Ethiopia Facts

  • Size: About twice the size of Texas OR
    about the size of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and; South Dakota, combined.

  • Population: a tad less than 91 million people (13th Largest in the world, 2nd largest of Africa) (about 3 times the pop of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota, combined)

  • Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world

  • Ethiopia follows the Julian Calendar, which consists of twelve months of 30 days each and a thirteenth month of five days (six in a leap year). (The Ethiopian Calendar is about seven years and eight months behind the US calendar!!!)

  • In Ethiopia, the day begins at sunrise or 6:00 a.m. and Ethiopians begin counting the hours from this point. For example, 8:00 a.m. is 2:00 a.m. to an Ethiopian; 6:00 p.m. is 12:00 p.m, etc....

  • There are more than 70 (I've read anywhere from 70-95) tribes/ethnic groups in Ethiopia, most of which have their own language.  Sometimes translating can take multiple translators!
     
  • After 30 years of war, Eritrea broke off of Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

  • There are about 6 MILLION orphans in Ethiopia. (the pop of Wisconsin is 5,300,000) .......6.6% of their entire population are orphans! (720,000+ alone are orphaned by HIV/AIDS)

  • Only 38% of the population has access to clean drinking water.

  • One in six children die before the age of 5
  • One in five children die before their first birthday

  • About 42% of the population are literate. 58% of the population can't read or write.

  • 60% of children are stunted because of malnutrition