ET Factoids

Counting down to our departure, thought we would share a few interesting Ethiopia facts with you:

• Ethiopia is the only African country never to have been colonized, although it was occupied by the Italians in the 1930s until 1941.
• It is located in eastern Africa, just west of Somalia.
• Ethiopia is slightly less than twice the size of Texas.
• Terrain consists of a high plateau with a central mountain range divided by the Great Rift Valley.
• Amharic is the primary language although 70 different languages are spoken in this country.
• Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia. Addis holds about 2 million people. Ethiopia's total population is 76.5 million people.
• Life expectancy is about 45 years.
• Ethnic groups that make up the population: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%.
• Coffee, thought to have originated in Ethiopia, is the main export.