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Communications

Airports [time series]

123 total, 86 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 13 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 38 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

25 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Merchant marine [time series]

12 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 62,627 GRT/88,909 DWT; includes 8 cargo, 1 roll-on/roll off, 1 livestock carrier, 2 petroleum 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; broadcast stations - 4 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 100,000 TV sets; 9,000,000 radios; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $760 million, 12.8% of GDP (1989)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 12,015,589; 6,230,680 fit for military service; 572,982 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 (1970-89), $3.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $8 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.0 billion

Electricity [time series]

330,000 kW capacity; 650 million kWh produced, 10 kWh per capita (1991)

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]

exchange rate conversion - $6.6 billion, per capita $130, real growth rate- 0.4% (FY90 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 than 10% of agriculture, is state run; the government is considering selling off a portion of state-owned plants. Favorable agricultural weather largely explains the 4.5% growth in output in FY89, whereas drought and deteriorating internal security conditions prevented growth in FY90. In 1991 the lack of law and order, particularly in the south, interfered with economic development and growth.

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

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; independence referendum in Eritrea scheduled for April 1992

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Area (Land area) [time series]

1,101,000 km2

Land boundaries [time series]

5,141 km; 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%

Maritime claims [time series]

Territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Terrain [time series]

high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley

Area (Total area) [time series]

1,221,900 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

14 administrative regions (astedader akababiwach, singular - astedader akababi) and 1 autonomous region* (rasgez akababi); Addis Ababa (Addis Ababa), Afar, Agew, Amhara, Benishangul, Ertra (Eritrea)*, Gambela, Gurage-Hadiya-Wolayta, Harer, Kefa, Omo, Oromo, Sidamo, Somali, Tigray

Capital [time series]

Addis Ababa

Constitution [time series]

to be redrafted by 1993

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 Marc A. BAAS; Embassy at Entoto Street, Addis Ababa (mailing address is P. O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa); telephone [251] (01) 550666; FAX [251] (1) 551-166

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

Council of Representatives: last held 14 June 1987 (next to be held after new constitution drafted) President: last held 10 September 1987; next election planned after new constitution drafted; results - MENGISTU Haile-Mariam elected by the now defunct National Assembly, but resigned and left Ethiopia on 21 May 1991

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, 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

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: Interim President Meles ZENAWI (since 1 June 1991); transitional government Head of Government: Acting Prime Minister Tamirat LAYNE (since 6 June 1991)

Legal system [time series]

Legislative branch [time series]

Council of Representatives

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

none

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 (OLF); Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP); numerous small, ethnic-based groups have formed since Mengistu's resignation

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

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18

Government type (Type) [time series]

on 28 May 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) toppled the authoritarian government of MENGISTU Haile-Mariam and took control in Addis Ababa; the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), announced as a two-year transitional period; on 29 May 1991, Issayas AFEWORKE, secretary general of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), announced the formation of the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE), in preparation for an eventual referendum on independence for the province

People

Birth rate [time series]

45 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

14 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

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]

112 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

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

Languages [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 (1992)

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]

2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor [time series]

All Ethiopian Trade Union formed by the government in January 1977 to represent 273,000 registered trade union members; was dissolved when the TGE came to power; labor code of 1975 is being redrafted

Population [time series]

54,270,464 (July 1992), growth rate 3.2% (1992)

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.9 children born/woman (1992)