Discover Ethiopia

About Ethiopia

Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley.

Geography

With a total area of 1,104,300 sq km, Ethiopia is slightly five times of UK.The country has a high central plateau, with some mountains reaching more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). The Great Rift Valley splits the plateau diagonally. The western highlands gets summer rainfall; the lowlands and eastern highlands are hot and dry. The climate can be described as tropical monsoon but it varies greatly depending on the topography. Ethiopia'slowest point is at the Denakil Depression, -120 meter below sea level; the highest point is Ras Dejen standing at 4,543 meter .Ethiopia's 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, starts at Lake Tana in northwest Ethiopia. Three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and the castor bean. Volcanic activity in the Great Rift Valley; Erta Ale elev. 613 meter, which has caused frequent lava flows, is the country's most active volcano; Dabbahu became active in 2005, causing evacuations; other historically active volcanoes include Alayta, Dalaffilla, Dallol, Dama Ali, Fentale, Kone, Manda Hararo, and Manda-Inakir.

Climate

The predominant climate type is tropical monsoon, with wide topographic-induced variation. As a highland country, Ethiopia has a climate which is generally considered cooler than other regions at similar proximity to the Equator. Most of the country's major cities are located at elevations of around 2,000 - 2,500 meters (6,600 - 8,200 ft) above sea level, including historic capitals such as Gondar, Axum and Addis Ababa - the highest located capital city in Africa at 2,400 meters altitude (8,000 feet). Ethiopia has three different climate zones according to elevation:

Kolla

(Tropical zone) - is below 1830 meters in elevation and has an average annual temperature of about 27°C with annual rainfall of about 510 millimeters. The Danakil Depression (Danakil Desert) is about 125 meters below sea level and also the hottest region in Ethiopia where the temperature climbs up to 50 degree Celsius.

Woina dega

(Subtropical zone) - includes the highland areas of 1830 - 2440 meters in elevation. It has an average annual temperature of about 22°C with annual rainfall between 510 and 1530 millimeters.

Dega

(Cool zone) - is above 2440 meters in elevation with an average annual temperature of about 16°C with annual rainfall between 1270 and 1280 millimeters. The average annual temperature in Addis Ababa is 16°C (61°F), with daily maximum temperatures averaging between 20 - 25°C (68 - 77°F) throughout the year, and overnight lows averaging 5 - 10°C (41 - 50°F). A light jacket is recommended for the evenings, though many Ethiopians prefer to dress conservatively and will wear a light jacket even during the day.