Geography

Ethiopia is the world's 27th largest country, with the major portion of land lying on the Horn of Africa, the eastern-most part of the African landmass. Bordering Ethiopia is Sudan to the west, Somalia to the East, Kenya to the south and Djibouti and Eritrea to the north.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, resulting in Ethiopia becoming landlocked. Ethiopia is divided by nine ethnically-based administrative states, which are subdivided into sixty-eight zones and two chartered cities, Addis Ababa [1] and Dire Dawa [5]. The nine states are as follows:

Ethiopia's Regions

Ethiopia contains a great diversity of terrains with mountain ranges contrasting against lowlands such as the Great Rift Valley (which runs south-west to north-east) and the Danakil depression. This diversity determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlements.

The rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September, preceded by intermittent showers from February or March.

Deforestation is a major concern in Ethiopia as it results in soil erosion, loss of nutrients in the soil, loss of animal habitats and reduction in biodiversity. It is estimated the country loses 1,410km2 of natural forests per year. Ethiopia's government plans to combat this through education, promoting reforestation programs and by providing alternative raw material to timber.