Interesting Info on Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. Fossils of the oldest human skeleton, "Lucy," were found here in 1974. Ethiopia is located in East Africa just north of Kenya and west of Somalia and only a few hundred miles north of the equator. Interestingly, it is the only African country never colonized by Europe (with the exception of an Italian occupation during WWII in the 1930s). It is slightly less than twice the size of Texas. It shares borders with Kenya (to the south), Somalia (east), Djibouti (northeast), Eritrea (north) and Sudan (west).
Roughly 75 million people live in Ethiopia, and thus there is much diversity in food, languages, people groups, and customs. The landscape is breathtaking, from mountainous areas to parts of the Great Rift Valley, known as the "cradle of civilization" and the Nile River. (The picture at the top of our blog is of the Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia.)

Ethiopia is traditionally a Christian nation. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South, and 10% animistic. Ethiopia traces its history and ruling lineage back to King Solomon and the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba. It is believed that the Queen of Sheba went to visit King Solomon and had a child with him. That son became the next Ethiopian king, so every Ethiopian monarch since then can trace their lineage to the throne of David.

During the 1980s, Ethiopia was stricken with crises of war and famine, leading to the still-lingering image the starving children of Ethiopia. Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie wrote a song called “We Are The World” and recorded it with many other superstars of their day. Proceeds from the sale of what ended up being the #1 song of 1985 went to famine relief. Today, Ethiopia faces an orphan crisis, as 4.5 million children have no family, primarily due to poverty and AIDS. Many orphans live on the streets, while others live in public and private orphanages.
It’s still the 4th poorest country in the world making about $160 per family per year. In addition:

• One in ten children die before their first birthday
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)
• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.
• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.

Sources: Greening Ethiopia, Ethiopia’s Children, Global Income Per Capita, CIA World Facts