History

Geography

The name of Ethiopia is one of oldest in the world, the country of the burnt faces in Semitic "Habesha" which gave Abyssinia. The name covered a different space in the course of time. In the antiquity it indicated the lands south of Egypt. Then starting from the 4th century BC it refers to the current geographical surface, the country of Punt.
Its origins, between the 3^rd and the 1millenium BC must be found in the megalithism of the south as well as in the kingdom of Axoum in the north. The site of Yeha, 5^th century BC, is representative of the pre-axoumite civilization appeared on the plateau of Tigray.
The empire of Axoum is said to have been founded in the 8th century BC by following the meeting of the Queen of Sheba, Makeda, and of Solomon, king de Juda. However Axoum is attested only  starting from the 3^rd century BC. Mélénik I  was the first sovereign of Axoum by founding the salomonide dynasty  which reigned to 10th century after being converted with Christianity  in 4th AD.
This dynasty was replaced by the Zagwé which reigned until 1270 and were replaced by an alleged descendant of the salomonides.
The 14th and 15th centuries are marked by ceaseless fights with Moslem emirs, it is at that time that the legend of the Priest Jean to help the Christian kingdom of Axoum.
In the second half of the 16^th and the midddle of the 19th century the court is settled in Gondar, on the abyssian plateau, a city founded by king Fasilidas.
In 1889, Ménélik II proclaimed himself Negus Negast and founded the future Addis Ababa capital. Ethiopia entered modern times. In 1926 Hailé Sélassié "Negus"  reigned until his tragic disappearance in August 1975.
Troubled period settled in the country with colonel Mengistu self-proclaimed Head of State then exiled in 1991 in Zimbabwe.
In 1994 democratic elections elected the representatives of the constituent assembly which created the federal State in 1995.

Ethiopia is a vast plateau twice as large as France. Equidistant of the Equator and tropic of Cancer, it is crossed by many rivers and its summits exceed 4000 meters. It is cut in deep canyons of 1,000 to 2,000 meters of variation. A tectonic rift,  Great Valley Rift,  directed north-eastern south-west, divides it into two.
The north-eastern end,  in the shape of a funnel, constitutes the depression of Afar. It is the assemblage point of the three rifts, the East-African rift coming from Kenya, the rift of the Red Sea and the rift of the gulf of Aden. The desert of Danakil is to -120 meters below sea-level.
The centre of the rift is occupied by an alignment of lakes between the linear structures of the edges of the two parts of the plateau.
The part north of the Valley Rift is occupied in the septentrional part by the massif of Abyssinia, in the centre by the plateau of Choa, in the south by the plateau of south-west. This unit presents summits above 4,000 meters with mountainous landscapes, like the American west.
The part south of the Valley Rift it is made up of the plateau of Harargué and the lowlands of south-east of Ogaden towards Somalia.
Located at the south of the tropic of Cancer, the altitude and the monsoon of the Indian Ocean characterize the climate of the area, in lowlands the temperature is on average of 30°C and in highlands it is of 5°C.
The vegetation is the resultant of the climatic conditions and from the altitude of the area concerned, it is very varied.
The great richness of the fauna constitutes a true arch of Noah.

Instead of the first hominids the palaeontologists prefer to speak of conservation of bones and materials. In fact the climatic conditions allowed this conservation like nowhere elsewhere.
As for "Lucy", the skeleton has only 52 bones, measures approximately 1m30 and its sex is undefined!!!.

Ethiopia is not the cradle of humanity and "Lucy" is not our genetic Eve. On the other hand the area was the migratory crossing point towards north by the isthmus of Suez for the settlement of Eurasia. Thus the soil preserved traces which the archaeologists collect and which the imagination of the public transforms into myth via the media.

