Its a name is derived from the Greek word Aithiopia wich means “Land of the burnt face” In was also known in Europe as Abyssinia ,term coming from the Arabic Habashet wich referred to one of the Arabic that emigrated to Ethiopia at the beginning of its history.
Its source of the Blue Nile River, the longest river in the world
Has been called “Roof of Africa” for its outstanding topographic features. There are many high mountains including the 4th largest one in Africa, Ras Dashen (‘4533m) and Tullu Deemtu (4377m).
Is a country of many wonderful geological features such as Dallol Depressions, (one of the lowest depressions in the world ),the Ertale active volcano, Sof omer cave (the largest underground cave in Africa),the great East Africa Rift valley ,Blue Nile George and others.
Is considered as the cradle of Human kind and the home of human ancestors. The fossils of Lucy “Dinknesh” wich dates back to about 3.2 million years old, is the most prominent one.
Has a unique calendar wich is indentified by the 13 months of sunshine.
It is the only country to have maintained independent in the face of European colonizers.
Is the home of the hospitable and friendly people. Hospitality is the one of the prominent cultural features by wich most Ethiopian are well worldwide.
Home of Eleven world heritage sites those are included in the list of UNESCO.
ETHIOPIA: GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
The vast central mountain plateau- the Ethiopian highlands has an average elevation of between 1800 – 2400 metres. It is here that the country’s mountain: Ras Dashen (4533 m), Ethiopians highest mountain and the fourth highest in Africa and Tullu Deemtu (4377 m),the second highest point in Ethiopia found in Bale mountains national park.
In fact, Ethiopia has 20 mountains peaking above 4000m ,But the country is also home to one of the lowest points on the earth surface. In hospitable Danakil Depressions wich lies at more than 100 metres below sea level.
Southern Ethiopia is divided diagonally by the Rift valley. This valley is on average 50 kilometres wide and runs all the way down to Mozambique. Several lakes can be found as a ”chain”-on the valley floor. These lakes are much loved by birdwatchers.
The northern end of the East Africa Rift valley opens in to the Danakil Depression, one of the hottest places on the Earth.
Ethiopian Rift valley reflects its topography. The highlands have a very different climate than the lowlands.
Rainfall in the lowlands is around half that of the highlands, but some areas experienced small rains in March and April.
In Bale Mountains the south East, snow sometimes falls on 4000 metres.
ETHIOPIA: FLORA AND FAUNA
Even though Ethiopia does not have the large wildlife numbers of neighboring Kenya, Its nonetheless has a very remarkable flora and fauna. Many animals and birds are unique to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is especially well-known for its wonderful and unique birdlife – It is a paradise for its bird lovers. Birds are numerous, diverse (862 different species), very colourful and very important for bird watchers: Easy to spot because Ethiopia natural areas are very un spoilt and quite.
Ethiopian highlands flora is also very exceptional –between 600 – 1400 plant species are thought to be endemic and 10 -20 percent of all Ethiopians flora. There are no country in Africa that has more unique species of flora. An example is the exotic Abyssinian Rose and Hagenia Abyssinica: commonly found in Bale Mountains National Park.