and roughly a dozen community radio stations (2009)
Internet country code:
.et
Internet hosts:
151 (2010) country comparison to the world: 200
Internet users:
447,300 (2009) country comparison to the world: 119
Transportation ::Ethiopia
Airports:
61 (2010) country comparison to the world: 79
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 17
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 44
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 22
under 914 m: 7 (2010)
Railways:
total: 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the 781 km Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) country comparison to the world: 106 narrow gauge: 681 km 1.000-m gauge
note: railway is under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia but is largely inoperable (2008)
Roadways:
total: 36,469 km country comparison to the world: 94 paved: 6,980 km
unpaved: 29,489 km (2004)
Merchant marine:
total: 9 country comparison to the world: 118 by type: cargo 8, roll on/roll off 1 (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Ethiopia is landlocked and uses ports of Djibouti in Djibouti and
Berbera in Somalia
Military ::Ethiopia
Military branches:
Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF): Ground Forces, Ethiopian
Air Force (ETAF) (2010)
note: Ethiopia is landlocked and has no navy; following the secession of Eritrea, Ethiopian naval facilities remained in Eritrean possession
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct call-ups when necessary and compliance is compulsory (2009)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 18,485,269
females age 16–49: 19,145,307 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 11,466,713
females age 16–49: 12,444,706 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 934,523
female: 947,103 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.2% of GDP (2009) country comparison to the world: 124
Transnational Issues ::Ethiopia
Disputes - international:
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; the undemarcated former British administrative line has little meaning as a political separation to rival clans within Ethiopia's Ogaden and southern Somalia's Oromo region; Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 66,980 (Sudan); 16,576 (Somalia); 13,078 (Eritrea)
IDPs: 200,000 (border war with Eritrea from 1998–2000, ethnic clashes in Gambela, and ongoing Ethiopian military counterinsurgency in Somali region; most IDPs are in Tigray and Gambela Provinces) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
transit hub for heroin originating in Southwest and Southeast Asia and destined for Europe, as well as cocaine destined for markets in southern Africa; cultivates qat (khat) for local use and regional export, principally to Djibouti and Somalia (legal in all three countries); the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money laundering center
page last updated on January 20, 2011
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@European Union (Europe)
Introduction ::European Union
Preliminary statement:
The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's supranational organization of 27 countries across the European continent stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long the norm in Europe. On a few occasions even country-level unions were arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples - but for such a large number of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching entity is truly unique.
Although the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has many of the attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, anthem, founding date, and currency, as well as an incipient common foreign and security policy in its dealings with other nations.
In the future, many of these nation-like characteristics are likely to be expanded. Thus, inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World Factbook. However, because of the EU's special status, this description is placed after the regular country entries.
Background:
Following
