Irrigated land:
2,900 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water
shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor
management
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
landlocked - entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the
de jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; the Blue Nile, the
chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T'ana Hayk
(Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia; three major crops are believed to
have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean
People Ethiopia
Population:
74,777,981
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43.7% (male 16,373,718/female 16,280,766)
15-64 years: 53.6% (male 19,999,482/female 20,077,014)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 929,349/female 1,117,652) (2006 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.8 years
male: 17.7 years
female: 17.9 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.31% (2006 est.)