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Ethiopia General Information |
- Area: 1,127,000 sq km²
- Capital: Addis Ababa
- Currency: Ethiopian Birr
- Climate: Ethiopia is mainly pleasant all year round, with temperatures in Addis Ababa averaging around 20°C (68°F) no matter what season it is. The rainy season is from mid-June to the end of August.
- People: Oromo (40%), Amhara and Tigrean (32%), Sidamo (9%), Shankella (6%), Somali (6%), Afar (4%), Gurage (2%)
- Official language: Amharic, Tigrinya, Orominga, Guaraginga, Somali, Arabic, English
- Time: GMT plus three
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Ethiopia - Ethiopia is a country of northeastern Africa. Ethiopia's landscape is splendid, the people are welcoming, the sense of history is tangible and you won't have to worry about crowds of tourists! Ethiopia is just about the only country in Africa never to have been colonized, and its people have a proud tradition of fighting for their independence - their pride is justified. Much of the fascination of Ethiopia lies in its myriad historical sites, the obelisks and stele of Axum, the churches and coptic monasteries in the Tigre, the Lake Tana isles and the Lalibela (the African Jerusalem with its monolithic churches).
In Ethiopia there are also nine national parks, two of which include the mountain groups of the Simien and the Bale, while the others lie in the Rift Valley towards Kenya. The unforeseeable wild landscapes are surely the main attraction of these parks, where many of the animal species are protected, and some of them are endemic to the area. The proximity of Ethiopia to the Equator and the variety of its habitats make it one of the richest countries in Africa in wild bird life.
History & Background: Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Sub Saharan Africa. The earliest evidence of Ethiopian history was in about 1000BC when the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon. Unique among African countries, the Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from the colonial rule throughout the twentieth century, with the exception of the Italian occupation of 1936 – 1941 . In 1974 a pro-Soviet Marxist Leninist military junta , the Derg , deposed Emperor Haile Selassie , who had ruled since 1930 , and established a one-party socialist state. The ensuing regime suffered several bloody coups; uprisings, wide-scale drought , and massive refugee problem. It was eventually defeated in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces under the name Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). In 1994 a constitution was adopted leading to Ethiopia's first multiparty elections in the following year.
Best Time to travel: Ethiopia has two main seasons, the dry season which lasts from mid-September to the end of May, and the rainy season which goes from June to August, with an average temperature of 25°C. The best time to visit Ethiopia is from September to May.
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Main Attractions in Ethiopia |
BAHAR DAR
Bahar Dar sits on the southern shore of the 3600 sq km Lake Tana. Nothing much happens in Bahar itself, apart from a bustling Saturday market, but there's plenty to see in the surrounding area.
Lake Tana is scattered with islands, many of which are home to monasteries. Some of these monasteries were built as long ago as the 11th century, and most were built before the 16th century.
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The most popular monasteries are Ura Kidene Meret, Kebran Gabriel (not open to women) and Debre Maryam.
Known locally as Tis Isat, the falls are over 400m wide and 45m deep. Because of a series of dams near Bahar Dar, they aren't as impressive as they used to be. Bahar Dar is about 300km northwest of Addis Ababa.
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RIFT VALLEY LAKES
The seven lakes of the Rift Valley sit in a wide, fertile valley which runs between Addis Ababa and the Kenyan border. This is one of the best parts of Ethiopia for bird watching! Lakes Lagano, Abiata and Shala are perhaps the most popular of the seven - one lake is blue, one is silver and one is brown. Abiata and Shala form a designated national park, but this doesn't mean much in practice. Lake Abiata is shallow, with heaps of birds, while Lake Shala sits at the bottom of a 250m deep crater.
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Lagano is the only lake in Ethiopia which is bilharzia-free, so take a dip in it while you have the chance. You can also swim at the hot springs at Wondo Genet, south of the three lakes. Towards the Kenyan border, Lakes Abaya and Chamo are filled with wildlife, especially crocodiles.
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SIMIEN MOUNTAINS
The Simien Mountains National Park is excellent for trekking around in, with spectacular views and a large variety of wildlife, including baboons, ibexes, Ethiopian wolves and birds of prey such as the rare lammergeyer, a huge vulture. The park is made up of a rocky massif, which slopes down to grasslands - the massif is cut by streams and gorges.
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The national park has three general botanical regions. The lower slopes have been cultivated and grazed, while the alpine regions (up to 3600m) were forested, although much of it has now disappeared. The higher lands are mountain grasslands with fescue grasses as well as heathers, splendid Red Hot Pokers and Giant Lobelia.
The park was created primarily to protect the Walia Ibex, a type of wild goat, and over 1000 are said to live in the park. Also, in the park are families of the Gelada Baboon and the rare Simien fox. The Simien fox, although named after the mountains, is rarely seen by the visitor. Over 50 species of birds have been reported in the Simien mountains.
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ADDIS ABABA
In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, live five million people, from who three million arrived since the 1991 revolution. The city was only founded in 1887 , and was nearly abandoned due to a lack of fuel-wood until the introduction of eucalypts to the area. It's a huge and sprawling place, with very few street signs... although the main shopping strip, Churchill Ave, is labeled.
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The city's Ethnographic Museum is an ideal place to start learning about Ethiopia's rich ethnic diversity. It has an impressive array of religious crosses, triptychs and murals, as well as Haile Selassies's bedroom and bathroom. The National Museum is much smaller, but it does have the fossils of the 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', perhaps our earliest ancestor.
Africa Hall is the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and was designed as a monument to the African independence. Its huge and richly coloured stained-glass windows, by Ethiopian artist Afewerk Tekle, portray the history and diversity of Africa's people. If you'd like to see more of Tekle's work, visit the Giorgis Cathedral, built in 1896 to commemorate Ethiopia's victory over the invading Italians. Addis Ababa's Mercato is the largest market in East Africa. It's a sprawling 'mess' of open-air stalls, where you can buy anything from vegetables to gold jewellery.
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