Capital city: Addis Ababa Population (2017): 105 million Surface area: 1.13 million sq km (437,794 sq miles) Languages: Amharic (official language) Oromigna, Somali, Afar, and Tigrinya. English is also the administrative language. Religion: Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, Muslim and Protestant Christianity Topography: Ethiopia has an elevated central plateau varying in height from 2,000 to 3,000 meters above sea level. There are around 25 mountains whose peaks reach over 4,000 meters in the North and the Centre of the country. The most famous Ethiopian river is the Blue Nile which flows a distance of 1,450 kilometres from its source to join the White Nile in Khartoum. Currency: Ethiopian Birr (ETB) Time: GMT+3 Telephone code: +251 Electric supply: 220 Volts 50 cycles AC (Adapters can be easily found in all major cities)
| Destination | Addis Ababa, Axum, Lalibela, Gonder, Denakil, Harar, Omo Valley |
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 INTERESTING FACTS |
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| OWN ALPHABET | Ethiopia is the only country in Africa with its own alphabet. Even though there are more than 80 different languages spoken in Ethiopia, Amharic is the working language, a semiotic language descending from Ge’ez, the language of ancient Axum which is still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Amharic has its own alphabet, consisting of 209 symbols and 25 letter variants. Other regional languages such as Oromigna, Tigrinya, and Arabic are also widely spoken, along with English, used in administration and for secondary education. |
| UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES | The largest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites. There are nine places in Ethiopia considered as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The Simien Mountains National Park is the only natural site.
The others are listed as cultural sites, including the ruins of the city of Axum; the fortified historic route of Harar Jugol; and the stonewalled terraces of Konso, (also known as the “natural New York village”). Also the lower valleys of both the Awash and the Omo River where the evidence of human evolution was found; the eleven rock-hewn churches of Lalibela; and Tiya with its 32 carved stelae covered with indecipherable symbols. Ethiopia is among the countries that have registered their tangible and intangible heritage under UNESCO’s cultural heritage list. According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism, UNESCO has recognized four intangible and nine tangible Ethiopian (a total of 13) heritages. |
| HOMELAND OF ANCESTORS | The Afar desert of Ethiopia, in the Middle Awash, is the early home of our human ancestors. According to the latest research, fossils of Homo gender have been found buried in the soil of this area. This is also the area where “Lucy”, one of the World’s most famous fossils, was also found.
Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of fossilized bone representing 40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis. In Ethiopia, the assembly is also known as Dinkinesh, which means “you are marvelous” in the Amharic language. Lucy was discovered in 1974 in Africa, at Hadar, a site in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia. |
| HOME FOR THE ARC OF COVENANT | Ethiopia is home to the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Ethiopia is considered one of the oldest Christian nations in the World, adopting Christianity during the 4th Century. It is also claimed to be the home to the legendary Ark of the Covenant containing the 10 Commandments.
This relic is said to be kept in Axum and only one man is allowed to see it. Also, Ethiopia is the home of the Black Jews, known as Beta Israel, and Islam also appeared early in Ethiopia when Mohammed’s followers were persecuted and sought refuge in Abyssinia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Replicas of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint; the most popular of these include Mary, George, and Michael. |
| ORIGIN OF COFFEE | According to a legend, Kaldi, an Ethiopian shepherd, once discovered the properties of this stimulating plant after noticing that his goats became very active and awake after eating berries from a certain tree, It is believed that the Ethiopian highlands are the origin of the coffee plant.
Ethiopia is one of the top coffee-producing countries in Africa and Arabica beans are especially appreciated. The coffee ceremony is one of the most recognizable parts of culture, offering this peculiar ritual during festivities, visits, or as a daily routine for community or family meetings. Coffee was first exported out of Ethiopia to Yemen by Somali merchants from Berbera and Zeila in modern-day Somaliland, which was procured from Harar and the Abyssinian interior. |
| BE SEVEN YEARS YOUNGER | You will be seven years younger when you travel to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the only Christian country that still follows the Julian calendar and consequently, it is seven years and eight months behind the rest of the Christian world (which follows the revised Gregorian calendar). Thus, the Ethiopian calendar consists of 13 months: 12 months of 30 days and another month of five (or six days in leap years) days duration. |
| Special packages | Meskel Festival
Meskal is second in importance only to Timket and has been celebrated for over 1,600 years. The word actually means “cross” and the feast commemorates when the cross of Christ was revealed to Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. Ethiopian Christmas Festival Year after year Christians recall the story of the Christ child in a manger, shepherds on Judean hills witnessing the celestial song of angels as they pronounced the Long Expected One had come. Timket Festival Timket is the greatest festival of the Ethiopian year, falling just 2 weeks after Ethiopian Christmas. It is actually a 3-day affair preceded by the eve of Timket when the dramatic processions take place through a night of fasting, to the great day itself and the commemoration of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River |
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An Ethiopia tour is a journey through time, culture, and natural wonders. With its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, captivating landscapes, and vibrant traditions, Ethiopia beckons to those who seek to explore a land that holds the key to our ancestral past.
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