Chapter 4: Red Sea, Horn of Africa
Ethiopia: Overview
Facts
/ Geography, Climate / Cities
/ Posture Statement Excerpt
Leadership
/ System Essentials / Infrastructure
/ Population / Fielded Forces
/ Table of Contents
Ethiopia is dominated by a high plateau which is split northeast to southwest by the lowlands of the Great Rift Valley. There are mountains in the center of the country. To the northeast, the plateau drops abruptly into the Danakil Desert; in the west, it descends to the Sudan desert; and in the south, the plateau slopes down to Lake Turkana.
Ethiopia experiences a tropical monsoon between June and September, and has a wide variation in climate which ranges from a tropical zone in the lowlands to a temperate zone in the highlands.
*Map also includes Eritrean cities
Ethiopia is an East African melting pot of over 50 million people from several different ethnolinguistic groups. The capital, Addis Ababa, serves as home for the Organization of African Unity, and is a frequent meeting place for African heads of state to address regional issues. Though diplomatically influential in the Horn, Ethiopia has an economy strained by the refugee influx from Somalia and Sudan.
President Meles has played an important role in international efforts to resolve disputes between the various warring factions in neighboring Somalia, and maintains close political ties to Eritrea. Additionally, Ethiopia expanded its role in UN humanitarian operations in 1994 by providing an 800-man battalion to conduct relief operations during the crisis in Rwanda.
The U.S encourages Ethiopia to continue its move toward full democracy, and is optimistic that the parliamentary elections in 1995 will seat a unified government. Economic prospects continue to improve, but Ethiopia remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in Africa and will require assistance into the foreseeable future.
Military-to-military relations between the U.S. and Ethiopia continued to grow in 1994 with a low-level combined exercise designed to assist in the disposal of ordnance from years of civil war. This humanitarian de-mining program, an ongoing IMET program, general/flag officer visits, and excess defense articles acquired through foreign military funding will support our military-to military relations with Ethiopia in future years.