Ethiopia

A

Political Divisions

Formerly divided into 14 provinces, Ethiopia was reorganized as 24 administrative regions and 5 autonomous regions under the 1987 constitution. In 1991 the interim government drew up new boundaries for 14 self-governing regions, along ethnic lines. Elections to the regional assemblies were held in 1992. The province of Eritrea became an independent republic in 1993. Ethiopia now consists of 11 semi-autonomous administrative regions, which includes the city regions of Addis Ababa and Dirē Dawa.

B

Principal Cities

Addis Ababa, the capital, has a population of 2,570,000 (2001 estimate). Other major cities include Dirē Dawa, population 227,494 (2001 estimate), Gonder, 156,087 (2001 estimate), and Desē, 135,529 (2001 estimate).

C

Religion

About half of the total population is Christian, and Christianity is predominant in the northern provinces. The Ethiopian Orthodox Union Church, one of the world’s oldest Churches, which is headed by a patriarch and linked to the Coptic Church of Egypt, was the state church of Ethiopia until 1974. All the southern regions have Muslim majorities. The region of Gamu-Gofa and parts of the Sidamo and Arusi regions contain considerable animist elements. Ethiopia was also home to about 30,000 Falashas, who practise a type of Judaism that probably dates from before the 2nd century bc. In the mid-1980s more than 12,000 Falashas were airlifted to Israel. Most of the remaining Falashas emigrated to Israel in 1989 and 1991.

D

Language

The official language of Ethiopia is Amharic (a Semitic language), which has roughly 21 million speakers. Of the 80 or more languages spoken in Ethiopia, most belong to the Omotic and Cushitic branches of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Omotic languages include: Gamo-Goga-Dawro (1,236,637 speakers), Wolaytta (1,231,673), Kaficho (569,626), and Bench (173, 586). Cushitic languages spoken in Ethiopia include: West-Central Oromo (8.9 million speakers), Eastern Oromo (4.5 million), Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo (3.6 million), Somali (3,187,053), Sidamo (1, 876, 329), and Afar (979,367). Many Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken, including Berta (124,799), Gumuz (120,424), Me’en (56,585), and Uduk (20,000).

E

Education

Adult literacy in 2005 was 45 per cent. A major programme to increase literacy, which was only 4 per cent in the early 1950s, was started in 1979; many schools were opened, and new generations of teachers have graduated from several teacher-training schools. Free education exists from primary school through to college level, but regular school facilities are available to only about one third of school age children. In 2000 about 6.65 million students attended primary schools and 1,495,445 were enrolled at secondary schools run by the government and religious groups. Addis Ababa University (1950) has branches in Āwasa, Bahir Dar, Debra Zeit, and Gonder. Other university-level institutions include Alemaya University (1954), Bashir Dar University (1972), Debub University, Jimma University (1983), and Mekelle University. Around 147,954 students were enrolled in colleges and universities in 2002–2003. In 2000–2001, 4.8 per cent of the country’s gross national product (GNP) was spent on education.