1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

southern half of boundary with Somalia is a Provisional Administrative Line; possible claim by Somalia based on unification of ethnic Somalis; territorial dispute with Somalia over the Ogaden

Climate

tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation

Coastline

1,094 km

Comparative area

four-fifths the size of Alaska

Environment

geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

External debt

$1.7 billion, 1985; total debt service as a share of exports of goods and services 22% (1985)

Fiscal year

8 July-7 July

Land boundaries

5,198 km total

Land use

12% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 41% meadows and pastures; 24% forest and woodland; 22% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Monetary conversion rate

2.07 Ethiopian birr=US$1 (November 1986)

Special notes

strategic geopolitical position along world’s busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields

Terrain

high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

400 km + Red Sea Mits'iway i A Boundary representation is Asmara not necessarily authoritalive Aseb Gonder Ci tane Hayk Djré Dawa, ADDIS , AGABA Jima + . Awase

],221,900 km?; land area: 1,101,000 km?

Ethnic divisions

40% Oromo, 32% Amhara and Tigrean, 9% Sidamo, 6% Shankella, 6% Somali, 4% Afar, 2% Gurage, 1% other

Infant mortality rate

145/),000 (1983)

Labor force

90% agriculture and animal husbandry; 10% government, military, and quasi-government

Language

Amharic (official), Tigrinya, Orominga, Arabic, English (major foreign language taught in schools)

Life expectancy

38

Literacy

about 35%

Nationality

noun—Ethiopian(s); adjective—Ethiopian

Organized labor

All Ethiopian Trade Union formed by the government in January 1977 to represent 273,000 registered trade union members

Population

46,706,229 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 3.69%

Religion

40-45% Muslim, 35-40% Ethiopian Orthodox, 15-20% animist, 5% other

Administrative divisions

14 provinces

Branches

executive power exercised by the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), dominated by its chairman and small circle of associates; predominantly civilian Cabinet holds office at sufferance of military; legislature dissolved September 1974; judiciary at higher levels based on Western pattern, at lower levels on traditional pattern, without jury system in either

Capital

Addis Ababa

Communists

government is officially Marxist-Leninist

Elections

referendum on new constitution promised for early 1987 to be followed by elections for president and National Assembly Political party and leader: Ethiopian Workers Party (WPE), Mengistu HaileMariam

Government leader

Lt. Col. MENGISTU Haile-Mariam, Chairman of the Provisional Military Administrative Council (since February 1977)

Legal system

complex structure with civil, Islamic, coramon, and customary law influences; constitution suspended September 1974—military leaders have promised a referendum on a new constitution in early 1987; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

AfDB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICO, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Popular Revolution Commemoration Day, 12 September

Official name

Socialist Ethiopia

Other political or pressure groups

important dissident groups include Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) in Eritrea; Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Tigray and Welo Provinces; Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) in the Ogaden region

Suffrage

none

Type

under military rule since September 1974; monarchy abolished in March 1975, republic to be formed in 1987

Agriculture

main crop—coffee; also cereals, pulses, oilseeds, meat, hides and skins

Budget

as shares of GDP—revenues, 25.1%; expenditures, 31.8%; deficit, 6.7% (1986)

Electric power

330,000 kW capacity; 722 million kWh produced, 14 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$520 million (f.0.b., 1985/86 est.); 75% coffee

GDP

$5.0 billion, $120 per capita (1983/84 est.)

Imports

$1,037 million (c.if., 1985/86)

Major industries

cement, sugar refining, cotton textiles, food processing, oil refinery

Major trade partners

exports—US, FRG, Djibouti, Japan, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy; imports—USSR, Italy, FRG, Japan, UK, US

Natural resources

potash, salt, gold, copper, platinum

Airfields

171 total, 186 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m, 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 50 with runways 1,220-2,489 m

Civil air

22 major transport aircraft

Highways

44,300 km total; 3,888 km bituminous, 8,344 km gravel, 2,456 km improved earth, 29,612 km unimproved earth

Ports

2 major (Aseb, Mits’iwa)

Railroads

1,089 km total; 782 km 1.000meter gauge, of which 97 km are in Djibouti; 307 km 0.950-meter gauge

Telecommunications

4 AM, 0 FM, and 1] TV stations; 40,000 TV sets; 2,000,000 receiver sets; 1 satellite ground station

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense; paramilitary Emergency Strike Force Police

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 7 July 1986, $433.2 million; 20.4% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 10,351,000; 5,846,000 fit for military service; 500,000 reach military age (18) annually