About Ethiopia

Country name: Conventional long form: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Land area: 432,310 sq
Population (2013 est.): 93,815,992
Transportation: Public Buses, Taxies, convenient Trains coming very soon
Government type: federal republic

Capital: Addis Ababa

Administrative divisions: 9 ethnically based states (kililoch, singular - kilil) and 2 self-governing administrations* (astedaderoch, singular - astedader); Adis Abeba* (Addis Ababa), Afar, Amara (Amhara), Binshangul Gumuz, Dire Dawa*, Gambela Hizboch (Gambela Peoples), Hareri Hizb (Harari People), Oromiya (Oromia), Sumale (Somali), Tigray, Ye Debub Biheroch Bihereseboch na Hizboch (Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples)

Independence: oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years (may be traced to the Aksumite Kingdom, which coalesced in the first century B.C.)

National holiday: National Day (defeat of Mengistu regime), 28 May (1991)

Constitution: ratified 8 December 1994, effective 22 August 1995

Legal system: civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: President GIRMA Woldegiorgis (since 8 October 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister HAILEMARIAM Desalegn (since 21 September 2012); note - prior to his approval as prime minister, HAILEMARIAM had been acting prime minister due to the death of former Prime Minister MELES election results: GIRMA Woldegiorgis elected president; percent of vote by the House of People's Representatives - 79%

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red, with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three main colors of her flag (adopted ca. 1895) were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the Pan-African colors

GDP (purchasing power parity): $103.1 billion (2012 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 7% (2012 est.)

GDP - per capita: $1,200 (2012 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 46.6%
industry: 14.6%
services: 38.8% (2012 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 85%
Industry: 5%
services: 10% (2009 est.)

Agriculture - products: cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, khat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish

Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement

Currency (code): Birr ( ETB )

Exchange rates: Birr (ETB) per US dollar - 17.8 (2012 est.)

Money Matter

The Ethiopian currency is called Birr, the rate of which against the US dollar is fixed in weekly auctioned. (Recently the rate fluctuated from ETB 19.95-20.01 to US$1.00). In order to change birr back to Dollars on leaving the country, visitors will be asked to produce bank receipts.

Search

BEST Event Planners

We have received awards from the leading airlines and corporate firms for our leadership and excellence in the travel/tourism industry.

FacebookTwitterYouTubeFlickerGoogle PlusOur Blog