| Official Name |
Official name |
| Political System |
Federal State with Multi-Party Democracy |
| Head of State |
President Girma Woldegiorgis |
| Head of Government |
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi |
| Surface Area |
1,133,380 squ.m |
| Population |
80 Million |
| Population Density |
62 Per sq.m. |
| GDP per Capita |
$100 at Purchasing Power Parity $800 |
| Currency |
The name for Ethiopian currency is Birr. Currently 1 USD is equal to 9.05 birr. Public and private banks are found through out the country in towns and cities and can provide foreign exchange services. |
Exchange Rates
(November 2007) |
$ 1 = Birr 9.05
€ 1 = Birr 10.43
¥ /222100 = Birr 7.62
£ 1= Birr 15.35
Rand 1 = Birr 1.33 |
| Languages |
More than 80 languages are spoken along with 200 dialects in use. Ethiopia claims to be the only country in Africa to have its own alphabets. Some of the following are samples of the alphabets or phonetics of Geez origin |
| Official Language |
Amharic is the working language of the Federal Government. English is a widely used foreign language. It is also used as a medium of instruction in colleges and universities. |
| Other Major Local Languages |
Oromiffa, Tigrigna and Somali |
| Principal Religions |
Christian (61.7%), Muslim (32.8%) Traditional African (4.6%), and others (0.9%) |
| Time Zone |
GMT+3 (without DST)
Ethiopia is seven year younger than the rest of the world. It’s using the Julian calendar where as the rest follows the Gregorian calendar which counts 71/2 years ahead. A year constitutes of thirteen months and each month has 30 days. The 13th month has 5 or 6 days depending on the leap year. Ethiopia is on the GMT+3 time zone location. |
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