation: composed of 108 members elected with the indirect suffrage by the representatives of the areas, it has primarily a role of constitutional control.

The Executive power has more competences. It is divided into two poles whose role is unequal:

  • the Head of the State, chair Republic, has an honorary function. Elected for six years by the House of Commons, the president does not exert the reality of the capacity. The station is currently held by ato (Mister) Girma Wolde-Giyorgis Lucha, of origin oromo, is elected in October 2001 and re-elected on October 9th, 2007;

  • the Prime Minister follows the policy of the country. Chosen by the majority party with the House of Commons (on the British model), it is indicated for a quinquennial, renewable mandate once. It chooses the 18 members of its governmental cabinet. Ato Meles Zenawi occupies this station since nearly ten years. Of origin tigréenne, craftsman of the political change, he is the chief of the majority party of coalition at the Parliament (the revolutionary democratic Front of the Ethiopian people - FDRPE). The last elections took place in May 2005.

The judicial Power rests on the federal Supreme court, separated by the constitution from the legislative powers and executive.

Geography

See also: Geography of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is in the peninsula of the North-East of Africa, known as Corne of Africa. Deprived of all Littoral since the independence of the Érythrée, it divides its Frontière S with the Somalia, the Sudan, the Kenya, the Republic of Djibouti and Érythrée. The country has a central plate whose altitude varies between 1800 and 3000 meters, with a maximum altitude of 4620 meters for the Ras Dashan.

The Climat is moderate on the plate and heat on the low country.

The country was explored and charted 1838 with 1848 by Antoine d' Abbadie d' Arrast.

Subdivisions

See also: Subdivisions of Ethiopia

The Constitution of 1994 set up a federal system resting on nine “ethnic areas” (ethnico-linguistics: Striped, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Gambela, Harar, Area of the nations, nationalities and people of the South, Benishangul-Gumaz) and two autonomous regions (Addis-Abeba and To say Dawa).

Each area is subdivided in cantons (Kébélé) and municipalities (Woreda). They have of their own government and a constitutional law to self-determination and the secession. These provisions, although theoretical, mark the end of the Ethiopian unit carried out since Ménélik II and consolidated under Hailé Sélassié I {{er}}. They are significant men who seized the power following Mengistu, namely of the men combatant for the independence of their area (Meles Zenawi for the Tigré, Issayas Afeworki for the Érythrée, of which he is the president today).

Demography

See also: Demography of Ethiopia

Economy

See also: Economy of Ethiopia, Agriculture of Ethiopia

From the maintenance of its historical independence within the Africa, Ethiopia is one of the first African countries to enter on one level the market economy. This balances in particular by creation by Ménélik II since 1906 of the first Ethiopian bank “The Bank off Abyssinia”. Ethiopia is then quickly subjected the influence of the capital abroad. Paradoxically the country will be the first African country to pay “the abandonment of the territorial Colonialisme for the Néo-colonialisme” .avec a prevalence of the English capital during the 20th century, and remainder separate of its coastal areas and its ports because of Italian colonization of the Erythrée, and today still of share the independence of the Erythrée. For Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Prize of economy, this country is an obvious example of the drifts of universalization and failure of the policy of the IMF, to see “the IMF, the proof by Ethiopia”, diplomatic Le Monde, April 2002

Today, 90% of the Ethiopian Active population are in the agricultural sector . Ethiopia is the cradle of the Araire. The farmers of the High plateaus practice a food and traditional agriculture. The Teff, the Eleusine and the Ensete (“false-banana tree”) are three species cultivated on the High plateaus. They represent the principal food productions according to the areas. The teff is a still ignored Céréale, few studies were to date carried out on its properties. But it is especially the Café which occupies a central place in the Ethiopian economy: in the middle of the Ethiopian tradition, the culture of the coffee occupies 400.000 hectares and the total production turns around 230.000 tons, of which more half is consumed in Ethiopia where the tradition of the coffee is well anchored. Exported volumes represented up to 60% of the full value of the exported goods of Ethiopia. Completely liberalized since the fall of the Derg, the influence of the multinationals on the economy of the coffee and its courses, as well as the effects on the small producers with many recoveries was denounced by of ONG: " According to a report/ratio of ONG Oxfam, the coffee is “a true gold mine for the international roasters” while the producers “receive only approximately 6% of the value of the package of coffee sold in the supermarkets and the épiceries." , critical in particular popularized by documentary the " Black Gold" left in 2005.

According to a delegation of a group of French members of Parliament (entitled " for a reinforcement of the French presence in the Horn of Afrique" : " African great power, Ethiopia, in spite of recent reforms, suffers in same time from a precarious economy and a medical condition which are obviously not in adequacy with the ambitions that it assigned on the international scene.

the Seventh country poorest of the Earth, with a GDP per capita lower than 100 $, Ethiopia, in spite of considerable agricultural potentialities, is always confronted with the challenge of food safety. Its GDP decreased of 3,8% in 2003, with in addition an annual inflation of almost 15%. It remains very dependant on the assistance of the backers while being handicapped by an important foreign debt (6 billion $, is nearly one year of GDP) still worsened by the fall of the international courses of the products that itself exports (coffee, in particular).

