No visa is required for citizens of Kenya, Djibouti, and Sudan.Nationals of the following countries can apply and receive a tourist visa upon arrival at the airport. The cost is $20 for a one-time entry. ARGENTINA . AUSTRALIA . AUSTRIA . BELGIUM . BRAZIL . CANADA . CHINA . DENMARK . FINLAND . FRANCE . GERMANY . GREECE . IRELAND . ISRAEL . ITALY . JAPAN . KOREA REPUBLIC . KUWAIT . LUXEMBOURG . MEXICO . NETHERLANDS . NEW ZEALAND . NORWAY . POLAND . PORTUGAL . RUSSIAN FEDERATION . SOUTH AFRICA . SPAIN . SWEDEN . SWITZERLAND . TAIWAN (PROVINCE OF CHINA) . UNITED KINGDOM . UNITED STATES Those not included in the list above can apply for a visa at Ethiopian Embassies and consulates in their home countries.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian church in Africa. Christianity became the state religion in the Axumite Empire in 330 AD., even before Rome. Muslim refugees were given asylum in Ethiopia, established communities and were free to worship before Islam triumphed in its birthplace Arabia.
With an area of 1, 112, 000 square kilometers, Ethiopia is as large as France and Spain combined. From the north and running down the center are the Abyssinian highlands, to the west of the chain the land drops to the grasslands of Sudan, to the east the deserts of the Afar and the Red Sea. South of Addis Ababa, the land is dominated by the Rift Valley Lakes.
When the European powers were scrambling to carve up Africa between them, Ethiopia retained its independence. The defeat inflicted by the Ethiopian army under Emperor Menelik II on invading Italian forces at Adwa in 1896 was the heaviest suffered by any European army in Africa, and reverberated throughout the world at the time. The occupation of Ethiopia by Mussolini's forces from 1935-41 was met with strong and continuous resistance, and left no permanent stamp on the character of the country or the psyche of its people. Ethiopia is now a Federal Republic made up of 14 regions, mainly based on ethnicity. (In southern Ethiopia, 5 regions have combined to form the Southern Region.) The present government was elected in 1995 for a 5-year term.
85% of the population get their livelihood from the land. Coffee (the word originates from the name of the province Kaffa, in the south west of Ethiopia) provides 65% of foreign currency earnings. The opening up of the economy since the overthrow of the previous government in 1991 has created more favorable grounds for development of Ethiopia's resources. Ethiopia is the "water tower" of the region (the Blue Nile contributes to 85% of the main Nile flow) and plans are now in progress to better exploit the country's water resources both to boost agricultural production and for power generation. Mineral exploration and mining has stepped up in recent years-there are reserves of natural gas, coal, Gold, copper, tantalum, potash, zinc, iron ore, marble, precious and semi-precious stones. The export of livestock, skins and hides (Ethiopia has the largest domestic livestock population in Africa) oilseeds, pulses and animal feed makes up the rest of Ethiopia's foreign currency earnings, with tourism set to make an increasingly important contribution.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is a developing country located in the northeastern part of Africa commonly known as ' The Horn of Africa'. It lies in the equatorial region between 30 - 180 north and 330 - 480 east. Eritrea and Djibouti bound it on the northeast, on the east and southeast by Somalia, on the south by Kenya and on the west by Sudan and South Sudan. Ethiopia is as large as France and Spain combined, and has a landmass 1,104,300 sq.km. It is the tenth largest country in Africa by size and second by population. It is a democratic national comprising of 11 semi-autonomous administrative regions organized loosely along major ethnic lines. It has an agriculturally dominated economy, which about 65 per cent of the land is presently cultivated. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and has its own calendar, alphabet and clock.
A wide variety of different dishes are available in Ethiopia and most of them are unique to the country so you have to familiarize yourself first with the names of different dishes. You can choose from the spicy and hot Doro Wot, Kitfo, or Key Wot to less spicy dishes like Alicha Wot. You can get these foods virtually anywhere in the country and portions are generous and very inexpensive. There are also home made and fabricated local drinks for you to choose from Araki- a strong alcoholic beverage made from millet and maize, Tej - a mead like drink made from honey and Tela - locally brewed beer from maize, wheat and barely and Guder- the Ethiopian wine.
