Ethiopia

Wanted to share a little bit about Ethiopia. You can already see the flag and the weather *looks to the right* but I wanted to share a little more.

Population (2006 est.): 77 million.
Annual growth rate: 2.7%.
Ethnic groups (est.): Oromo 40%, Amhara 25%, Tigre 7%, Somali 6%, Sidama 9%, Gurage 2%, Wolaita 4%, Afar 4%, other nationalities 3%.
Religions (est.): Ethiopian Orthodox Christian 40%, Sunni Muslim 45-50%, Protestant 5%, remainder indigenous beliefs.
Languages: Amharic (official), Tigrinya, Arabic, Guaragigna, Oromigna, English, Somali.
Education: Years compulsory--none. Attendance (elementary) 57%. Literacy--43%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--93/1,000 live births.
Work force: Agriculture--80%. Industry and commerce--20%.

A country situated in the Horn of Africa. It is the 2nd-most populous nation in Africa.

Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the second-oldest official Christian nation in the world after Armenia. Ethiopia is the world's 27th-largest country.

Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns.

Ethiopia has historically had one of the best economies in the world, which had continued on during reign of Haile Selassie, during which the value of the Ethiopian dollar was very high. Ethiopia was on the verge of being a prosperous nation. However, after the 1974 revolution, the economy of Ethiopia was run as a socialist economy: strong state controls were implemented, and a large part of the economy was transferred to the public sector, including most modern industry and large-scale commercial agriculture, all agricultural land and urban rental property, and all financial institutions. Since mid-1991, the economy has evolved toward a decentralized, market-oriented economy, emphasizing individual initiative, designed to reverse a decade of economic decline.

-C