Ethiopia - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Ethiopia. note 1: landlocked -- entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; Ethiopia is, therefore, the most populous landlocked country in the world; the Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T'ana Hayk (Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia
note 2: three major crops may have originated in Ethiopia: coffee (almost certainly), grain sorghum, and castor bean. Mother's mean age at first birth is 19.3 years (2019 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 267 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Ethiopia
| Location | Eastern Africa, west of Somalia |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 8 00 N, 38 00 E |
| Map references | Africa |
| Tarrain | high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley |
| Natural Resources | small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower |
| Natural Hazards | geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts volcanism: volcanic activity in the Great Rift Valley; Erta Ale (613 m), which has caused frequent lava flows in recent years, is the country's most active volcano; Dabbahu became active in 2005, forcing evacuations; other historically active volcanoes include Alayta, Dalaffilla, Dallol, Dama Ali, Fentale, Kone, Manda Hararo, and Manda-Inakir |
| Irrigated Land | 1,814 sq km (2020) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Blue Nile river source (shared with Sudan [m]) - 1,600 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | Ogaden-Juba Basin, Sudd Basin (Umm Ruwaba Aquifer) |
| Land Boundaries | 5,925 km |
| Border Countries | Djibouti 342 km; Eritrea 1,033 km; Kenya 867 km; Somalia 1,640 km; South Sudan 1,299 km; Sudan 744 km |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate | tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 1,096,570 sq km |
| Water Area | 7,730 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Ras Dejen 4,550 m |
| Lowest point | Danakil Depression -125 m |
| Mean elevation | 1,330 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 34.1% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 14.5% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 1.8% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 17.7% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 15% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 50.9% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
Highest density is found in the highlands of the north and middle areas of the country, particularly around the centrally located capital city of Addis Ababa; the far east and southeast are sparsely populated as shown in this population distribution map
People and Society
In Ethiopia, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Oromo 35.8%, Amhara 24.1%, Somali 7.2%, Tigray 5.7%, Sidama 4.1%, Guragie 2.6%, Welaita 2.3%, Afar 2.2%, Silte 1.3%, Kefficho 1.2%, other 13.5% (2022 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 2.37% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 29.6 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.8 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 3.2% of GDP (2021) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 0.3 beds/1,000 population (2016) |
| Total fertility rate | 3.84 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 1.89 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 37.7% (2020) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 67.5% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 4.5% of GDP (2019 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | -0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Ethiopian | Ethiopian(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Ethiopian Orthodox 43.8%, Muslim 31.3%, Protestant 22.8%, Catholic 0.7%, traditional 0.6%, other 0.8% (2016 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 38.7% (male 23,092,496/female 22,765,882) |
| 15-64 years | 58% (male 34,175,328/female 34,536,238) |
| 65 years and over | 3.4% (2024 est.) (male 1,794,269/female 2,186,085) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 75.7 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 70.2 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 5.5 |
| Potential support ratio | 18.1 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 20.4 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 20.2 years |
| Female | 20.7 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 23.2% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 4.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 5.461 million ADDIS ABABA (capital) (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.03 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.01 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 0.99 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.82 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 32.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 37.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 27.6 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 67.7 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 65.4 years |
| Female | 70 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 98.5% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 70.2% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 76.4% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 1.5% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 29.8% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 23.6% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 52.5% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 8.1% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 17.7% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 47.5% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 91.9% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 82.3% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 1.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 0.92 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.2 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 5.1% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 8.8% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 1.3% (2020 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 14.1% |
| Women married by age 18 | 40.3% |
| Men married by age 18 | 5% (2016 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Ethiopia
Want to know more about Ethiopia? Check all different factbooks for Ethiopia below.
