Country name:
conventional long form:
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
conventional short form:
Ethiopia
local long form:
Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik
local short form:
Ityop'iya
former:
Abyssinia, Italian East Africa
abbreviation:
FDRE
etymology:
the country name derives from the Greek word "Aethiopia," which in classical times referred to lands south of Egypt in the Upper Nile region
Government type:
federal parliamentary republic
Capital:
name:
Addis Ababa
geographic coordinates:
9 02 N, 38 42 E
time difference:
UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
9 ethnically based regional states (kililoch, singular - kilil) and 2 self-governing administrations* (astedaderoch, singular - astedader); Adis Abeba* (Addis Ababa), Afar, Amara (Amhara), Binshangul Gumuz, Dire Dawa*, Gambela Hizboch (Gambela Peoples), Hareri Hizb (Harari People), Oromiya (Oromia), Sumale (Somali), Tigray, Ye Debub Biheroch Bihereseboch na Hizboch (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples)
Independence:
oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - at least 2,000 years (may be traced to the Aksumite Kingdom, which coalesced in the first century B.C.)
National holiday:
Derg Downfall Day (defeat of MENGISTU regime), 28 May (1991)
Constitution:
history:
several previous; latest drafted June 1994, adopted 8 December 1994, entered into force 21 August 1995
(2017)
amendments:
proposals submitted for discussion require two-thirds majority approval in either house of Parliament or majority approval of one-third of the State Councils; passage of amendments other than constitutional articles on fundamental rights and freedoms and the initiation and amendment of the constitution requires two-thirds majority vote in a joint session of Parliament and majority vote by two-thirds of the State Councils; passage of amendments affecting rights and freedoms and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote in each house of Parliament and majority vote by all the State Councils
(2017)
Legal system:
civil law system
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth:
no
citizenship by descent only:
at least one parent must be a citizen of Ethiopia
dual citizenship recognized:
no
residency requirement for naturalization:
4 years
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President SAHLE-WORK Zewde (since 25 October 2018)
head of government:
Prime Minister ABIY Ahmed (since 2 April 2018); Deputy Prime Minister DEMEKE Mekonnen Hassen (since 29 November 2012); note - Prime Minister HAILEMARIAM Desalegn (since 21 September 2012) resigned on 15 February 2018
cabinet:
Council of Ministers selected by the prime minister and approved by the House of People's Representatives
elections/appointments:
president indirectly elected by both chambers of Parliament for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 7 October 2013 (next to be held in October 2019); prime minister designated by the majority party following legislative elections
election results:
SAHLE-WORK Zewde elected president; Parliament vote - 659 (unanimous)
note: SAHLE-WORK Zewde is the first female elected head of state in Ethiopia; she is currently the only female president in Africa
Legislative branch:
description:
bicameral Parliament consists of:
House of Federation or Yefedereshein Mikir Bete (153 seats; members indirectly elected by state assemblies to serve 5-year terms)
House of People's Representatives or Yehizb Tewokayoch Mekir Bete (547 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote; 22 seats reserved for minorities; all members serve 5-year terms)
elections:
House of Federation - last held 24 May 2015 (next to be held in 2020)
House of People's Representatives - last held on 24 May 2015 (next to be held in 2020)
election results:
House of Federation - percent of vote by coalition/party - NA; seats by coalition/party - NA; composition - men 104, women 49, percent of women 32%
House of Representatives - percent of vote by coalition/party - NA; seats by coalition/party - EPRDF 501, SPDP 24, BGPDUP 9, ANDP 8, GPUDM 3, APDO 1, HNL 1; composition - men 335, women 212, percent of women 38.8%; note - total Parliament percent of women 37.3%
note: House of Federation is responsible for interpreting the constitution and federal-regional issues and the House of People's Representatives is responsible for passing legislation
Judicial branch:
highest courts:
Federal Supreme Court (consists of 11 judges); note - the House of Federation has jurisdiction for all constitutional issues
judge selection and term of office:
president and vice president of Federal Supreme Court recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; other Supreme Court judges nominated by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council (a 10-member body chaired by the president of the Federal Supreme Court) and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; judges serve until retirement at age 60
subordinate courts:
federal high courts and federal courts of first instance; state court systems (mirror structure of federal system); sharia courts and customary and traditional courts
Political parties and leaders:
Afar National Democratic Party or ANDP [Taha AHMED]
Argoba People Democratic Organization or APDO
Amhara National Democratic Movement or ANDM [Demeke MEKONNEN]
Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Party or BGPDUP
Blue Party (Semayawi Party) [Solomon TESSEMA, spokesman]
Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum or MEDREK or FORUM [Beyene PETROS] (includes ESD-SCUP, OFC, SLM, and UTDS)
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF [ABIY Ahmed] (includes ANDM, OPDO, SEPDM, and TPLF)
Ethiopian Social Democracy-Sothern Coalition Unity Party or ESD-SCUP
Gambella Peoples Unity Democratic Movement or GPUDM
Harari National League or HNL [Murad ABDULHADI]
Oromo Fderalist Congress or OFC
Oromo People's Democratic Organization or OPDO [ABIY Ahmed]
Sidama Liberaton Movement or SLM
Somali People's Democratic Party or SPDP
Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement or SEPDM [Muferiat KAMIL]
Tigray People's Liberation Front or TPLF [Meles ZENAWI]
Union of Tigraians for Democracy & Sovergnty or UTDS
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UN Security Council (temporary), UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Kassa TEKLEBERHAN Gebrehiwet (since 24 January 2018)
chancery:
3506 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 364-1200
FAX:
[1] (202) 587-0195
consulate(s) general:
Los Angeles, Seattle
consulate(s):
Houston, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael RAYNOR (since 3 October 2017)
embassy:
Entoto Street, Addis Ababa
mailing address:
P.O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa
telephone:
[251] 11 130-6000
FAX:
[251] 11 124-2401
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red, with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands; green represents hope and the fertility of the land, yellow symbolizes justice and harmony, while red stands for sacrifice and heroism in the defense of the land; the blue of the disk symbolizes peace and the pentagram represents the unity and equality of the nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia
note: Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three main colors of her flag (adopted ca. 1895) were so often appropriated by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the Pan-African colors; the emblem in the center of the current flag was added in 1996
National symbol(s):
Abyssinian lion (traditional), yellow pentagram with five rays of light on a blue field (promoted by current government); national colors: green, yellow, red
National anthem:
name:
"Whedefit Gesgeshi Woud Enat Ethiopia" (March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia)
lyrics/music:
DEREJE Melaku Mengesha/SOLOMON Lulu
note: adopted 1992
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Ethiopia on this page is re-published from the 2019 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Ethiopia Government 2019 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Ethiopia Government 2019 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 08-Feb-19