Baker Island (2001) | Ethiopia (2005) | |
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) |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 43.9% (male 16,082,504/female 15,999,602)
15-64 years: 53.4% (male 19,452,737/female 19,525,746) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 905,648/female 1,087,049) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, sugarcane, potatoes, qat; hides, cattle, sheep, goats |
Airports | 1 abandoned World War II runway of 1,665 m, completely covered with vegetation and unusable (2000 est.) | 83 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 14
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 69
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 27 under 914 m: 23 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
1.4 sq km land: 1.4 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 1,127,127 sq km
land: 1,119,683 sq km water: 7,444 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 2.5 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | The US took possession of the island in 1857, and its guano deposits were mined by US and British companies during the second half of the 19th century. In 1935, a short-lived attempt at colonization was begun on this island - as well as on nearby Howland Island - but was disrupted by World War II and thereafter abandoned. Presently the island is a National Wildlife Refuge run by the US Department of the Interior; a day beacon is situated near the middle of the west coast. | Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, with the exception of the 1936-41 Italian occupation during World War II. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender sensitive territory. |
Birth rate | - | 38.61 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $1.887 billion
expenditures: $2.388 billion, including capital expenditures of $788 million (2004 est.) |
Capital | - | Addis Ababa |
Climate | equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun | tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation |
Coastline | 4.8 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | - | ratified December 1994, effective 22 August 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Baker Island |
conventional long form: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
conventional short form: Ethiopia local long form: Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik local short form: Ityop'iya former: Abyssinia, Italian East Africa abbreviation: FDRE |
Death rate | - | 15.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $2.9 billion (2001 est.) |
Dependency status | unincorporated territory of the US; administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Aurelia A. BRAZEAL
embassy: Entoto Street, Addis Ababa mailing address: P. O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa telephone: [251] (1) 550666 FAX: [251] (1) 551328 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador KASSAHUN Ayele
chancery: 3506 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 364-1200 FAX: [1] (202) 686-9551 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles consulate(s): New York |
Disputes - international | none | Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations and armed posturing prevail, preventing demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to withdraw to the delimited boundary until technical errors made by the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications; Ethiopia has only an administrative line and no international border with the Oromo region of southern Somalia where it maintains alliances with local clans in opposition to the unrecognized Somali Interim Government in Mogadishu; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; the UNHCR expects most of the remaining 23,000 Somali refugees in Ethiopia to be repatriated in 2005; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Sudan have been delayed by civil war |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $308 million (FY00/01) |
Economy - overview | no economic activity | Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $156 million in 2002, but historically low prices have seen many farmers switching to qat to supplement income. The war with Eritrea in 1998-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, in particular coffee production. In November 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 2% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather patterns late in 2003 helped agricultural and GDP growth recover in 2004. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 1.998 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | - | 2.149 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 8 m |
lowest point: Denakil Depression -125 m
highest point: Ras Dejen 4,620 m |
Environment - current issues | no natural fresh water resources | deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | - | Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1% |
Exchange rates | - | birr per US dollar - 8.68 (2004), 8.5997 (2003), 8.5678 (2002), 8.4575 (2001), 8.2173 (2000)
note: since 24 October 2001 exchange rates are determined on a daily basis via interbank transactions regulated by the Central Bank |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: President GIRMA Woldegiorgis (since 8 October 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister MELES Zenawi (since NA August 1995) cabinet: Council of Ministers as provided for in the December 1994 constitution; ministers are selected by the prime minister and approved by the House of People's Representatives elections: president elected by the House of People's Representatives for a six-year term; election last held 8 October 2001 (next to be held October 2007); prime minister designated by the party in power following legislative elections election results: GIRMA Woldegiorgis elected president; percent of vote by the House of People's Representatives - 100% |
Exports | - | NA |
Exports - commodities | - | coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds |
Exports - partners | - | Djibouti 13.3%, Germany 10%, Japan 8.4%, Saudi Arabia 5.6%, US 5.2%, UAE 5%, Italy 4.6% (2004) |
Fiscal year | - | 8 July - 7 July |
Flag description | the flag of the US is used | 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 were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 47%
industry: 12.4% services: 40.6% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $800 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 11.6% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 0 13 N, 176 31 W | 8 00 N, 38 00 E |
Geography - note | treeless, sparse, and scattered vegetation consisting of grasses, prostrate vines, and low growing shrubs; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife | landlocked - entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; the Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T'ana Hayk (Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia; three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean |
Highways | - | total: 33,297 km
paved: 3,996 km unpaved: 29,301 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 33.7% (1995) |
