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General Information
Area: 1,133,380 sq km (437,600 sq miles).
Population: 61,672,000 (1999).
Population Density: 54.4 per sq km.
Capital: Addis Ababa. Population: 2,209,000 (1995).
GEOGRAPHY: Ethiopia is situated in northeast Africa, bordered by Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. It is the tenth-largest country in Africa and about twice the size of France. The central area is a vast highland region of volcanic rock forming a watered, temperate zone surrounded by hot, arid, inhospitable desert. The Great Rift Valley, which starts in Palestine, runs down the Red Sea and diagonally southwest through Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi. The escarpments on either side of the country are steepest in the north where the terrain is very rugged. To the south, the landscape is generally flatter and more suited to agriculture.
Government: Federal Republic. Head of State: President Girma Wolde-Giyorgis since 2001. Head of Government: Prime Minister Meles Zenawi since 1995. Ethiopia is the only African country never to have been colonised by Europeans.
Language: Amharic is the official language, although about 80 other native tongues are spoken. English is widely used and some Arabic, Italian and French is spoken.
Religion: Ethiopian Orthodox (Tewahido) and Coptic Church mainly in the north; Islam, mainly in the east and south. There are also significant Evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic communities.
Time: GMT + 3.
Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Communications:
Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 251. Outgoing international code: 00.
Mobile telephone
The PTO, ETA provides a GSM 900 network. Coverage is limited.
Fax
Facilities are available in major hotels.
Telegram
International services from local offices and hotels in Addis Ababa.
Internet
There is an Internet cafe in Addis Ababa. Some top-end hotels may also offer services. The main ISP is the PTO ETC, although connections may be difficult.
Post
Service to and from Europe takes up to two weeks.
Press
Amharic newspapers published in the capital include Addis Zemen. The English-language daily in Ethiopia is The Ethiopian Herald. Other periodicals are also available.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
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