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Communications

Airports [time series]

153 total, 111 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 13 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 49 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

21 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

44,300 km total; 3,650 km bituminous, 9,650 km gravel, 3,000 km improved earth, 28,000 km unimproved earth

Merchant marine [time series]

13 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 69,398 GRT/89,457 DWT; includes 9 cargo, 1 roll-on/roll off cargo, 1 livestock carrier, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker

Ports [time series]

Aseb, Mitsiwa

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

988 km total; 681 km 1.000-meter gauge; 307 km 0.950-meter gauge (nonoperational)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

open-wire and radio relay system adequate for government use; open-wire to Sudan and Djibouti; radio relay to Kenya and Djibouti; stations--4 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 45,000 TV sets; 3,300,000 radios; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense, Police Force

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$NA, 8.5% of GDP (1988)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 11,717,614; 6,072,112 fit for military service; 609,346 reach military age (18) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 45% of GDP and is the most important sector of the economy even though frequent droughts and poor cultivation practices keep farm output low; famines not uncommon; export crops of coffee and oilseeds grown partly on state farms; estimated 50% of agricultural production at subsistence level; principal crops and livestock--cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseeds, sugarcane, potatoes and other vegetables, hides and skins, cattle, sheep, goats

Budget [time series]

revenues $1.8 billion; expenditures $1.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $842 million (FY88)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

birr (plural--birr); 1 birr (Br) = 100 cents

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $504 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $3.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $8 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.0 billion

Electricity [time series]

330,000 kW capacity; 700 million kWh produced, 14 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

birr (Br) per US$1--2.0700 (fixed rate)

Exports [time series]

$429 million (f.o.b., FY88); commodities--coffee 60%, hides; partners--US, FRG, Djibouti, Japan, PDRY, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$2.6 billion (1988)

Fiscal year [time series]

8 July-7 July

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$6.6 billion, per capita $130, real growth rate - 0.4% (FY89 est.)

Imports [time series]

$1.1 billion (c.i.f., FY88); commodities--food, fuels, capital goods; partners--USSR, Italy, FRG, Japan, UK, US, France

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 2.3% (FY89 est.); accounts for 13% of GDP

Industries [time series]

food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

5.2% (1989)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Ethiopia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Africa. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, which accounts for about 45% of GDP, 90% of exports, and 80% of total employment; coffee generates 60% of export earnings. The manufacturing sector is heavily dependent on inputs from the agricultural sector. Over 90% of large-scale industry, but less then 10% of agriculture, is state run. Favorable agricultural weather largely explains the 4.5% growth in output in FY89.

Unemployment rate [time series]

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation; some areas prone to extended droughts

Coastline [time series]

1,094 km Territorial sea: 12 nm

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

southern half of the boundary with Somalia is a Provisional Administrative Line; possible claim by Somalia based on unification of ethnic Somalis; territorial dispute with Somalia over the Ogaden; separatist movement in Eritrea; antigovernment insurgencies in Tigray and other areas

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; frequent droughts; famine

Land boundaries [time series]

5,141 km total; Djibouti 459 km, Kenya 861 km, Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 2,221 km

Land use [time series]

arable land 12%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 41%; forest and woodland 24%; other 22%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Natural resources [time series]

small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash

Note [time series]

strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; major resettlement project--that was ongoing in rural areas and would have significantly altered population distribution and settlement patterns over the next several decades--has been derailed because of ongoing civil wars

Terrain [time series]

high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley

Area (Total area) [time series]

1,221,900 km2; land area: 1,101,000 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

25 administrative regions (astedader akababiwach, singular--astedader akababi) and 5 autonomous regions* (rasgez akababiwach, singular--rasgez akababi); Addis Abeba (Addis Ababa), Arsi, Aseb*, Asosa, Bale, Borena, Debub Gonder, Debub Shewa, Debub Welo, Dire Dawa*, Ertra (Eritrea)*, Gambela, Gamo Gofa, Ilubabor, Kefa, Metekel, Mirab Gojam, Mirab Harerge, Mirab Shewa, Misrak Gojam, Misrak Harerge, Nazaret, Ogaden*, Omo, Semen Gonder, Semen Shewa, Semen Welo, Sidamo, Tigray*, Welega

Capital [time series]

Addis Ababa

Constitution [time series]

12 September 1987

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Counselor, Charge d'Affaires ad interim GIRMA Amare; Chancery at 2134 Kalorama Road NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-2281 or 2282; US--Charge d'Affaires Robert G. HOUDEK; Embassy at Entoto Street, Addis Ababa (mailing address is P.O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa); telephone [251] (01) 550666

Executive branch [time series]

president, vice president, Council of State prime minister, five deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers

Flag [time series]

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red; Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and the colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors

Independence [time series]

oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world--at least 2,000 years

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court Chief of State--Interim President Meles ZENAWI (since 1 June 1991); Head of Government--Acting Prime Minister Tamrat LAYNE (since 6 June 1991)

Legal system [time series]

complex structure with civil, Islamic, common, and customary law influences; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral National Assembly (Shengo)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

National Revolution Day, 12 September (1974)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

Oromo Liberation Front; Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

only party--Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE)

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 President--last held 10 September 1987 (next to be held September 1992); results--MENGISTU Haile-Mariam elected by the National Assembly, but resigned and left Ethiopia on 21 May 1991; National Assembly--last held 14 June 1987 (next to be held NA); results--WPE was the only party; seats--(835 total) WPE 835

Government type (Type) [time series]

on 28 May 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took control in Addis Ababa; on 29 May 1991 Issayas AFEWORKE, secretary general of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), announced the formation of a provisional government in Eritrea, in preparation for an eventual referendum on independence for the province

People

Birth rate [time series]

45 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigrean 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

114 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

18,000,000; agriculture and animal husbandry 80%, government and services 12%, industry and construction 8% (1985)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Amharic (official), Tigrinya, Orominga, Guaraginga, Somali, Arabic, English (major foreign language taught in schools)

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

50 years male, 53 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

62% (male NA%, female NA%) age 10 and over can read and write (1983 est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun--Ethiopian(s); adjective--Ethiopian

Net migration rate [time series]

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

All Ethiopian Trade Union formed by the government in January 1977 to represent 273,000 registered trade union members

Population [time series]

53,191,127 (July 1991), growth rate 3.1% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

Muslim 40-45%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35-40%, animist 15-20%, other 5%

Total fertility rate [time series]

7.0 children born/woman (1991)