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Characteristics of Ethiopia - Coggle Diagram
Characteristics of Ethiopia
Physical Characteristics
Location
It is located in the continent of Africa and is landlocked sharing borders with five countries:
Sudan,
Somalia,
Djibouti,
Eritrea
Kenya.
The capital of Ethiopia is its largest city - Addis Ababa.
It is the 10th largest country in the continent by area and 2nd in population. The country has a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometers.
Landscape
Ethiopia has a very varied landscape ranging from the densely vegetated Western Highlands to the arid desert in the Eastern Lowlands.
In the highest area of Ethiopia, , it reaches 4500m above sea level. At this height, it is cooler but has very thin soil and landscape which is not much good for anything apart from pastoral farming. The Southeast of Ethiopia is the Ogaden Desert where there is soil erosion and desertification.
The landscape is mainly formed by a high volcano. It is surrounded on three sides by low-lying deserts. The average height of the Ethiopian highlands is over 2000 meters and there are more than 29 mountains over 4000 meters.
Climate
There are three distinct climatic regions. These are:
The Western highlands: The wettest region with one long rainy season - May to October. They have temperatures that range from 15 degrees to 35 degrees. It has an average of 1200-2000mm rain yearly.
Central area: This area has two rainy seasons and one dry season with very unreliable rainfall averaging 400-800mm yearly.
Eastern lowlands - this area has two rainy seasons and two dry seasons but with an unreliable average of nothing to 3000mm rain yearly. Temperatures are hot - 30-40 degrees.
In 1980's, Ethiopia suffered severe drought and famine. Unreliable rainfall did not help this situation. Overgrazing and desertification are often issues found in the east compared to the wetter and cooler western and central areas where food production is high.
Seasons
Summer: Heavy rain
Autumn - spring season. Harvest
Winter: dry season with frost in mornings
Spring - autumn season with occasional showers
Ecosystems
There are a number of different Ecosystems ranging from forests to wetlands to deserts.
Mountain regions are found in the north west and southeast. In the highest areas, several mountain chains are found with climate near to 0 degrees all year round. Snow is sometimes experienced.
Woodland forests grow on lower areas of the highlands where the soil is good and fertile and is now mostly used for agricultural use.
Tropical savannahs and grassland surround the highlands. This is fertile but at the same time, vulnerable to drought when there is less rain.
Biodiversity is high - many thousands of plants, birds and animals - several are endangered.
Natural resources
Ethiopia has reserves of gold, oil, and gas but these are not yet fully exploited. Currently minerals, mostly gold, accounts for about 20% of exports by value.
Human Characteristics
Political development
Date What was happening
Pre-1935 Ethiopia was once known as Abyssinia and was one of the only two African countries (with Liberia) that avoided European control in the colonial era
1935-41 During the build up to the second world war, Italy has colonised Ethiopia and had control from the years 1935-1941, when rebels and British troops claimed back independence
1941-74 Although the Italians had invested in the highways, rail and power, the nation was set back after the second world war, due to the conflict and the loss of life and instability that followed.
Years of unrest coupled with drought and famine and the growth of communism, led to a successful military coup in 1974. The Soviet Union (now known as Russia) and Cuba financed this rebellion, and the military evicted the government leading to many arrests, banishments and deaths
1974-87 At least 1.4 million people died in the civil war and the Derg government remained in power until 1987. This monarchy was abolished, and the land was declared a new republic state.
The period 1977-78 became known as the Ethiopian ‘red terror’. During this time, the government grabbed tracts of land and evicted owners leading to migration, refugees and economic decline. There were up to 50, 000 people killed during the Derg era; a further 1.5 million were forcibly relocated
1984-85 The Derg government pursued a strict policy on agriculture, but productivity declined. From the mid-1980’s onwards Ethiopia suffered severe drought and eventual famine.
The 1984-85 famine (the inspiration for the original live aid do they know it’s Christmas charity song) killed a million people in just one year due to drought and high food prices. International agencies became involved and over US$2000 million in food aid was delivered from Ngo’s. Ethiopia has remained food and deficient since this time, made worse by continued population growth.
1991-2001 With the collapsible of the Soviet Union (now known as Russia), and the international spotlight on famine, and help from other nations helped to stable the nation and remove Derg control and from the year 1991it became federal democratic republic. The new government allowed free trade, lifted price controls and provided farmers with cheaper access to imported fertilisers and machinery without having to pay tax.