A volcanically formed central plateau, isolated on three sides by low- lying desert dominates the Ethiopian landscape. The central plateau, often referred to as the Ethiopian highlands, has an average altitude of above 2,000m and includes 20 peaks of 4,000m or higher. The Ethiopia highlands are dramatically mountainous, no more so than where they are bisected by the Rift Valley, which starts at the Red sea, then continues through the Danakil Depression and through southern Ethiopia to Mozambique in southern Africa. The part of the Rift valley, south of Addis Ababa, is notable for its string of eight lakes. The most extensive mountain ranges on the highlands are the Semien, which lie directly north of Gondar, and Bale, which lies in the southern highlands to the east of the Rift Valley. Mount Ras Dashen in the Semiens is 4,620m, the fourth highest peak in Africa. The highlands also form the source of four major river systems. The best known of these is the Blue Nile or Abay, which starts at Lake Tana in the northwest and supplies nine- tenths of the Nile's water, which eventually reaches Egypt's Nile Valley.
Lucy is a 3.5 million years old female skeleton, and is among several important archaeological discoveries in Ethiopia, leading to the country's title as 'the cradle of mankind'. It is a complete direct hominid fossil discovered in the northeast of Ethiopia at a place called Hadar. Visitors to the National Museum in Addis Ababa can view it on display.
The current population is about 85 million, making it the second most populated country in Africa.
Ethiopia shows a wide climatic variation, ranging from the peaks of the Semien and Bale, which receive periodic snowfall, to regular daytime temperatures of over 50 0C in the Danakil Depression. As a rule, the highland has a temperate climate and average day time temperature of 160C. Due to their proximity to the Equator, the eastern lowlands and far south is dry and hot. The western lowlands are moist and hot, making them one part of the country that feels truly tropical. The southern rift valley, much of which is at the relatively high altitude of 1.500m, is temperate to hot and seasonally moist. The general precipitation pattern is that the bulk of the rain in the highlands and Rift valley falls between mid-June and early October. The rainy season in the Rift Valley generally starts and ends a few weeks earlier than in the highlands. The northeastern highlands have a less reliable rainy season than other highland parts of Ethiopia. In normal rainy season the highlands receive an average rainfall of 800 to 2,200mm. From a tourist's point of view, rain tends to fall in dramatic storms, which end as suddenly as they start,a situation that is infinitely easier for travel in than days of protracted drizzle.
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, which consists of twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days (six days on leap year). You can see the sun every day of the year That is why we having the saying "13 months of sunshine". You will be seven years younger when you arrive in Ethiopia because the calendar is seven years and eight months behind the western calendar.
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, which consists of twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days (six days on leap year). You can see the sun every day of the year That is why we having the saying "13 months of sunshine". You will be seven years younger when you arrive in Ethiopia because the calendar is seven years and eight months behind the western calendar.
Ethiopia's coffee is it's main export and always available whether in a coffee ceremony which includes the lengthy process of roasting the beans, grinding them and having them stew three times, or the more modern and very popular Machiato can be bought in all coffee shops. A wide variety of different dishes are available in Ethiopia and most of them are unique to the country so you have to familiarize yourself first with the names of different dishes. You can choose from the spicy and hot Doro Wot, Kitfo, or Key Wot to less spicy dishes like Alicha Wot you can get these foods virtually anywhere in the country and portions are generous and very cheap. Injera is eaten with almost every meal, a large pancake shaped bread with a sour taste it is used to pick up the food you are eating. There are also homemade local drinks for you to choose from; Araki- a strong alcoholic beverage made from millet and maize similar to Gin, Tej - a mead like drink made from honey , Tela - locally brewed beer from maize, wheat and barely and Gudar- the Ethiopian wine.
In 1582 when the rest of the Christian world adopted the Gregorian calendar, Ethiopia stayed with the Julian calendar. With the passage of time, seven and a half years have somehow dissolved in the intervening centuries. While we can not guarantee the whole 7 years or any permanent effects, traveling with Travel Ethiopia and the combination of our special knowledge and skills and fascinating land will be a tonic for those who feel enriched in experiencing Ethiopia's range of human and natural diversity. You will certainly feel younger at the end of your trip.