Country · Africa
Ethiopia
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a country in Eastern Africa. About 109.2 million people live there, in an area of 1 104 300 square kilometres. Its capital city is Addis Ababa.
Picture credit: Laika ac (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Lemazelalem3 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Rod Waddington (CC BY-SA 2.0) · DaneyWiki (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Laika ac (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Ethiopia?
Ethiopia lies in Eastern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 891 km from the equator.
Ethiopia is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 6 countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
How big is Ethiopia?
Ethiopia covers 1 104 300 square kilometres.
That is about 11 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 26th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 98.9 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Ethiopia?
About 109.2 million people live in Ethiopia.
That is the 12th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Amharic.
They pay with the Ethiopian birr (Br).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 45 years.
The land of Ethiopia
The land of Ethiopia sits on average 1 330 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 6 neighbours to get here.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Ethiopia different?
Dishes the country is known for: Wat with injera and Fit-fit.
Websites from here often end in .et.
Ethiopia and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 14 live in Ethiopia.
It takes up about 0.83 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 10th of 54 by size, and 2nd by population.
Ethiopia and its neighbours
Sudan, its largest neighbour, is about 1.7 times bigger.
More people live in Ethiopia than in Sudan — 109.2 million against 41.8 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 15 live wild in Ethiopia: Cheetah, Leopard, Dromedary, Ostrich, Desert locust, Aardvark and more. The highest mountain in the country is Ras Dejen, at 4 550 metres. The longest river in the country is the Awash River. The largest lake in the country is Lake Tana.
Cheetah
Leopard
Dromedary
Ostrich
Desert locust
Aardvark
Warthog
Spotted hyena
Honey badger
Olive baboon
Crested porcupine
Rock hyrax
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Ethiopia compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 8.5 times as big as Ethiopia: 9 372 610 km² against 1 104 300 km². See both on one map
- Ethiopia is about 4.5 times as big as the United Kingdom: 1 104 300 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Ethiopia?
The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Ethiopia?
About 109.2 million people live in Ethiopia, which makes it the 12th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Ethiopia?
How big is Ethiopia?
Ethiopia covers 1 104 300 square kilometres, making it the 26th largest country in the world. That is about 11 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Ethiopia?
The highest mountain in Ethiopia is Ras Dejen, 4 550 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Ethiopia?
The longest river in Ethiopia is the Awash River, about 1 200 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Ethiopia?
The largest lake in Ethiopia is Lake Tana. It covers about 3 200 km².
Which continent is Ethiopia in?
Ethiopia is in Africa, in the part called Eastern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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