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Ethiopia

 Flag of Ethiopia

Map of Ethiopia Last reviewed: 29 July 2011

Country information


Map of The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

ETHIOPIA TODAY

Country Facts

Area: 1.13 million sq km (437,794 sq miles)
Population:  90,873,739 (2011 est.)
Capital City: Addis Ababa
People: Oromo 34.49%, Amhara 26.89%, Southern peoples and nationalities (Gurage Sidama/Walaita/Others) 8.85%, Somali 6.20%, Tigray 6.07%, Others (combined smaller ethnic groups) 17.5% (based on the 2007 census)
Language(s): Amharic, Tigrinya, Afan Oromo, Southern languages (eg Guragigna, Sidaminga), Somali, Arabic, other local dialects and English (the major foreign language taught in schools)
Religion(s): Orthodox Christianity 40.5%, Protestant 19.6%, Islam 35.4%, traditional 3.1%; Catholic 0.8%; others 0.7% (based on the 2007 census)
Currency: Ethiopian Birr, exchange rate 27 birr to £1
Major political parties: The government is run by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), an alliance between four parties – the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO) and the Southern Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Movement (SEPDM) – along with six other smaller affiliated ethnic parties.
The largest opposition movement is the coalition known as the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Medrek in Amharic) which comprises the Oromo Federalist Congress, Arena Tigray, the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, the South Ethiopia Peoples’ Democratic Coalition and the Ethiopian Social Democratic Party. Other major opposition parties include the Ethiopian Democratic Party and the All Ethiopian Unity Party.
Head of State: (President) Girma WoldeGiorgis (with little formal power)
Prime Minister: Meles Zenawi (with full executive powers)
Foreign Minister: Hailemariam Dessalegn
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations, African Union (AU), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
 

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