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Sub Saharan Africa
Ethiopia |
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Country information
ETHIOPIA TODAY
Country Facts
Area: 1.1 million sq km (450,000 sq miles)
Population: 76-78 million (various estimates circa 2005 – 2007 census results not published)
Capital City: Addis Ababa
People: Oromo 32%, Amhara 30%, Southern peoples and nationalities (Gurage Sidamo/Walaita/Others) 10%, Tigre 6%, Somali 6%, Others (combined smaller ethnic groups) 16% (compiled from various estimates)
Language(s): Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromigna, Southern languages (eg Guragigna, Sidaminga), Somali, Arabic, other local dialects and English (being the major foreign language taught in schools)
Religion(s): Orthodox Christianity 45%, Protestant 10%, Islam 40%, animist 4%, other 1% (average of various estimates)
Currency:Ethiopian Birr exchange rate 18.8 birr to £1
Major political parties: TThe government is run by the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), an alliance between 4 parties – the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation (OPDO) and Southern Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Movement (SEPDM) - and 7 other smaller affiliated ethnic parties. Major opposition parties are the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) - now split into 3 factions, the United Ethiopian Democratic Party –Medhin (UEDP-Medhin), and the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM).
Head of State: (President) Girma WoldeGiorgis (with little formal power)
Prime Minister: Meles Zenawi (with full executive powers)
Foreign Minister: Seyoum Mesfin
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations, African Union (AU), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
