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Ethiopia was known as Abyssinia until the twentieth century. It is the oldest independent country in Africa. Ethiopia is in Northeastern Africa. Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia are known as the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia is located at 3 degree and 14.8 degree latitude, 33 degree and 48 degree longitude in the Eastern part of Africa laying between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. It is bounded on the Northeast by Eritrea and Djibouti, on the east and Southeast by Somalia, on the south by Kenya and on the west and Northwest by Sudan.
Since 1995, Ethiopia has been divided into 10 administrative regions based on ethnic lines. These are Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Benishangul, Southern Peoples' State, Gambella, Harar and Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia covers 1,122,000 square kilometres with the population of 60 million. 90% of the populations live in rural areas and depend for survival mainly on agricultural products such as teff, wheat, maize, barley and sorghum. Ethiopia is the tenth largest and the third most populous state in Africa after Nigeria and Egypt.
Ethiopia is a mountainous country and is admired for its natural beauty by many visitors. The Ethiopian plateau is divided into north-east and south-west by the Great Rift Valley that extends from Mozambique to the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, passing in a south-north direction through Ethiopia. There are numerous lakes in the Great Rift Valley, many of them of tourist destinations. The northern part of the Great Rift Valley known as the Danakil Depression is about 125 metres below sea level and the hottest region in Ethiopia where the temperature climbs up to 50 degree Celsius. To the west of the plateau ranges lies the gorge of the Blue Nile river and Lake Tana, Ethiopia's largest lake and the source of Nile river.
Although the average elevation of the plateau is about 1600 metres; the lowest point is Danakil Depression (125 metres below sea level) and the highest peak is Ras Dashan (4620 metres above sea level). For more information, visit http://encarta.msn.com.
The Ethiopian currency is called Birr and is issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia. One Birr is made up of 100 cents. The Bank notes are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 Birr and the coins are in denominations of 1,5, 10, 25 and 50 cents.
Visitors may import unlimited foreign currency and must declare the amount they bring in to Customs on arrival. Foreign currency can be changed at banks and hotels and the receipts for all exchange transactions must be retained as this may be required by Customs on departure. Visitors may change back any left over Ethiopian Birr to their chosen foreign currency at the airport before departure and must provide the declaration form with all receipts for exchange transactions.
Please note that the exchange rate fluctuates from day to day. For more up-to-date exchange rate information, visit the online currency converter service www.oanda.com or www.rexart.com.
Banks are open from 8 AM (2 o'clock local time) to 4 PM (10 o'clock local time). Some banks close for lunch between 1 PM (7 o'clock local time) and 2 PM (8 o'clock local time).
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