Illicit drugs | - | Transit hub for heroin originating in Southwest and Southeast Asia and destined for Europe and North America as well as cocaine destined for markets in southern Africa; cultivates qat (khat) for local use and regional export, principally to Djibouti and Somalia (legal in all three countries); the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center |
Imports | - | NA |
Imports - commodities | - | food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles |
Imports - partners | - | Saudi Arabia 25.3%, US 15.8%, China 6.6% (2004) |
Independence | - | oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 6.7% (2001 est.) |
Industries | - | food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 95.32 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 105.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 85.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 2.4% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACP, AfDB, AU, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1993) | 1,900 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Federal Supreme Court (the president and vice president of the Federal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits to the House of People's Representatives for appointment candidates selected by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council) |
Labor force | - | NA (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture and animal husbandry 80%, industry and construction 8%, government and services 12% (1985) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 5,328 km
border countries: Djibouti 349 km, Eritrea 912 km, Kenya 861 km, Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 1,606 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% |
arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0.75% other: 88.54% (2001) |
Languages | - | Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools) |
Legal system | the laws of the US, where applicable, apply | currently transitional mix of national and regional courts |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Federation or upper chamber (108 seats; members are chosen by state assemblies to serve five-year terms) and the House of People's Representatives or lower chamber (548 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote from single-member districts to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 15 May 2005 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - OPDO 177, ANDM 134, TPLF 38, WGGPDO 27, EPRDF 19, SPDO 18, GNDM 15, KSPDO 10, ANDP 8, GPRDF 7, SOPDM 7, BGPDUF 6, BMPDO 5, KAT 4, other regional political groupings 22, independents 8; note - 43 seats unconfirmed note: irregularities and violence at some polling stations necessitated the rescheduling of voting in certain constituencies; voting postponed in Somali regional state because of severe drought |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 48.83 years
male: 47.67 years female: 50.03 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42.7% male: 50.3% female: 35.1% (2003 est.) |
Location | Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia | Eastern Africa, west of Somalia |
Map references | Oceania | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | - | total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 81,933 GRT/101,287 DWT
by type: cargo 6, roll on/roll off 2 (2005) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually by the US Coast Guard | - |
Military branches | - | Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF): Ground Forces, Air Force
note: Ethiopia is landlocked and has no navy; following the secession of Eritrea, Ethiopian naval facilities remained in Eritrean possession (2003) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $337.1 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 4.6% (2004) |
National holiday | - | National Day (defeat of MENGISTU regime), 28 May (1991) |
Nationality | - | noun: Ethiopian(s)
adjective: Ethiopian |
Natural hazards | the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard | geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts |
Natural resources | guano (deposits worked until 1891), terrestrial and aquatic wildlife | small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: repatriation of Ethiopians who fled to Sudan for refuge from war and famine in earlier years is expected to continue for several years; some Sudanese and Somali refugees, who fled to Ethiopia from the fighting or famine in their own countries, continue to return to their homes (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Afar National Democratic Party or ANDP [leader NA]; Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front or BGPDUF [Mulualem BESSE]; Coalition for Unity and Democracy or CUD [HAILU Shawil]; Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF [MELES Zenawi] (an alliance of ANDM, OPDO, SEPDF, and TPLF); Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement or GNDM [leader NA]; United Ethopian Democratic Forces or UEDF [MERARA Gudina]; dozens of small parties |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Afar Revolutionary Democratic Union Front or ARDUF [leader NA]; Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy in Ethiopia or CAFPDE [BEYANE Petros]; Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Coalition or SEPDC [BEYANE Petros] |
Population | uninhabited
note: American civilians evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks during World War II; occupied by US military during World War II, but abandoned after the war; public entry is by special-use permit from US Fish and Wildlife Service only and generally restricted to scientists and educators; a cemetery and remnants of structures from early settlement are located near the middle of the west coast; visited annually by US Fish and Wildlife Service (July 2001 est.) |
73,053,286
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 50% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | - | 2.36% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; offshore anchorage only; note - there is one small boat landing area along the middle of the west coast | Ethiopia is landlocked and has used ports of Assab and Massawa in Eritrea and port of Djibouti |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 8, FM 0, shortwave 1 (2001) |
Railways | - | total: 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)
narrow gauge: 681 km 1.000-m gauge note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2004) |
Religions | - | Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: adequate for government use
domestic: open-wire; microwave radio relay; radio communication in the HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies; two domestic satellites provide the national trunk service international: country code - 251; open-wire to Sudan and Djibouti; microwave radio relay to Kenya and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 435,000 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 97,800 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 1 plus 24 repeaters (2002) |
Terrain | low, nearly level coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef | high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley |
Total fertility rate | - | 5.33 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | NA (2002) |
Waterways | none | - |