On the plan of the structures, fifteen years after the fall of the mode collectivist of Mengistu, the Ethiopian economy remains closed again on itself and marked by the excessive weight of the State, which is exerted there either directly, or through a whole network of state enterprises whose current government does not seem in a hurry to be separated (the program of privatizations launched by the Prime Minister, Mr. Meles Zenawi has been almost fixed for three years).

Lastly, Ethiopia suffers from a kind of enclavement economic which can seem paradoxical if one brings it back to the size and the population of this country, enough vast to constitute in themselves an interior market offering of many débouchés." .

Culture

See also: Culture of Ethiopia

In addition to the Amharique, working language of the State, spoken by 29% about the population, more than 80 other languages are spoken in the country; among most widespread one counts the Oromo, the Somali, the Tigrinya and the Afar.

About half of the population of orthodoxe religion Chrétienne or Copte is. The Church of Ethiopia, attached to the Church copte of Egypt, was Église of State until 1974. The Islam is practiced by approximately 30% of the population, mainly in the South and Is. Some 10% of Ethiopian are Animiste S. Until in the years 1980 existed a small minority of Ethiopian Jews, the Falachas, 30.000 people approximately, who were transplanted in Israel in the years 1990.

Ethiopia in figures

Geography

Coordinates (lat. /long.): 8°00' NR, 38°00' E Capital: Addis-Abeba
--> Surface: 1.127.127 km ²
Density: 66,34 hab./km²
Land borders: 5  311 km (Somalia 1  626  km; Sudan 1  606  km; Érythrée 912 km; Kenya 830  km; Djibouti 337  km)
Littoral: 0 km
extreme Altitudes: - 125  m > + 4  620  m
Independence: one of the sovereign countries oldest in the world (more 2  000  years)

Demographic statistics

Population : 74.777.981 inhabitants (in 2006)
Life expectancy of the men: 47,86 years (in 2006)
Life expectancy of the women: 50,24 years (in 2006)
Growth rate of the population: 2,31% (in 2006)
Birth rate: 44,68 ‰ (in 2006)
Death rate: 17,84 ‰ (in 2006)
infantile Death rate: 93,62 ‰ (in 2006)
Fertility rate: 5,22 children/woman (in 2006)
Rate of migration: 0,13 ‰ (in 2001)

Access to technology

Telephone lines: 610.300 (in 2005)
Cellphones: 178.000 (in 2005)
Radios: 11,75 million (in 1997)
Television stations: 320  000 (in 1997)
Users of Internet: 113.000 (in 2005)

Infrastructures

Roads: 33.856 km (including 4.367 tarred km) (in 2003)
Railways: 681 km
inland Waterways: aucune
Many airports: 84 (including 14 with tarred tracks) (in 2006)

Others

In Ethiopia, the calculation of the hours is carried out with laying down sun. Thus, at six o'clock in the morning, local solar hour, it is 12 hours with Addis-Ababa; at 7 o'clock in the morning, it is one hour in Addis Ababa and at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, it is 11 a.m.

Being very close to the equator (Northern latitude 9°03' and longitude 38°42' Are for Addis), the variation is tiny and the day remains constant 6:00 with 18:00 (12h-24h for an Abyssinian) throughout the year.

The Ethiopian Calendar account 13 month: September-October: Meuskeureum; October-November: Teqemt; November-December: Hedar; December-January: Tahsas; January-February: For the third time; February-March: Yekatit; March-April: Megabit; April-May: Miyazya; May-June: Genbot; June-July: Seine; July-August: Hamle; August-September: Nahast; and approximately a 5 days month (according to the years): Paguemen.

The calendar alexandrine is used by the Ethiopian church copte. It takes its final form at our era, on the basis of Pharaonic calendar old. The year begins Ier Thoth (August 29th). It counts 12 30 days months, plus 5 or 6 days complementary. What gives to Ethiopia the immense privilege to have 13 month. The intermediate duration of the year is the same one as the year of the calendar Julien (365,25 days). The chronology depends on the selected eras. In the church copte of Ethiopia, one chose the era of Dioclétien, become " the era of the Martyrs of Dioclétien " , which makes begin the calendar 284 years after ours. The civil calendar Ethiopian, is resulting for him from this calendar, but the era of reference is the era of Annianus of Alexandria which moves back the birth of the Christ of 7 or 8 years compared to that of Denys the Small one; September 11th, 2007, the Ethiopian ones celebrated their entry in the 3rd millenium (year 2000). On this occasion, more than 18 ' 000 prisoners were released.

See also: Health in Ethiopia.

Codes

Ethiopia has as codes:

See too

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