COUNTRY PROFILE: ETHIOPIA



April 2005





COUNTRY



Formal Name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Ityop’iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik).



Short Form: Ethiopia.



Term for Citizen(s): Ethiopian(s).



Capital: Addis Ababa.



Major Cities: Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Nazret, Harer, Mekele, Jima, Dese, Bahir Dar, and Debre Zeyit (in order of decreasing size, 1994 census).



Independence: Ethiopia celebrates May 28 as its National Day, the date of the defeat of the military government (Derg) in 1991.



Public Holidays: Ethiopians observe the following public holidays: Christmas (January 7, 2005*); Epiphany (January 19, 2005*); Feast of the Sacrifice/Eid al Adha (January 21, 2005*); Battle of Adowa (March 2, 2005); Birth of the Prophet/Mouloud (April 21, 2005*); Good Friday (April 29, 2005*); May Day (May 1, 2005); Easter Monday (May 2, 2005*); Patriots’ Victory Day (May 5, 2005); Downfall of the Derg (May 28, 2005); New Year’s Day (September 11, 2005*); Feast of the True Cross (September 27, 2005*); End of Ramadan/Eid al Fitr (November 4, 2005*). Asterisks indicate holidays with variable dates according to either the Islamic or Orthodox calendar.



Calendar: Ethiopia uses a solar calendar, which divides the year into 12 months of 30 days each, the remaining five days (six in a leap year) constituting a short thirteenth month. The Ethiopian New Year commences on September 11 in the Gregorian (Western) calendar and ends on the following September 10. In addition, the Ethiopian calendar runs eight years behind the Gregorian (seven years from September 11 to December 31). Hence, the Ethiopian year 1997 began on September 11, 2004, and will end on September 10, 2005, in the Gregorian calendar.



Flag:

Ethiopia’s flag has three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow,

and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from

the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three

bands. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three

main colors of the flag were so often adopted by other African countries

on independence that they became known as the pan-African colors.