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Capital city: Addis Ababa
Population ( 2025): 135 million
Surface area: 1.13 million sq km (437,794 sq miles)
Languages: Amharic (official language) and Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaraginga, Somali, Arabic.
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 or Abay, 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
Life Expectancy (2025): 68 years
GDP (2025): $127.168 billion (total)
GDP by sector (2025): Agriculture (38%), Industry (22.8%), Services (42.2%).
Become 7 years younger in the land of 13 months of sunshine.
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. If this can be confusing, you also need to know that Ethiopians measure time in cycles of 12 hours starting when the sun rises at 6 a.m.
The only country in Africa with its own alphabet
Even though there are more than 80 different languages spoken in Ethiopia, Amharic is the official 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 wide spoken, along with English, used in the administration and for secondary education.
Teff: one of the healthiest cereals
Teff is the grain cereal used to make the Ethiopian staple dish known as injera. It is believed to have originated between 4,000 and 1,000 years B.C. in Ethiopia. Teff is the smallest grain in the world and is becoming very popular among Western countries for being a great gluten-free energy source. Injera is a unique flatbread with a slightly spongy texture made out of teff flour and accompanied with different sorts of wot or stews and its eating ritual consists of taking a piece in your hand and using it to scoop the accompaniment.
Feel blessed by the coffee ceremony
It is believed that the Ethiopian highlands gathered the origin of the coffee plant. 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.
Nowadays the Ethiopian buna (“coffee” in Amharic) is popular worldwide. In fact, Ethiopia is the top coffee-producing country of Africa and Arabica beans are specially appreciated. The coffee ceremony is one of the most recognisable parts of its culture, offering this peculiar ritual during festivities, visits or as a daily routine for community or family meetings..
A melting pot of religious diversity
Ethiopia is considered as 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 Falashas or Beta Israel and Islam also appeared early in Ethiopia when Mohammed’s followers were persecuted and sought refuge in Abyssinia. Despite this melting pot of different religions, the country is known for its peaceful coexistence and respect.
The spiritual land of the Rastafari movement
If you ever heard Rastafarians imploring Emperor Haile Selassie it is because they believed him to be the God incarnate, both divine and human. In fact, the name of the movement, Rastafarian, comes from Haile Selassie’s birth name: Ras Tafari, meaning “Prince Tafari”.
Shashemene, a small town lying 250 km South of Addis Ababa holds a peculiar Rastafarian community known as Jamaica.
Homeland of our 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. A visit to the National Museum of Addis Ababa will guide you through the history of humanity’s birthplace.