Economic facts

Facts of civilization

The economy of Ethiopia is characterized by three  components.
The principal resource, agricultural production, comes from the ground, water and hydroelectric energy. The surface of the territory consists of arable land 65% crossed by 14 rivers.
The livestock made up of bovines and caprines is the most important of Africa. It is a matter of fact it was the origin of the constitution of the richness of Negus Negast for ages.
The soil contains gold, natural gas, iron, tin, lignite and potassium.

The gross national product has a total value of +48% depending on agriculture, 10% of industry and 4% of the craft industry. The remainder is represented by services for 37%.

50% of the exports come from coffee, the remainder is also of agricultural with the ores.
The imports consist primarily in oil and the investments goods.
The deficit is financed mainly by private transfers and the international assistance.

The Ethiopian currency is the birr together with two official exchange rates compared to the American dollar.
The rate of unemployment in the cities is estimated by the international organizations at +40%.

The official name is Republic of Ethiopia whose capital is Addis Ababa. The population is +55 million inhabitants, for a GNP of $400 per capita. The official language of Ethiopia is amharique. The rate of literacy is 66%.

Ethiopia is a mosaic of people gathering 80 ethnic groups speaking more than 290 languages. They belong to the family of the Afro-Asian languages of which three of the sub-groups are represented.
The couchitic languages among which afar and oromo are spoken mainly in the rift and the afar depression.
The omotic languages among which karo and dassanetch are spoken in the omo basin.
The Semitic languages whose amharique, guèze and somali are spoken for the two first on the high plateau in the north of the rift and the somali in Ogaden border with Somalia.

The Christian religion was established in 4th century  by the conversion of king Ezana. The tradition reports that it is due to two Syrian missionaries, Frumentios and Aidesios. Frumentios was named bishop by the patriarch of Alexandria which considered Ethiopia as a diocese until 1959 when the first bishop of Ethiopian nationality  was named by Hailé Sélassié. Guèze is the liturgical language of the Ethiopian church which follows the syriac rite

The majority of Ethiopians is of Islamic religion.

The majority of Falachas lived in the province of Gondar. The Moïse operation transferred them to Israel starting from the refugee camps in Sudan at the end of 1984. The origin of the name comes from a guèze root meaning "emigrant". Falachas called themselves Bétä Esraél, i.e. the house of Israel. Their Ethiopian origin is attested, they belong to the agäw ethnic group. On the other hand the origin of their Judaism is controversial and no explanation is to date satisfactory.

Facts for the traveler

Sights

It is necessary to have a visa on a passport to enter Ethiopia, valid passport three months after the return in the country of origin.

On the health plan the usual recommendations are sufficient for this type of country because of the average altitude of the plates.

Ethiopia follows the Julien calendar which began 7 years and 113 days after the beginning of the Christian era. The year is divided into 12 lunar months  and one month of a five days (six days leap years).

The time lag with France is two hours summer and winter. The hours of the day is particular in Ethiopia. The day is divided into two times twelve hours and zero hour corresponds to 6/18 hours of the watch.

Summer garments are recommended as well as warm clothing for cold evenings.
You can buy objects of the local arts and crafts

The main holidays are related to the syriaque Christian liturgy. In 2002 the festivals of Timkat were celebrated on January 19. The processions are very coloured, the officiants wear brocart and the congregation are in white.
The most interesting visits relate to the Christian churches, without any restriction. They are  remarkable in Lalibela, Axoum, Gondar, Bahar Dar.

The national park of Simien, which means north in amharic, is located on the plateau at the north of the valley of the rift. Its average altitude is 3,300 meters, the summit is Dejen with 4,620 meters.
The park belongs to the world heritage of UNESCO and covers a surface of 179 km2. It was created for the safeguard of three endemic mammals of Ethiopia, the ibex walia, the jackal of Simien and the baboon gelada.
Treks are possible in the park of Simien starting from the town of Debrak. Nevertheless hikers will have to ensure their logistics from Addis Ababa, the area being very poor.

The journey describes a part of the historical road of north at the time of the festivals of Timkat in January 2002.