Nature & People

• Language
• Flora and Fauna
• Climate Clothing

Known as Abyssinia until the 20th century, Ethiopia is the oldest independent nation in Africa. It was home to the powerful Christian kingdom of Axum in the first century’s ad and became a Christian empire in the 15th century. Ethiopia has a diverse population, with more than 70 distinct ethnic and linguistic groups, has seen human habitation for longer than almost anywhere else in the world; perhaps modern homo sapiens evolved there, located in the Horn of Africa, and is bordered on the north and northeast by Eritrea, on the east by Djibouti and Somalia, on the south by Kenya, and on the west and southwest by Sudan.

Language

Of the 70 or more languages spoken in Ethiopia, most belong to the Semitic and Cushitic branches of the Afro-Asiatic family. The language of the Ethiopian church liturgy, geeze gave rise to the Semitic cluster of languages: AMHARICc, TIGRINYA, and TIGRE. AMHARIC, the country’s official language, , Africa’s only wrriten language with it’s own unique script- widely spoken throug out the country, by more than half of the population. English and Arabic are also spoken by many people.

Flora and Fauna

As in a day's journey the traveller may pass from tropical to almost Alpine conditions of climate, so great also is the range of the flora and fauna. In the valleys and lowlands the vegetation is dense, but the general appearance of the plateaus is of a comparatively bare country with trees and bushes thinly scattered over it. The glens and ravines on the hillside are often thickly wooded, and offer a delightful contrast to the open downs.

Climate and Clothing

The climate of Ethiopia varies mainly according to elevation. The tropical zone below approximately 1,800 m (approximately 6,000 ft) has an average annual temperature of about 27°C (about 80°F) and receives less than about 500 mm (about 20 in) of rain annually. The subtropical zone, which includes most of the highland plateau and is between about 1,800 and 2,400 m (about 6,000 and 8,000 ft) in elevation, has an average temperature of about 22°C (about 72°F) with an annual rainfall ranging from about 500 to 1,500 mm (about 20 to 60 in).

Above approximately 2,400 m (approximately 8,000 ft) is a temperate zone with an average temperature of about 16°C (about 61°F) and an annual rainfall between about 1,300 and 1,800 mm (about 50 and 70 in). The principal rainy season occurs between mid-June and mid- September, followed by a dry season that may be interrupted in February or March by a short rainy season. At Addis Ababa(the capital city of Ethiopia), which ranges from 2,200 to 2,600 m (7,000 to 10,000 ft), maximum temperature is 26 °C (80 °F) and minimum 4 °C (40 °F).