2001-Present Day Following the events of the 11th September 2001 and the middle east conflicts, the USA gave more support to Ethiopia and agricultural production and the economy have been rising gradually since then. The growth and transformation plan is the governments adventurous plan to end the situation of poverty following on from the millennium development goals. From the year 2012, new training programmes and investment have enabled farmers to learn new skills and increase yields. The government is stable, even though there are some claims that free speech is limited, but more trust is now being shared with local authorities and the people themselves.
Imports and exports
Exports:
Coffee grown at 1000-2000m in highlands makes up 28% of exports
Vegetable and legumes on irrigated farms make up 15% of exports
Pulses and oilseeds in fields make up 15% of exports
Livestock (over 170 millions animals) make up 235 of exports
Flowers in the highlands, in commercial fields and with TNC's make up 7% of exports.
Even though they are one of the world's largest producers of food and flowers, it is vulnerable to climate change and global price changes.
Imports:
Fertilizer to improve agriculture
Trucks to improve transport
Petrol for fuel industry and transport
Construction equipment for building
Wheat
International Investment
Ethiopia has strong global links increasing rapidly. There is global support from the UNITED NATIONS to help Ethiopia meet their development goals alongside many other LIDC's. Other support has come from organizations such as the UN and NGO's + other charities.
Trans-national corporations: Ethiopia has experienced a range of TNC's which have started operating in primary, secondary and certain tertiary industries.
Company What do they do in Ethiopia?
Hilton Hotels Leisure and recreation services, hotel creation.
Siemens Manufacturing of telecommunications, electrical items, medical technology
General Electric Aviation manufacturing, delivering rail links
Afriflora Flower growing, the world’s largest producer of fair trade roses
Dow Chemicals Manufacturing chemicals, plastics and agricultural products
H &M Textiles manufacturing, university education inn textiles
These TNC''s bring both advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
investment in hotel infrastructure brings an increase in tourism
workers in hotels are often paid a fair wage and may have access to the facilities out of hours
Disadvantages:
workers in LIDC's are paid a low salary and working conditions can be difficult
People move to Ethiopia to take advantages of the low cost and abundance of raw materials. Regulations are less strict and companies wish to make a great profit. Workers in factories may receive $50 a month whereas worked in an EDC may receive $175 for the same job
Population
Population of Ethiopia is 114 million, compared to a population of 66 million in the UK. This makes it the 12th most populous country in the world. There are 115 people/km2, compared to 275 people/km2 in the UK. 41.6% of Ethiopia's population are under 15. The birth rate is 33% and death rate is 9%. The life expectancy is 66 years. There is 41% of the population below 15, 25% between 16-30, 15% between 31-50, 11% 51-70 and 2% 71+. This means that the country has a very young population and the life expectancy is low. It is 66 and the world average is 72.
Employment structure
Employment used to be mainly in the primary sector but has recently moved more to tertiary jobs. This is because industries such as tourism are being developed and improved. There are now over 2.5million tertiary jobs in this industry which is benefiting 4 times as much to the national economy in 10 years. Most of employment though in Ethiopia is in agricultural industry.
Social factors
Access to education:
The Ethiopian government has set up an Education Development Plan which means 96% of children in Ethiopia get access to education in primary schools. This has increased from 50% in 1990.
The Education Gap is closing - 93% of girls are in primary schools. This has increased from 43% in 2000.
Quality of education is poor - 36% of adults are illiterate and cannot read or write
In primary education, there is still a higher proportion of male students to female students. In secondary school, there are barely any students.
Healthcare provision
The death of woman during or after childbirth has dropped 23% and this is due to better care before and after birth.
55% of woman now have access to contraception
Child mortality has reduced from 97/1000 to 45/1000 since 1900. This is following investment of maternal and child health.
vaccinations are now available for 65% of children to prevent serious illnesses. However, diarrhoea and malaria are biggest killers of children a year
Malaria was leading death in adults, but now all of population can have malaria net.
More doctors even though 1 doctor is shared by 3333 people.
technological developments
Ethiopia is behind other African countries in terms of technology and other innovations. All the telecoms, internet mobile data and other phone related things are operated by Ethio telecom. This has led to a distinct lack of competition; leading to slow technological developments. So even though the mobile phone market is growing, they are outdated and have a low network coverage. There are no credit cards, no international banking systems meaning no online shopping is possible. In 2015, less that 45 of Ethiopia were connected to internet and only 12% used mobile phones. This lack of what many countries would see as a standard makes it very hard for small technology setups to develop and grow.
There are some possible developments and improvements as Chinese companies have been investing in to the Ethio telecom leading to mobile phones and broadband becoming cheaper and more accessible. They are slowly catching up in technological developments.
