branch: Federal Supreme Court (the president and vice president of the Federal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits to the House of People's Representatives for appointment candidates selected by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council)
Political parties and leaders: Afar National Democratic Party or
ANDP [leader NA]; All-Amhara People's Organization or AAPO [KEGNAZ
MATCH Neguea Tibeb]; Amhara National Democratic Movement or ANDM
[TEFERA Walwa]; Bench Madji People's Democratic Organization or
BMPDO [leader NA]; Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front
or BGPDUF [leader NA]; Coalition of Alternative Forces for Peace and
Democracy or CAFPD [Kifle TIGNEH Abate and BEYENE Petros]; Ethiopian
Democratic Unity Party or EDUP [Lt. Gen. TESFAYE Gebre Kidan];
Ethiopian National Democratic Party or ENDP [FEKADU Gedamu];
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front or EPRDF [MELES
Zenawi] (an alliance of the ANDM, OPDO, and TPLF); Gedeyo People's
Revolutionary Democratic Movement or GPRDF [leader NA]; Gurange
Nationalities Democratic Movement or GNDM [leader NA]; Kafa Shaka
People's Democratic Organization or KSPDO [leader NA]; Kembata,
Alabaa, and Tembaro or KAT [leader NA]; Oromo Liberation Front or
OLF [DAOUD Ibsa Gudina]; Oromo People's Democratic Organization or
OPDO [KUMA Demeksa]; Sidama People's Democratic Organization or SPDO
[leader NA]; South Omo People's Democratic Movement or SOPDM [leader
NA]; Tigrai People's Liberation Front or TPLF [MELES Zenawi];
Walayta, Gamo, Gofa, Dawro, Konta People's Democratic Organization
or WGGPDO [leader NA]; dozens of small parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Coalition; numerous small, ethnically based groups have formed since the defeat of the former MENGISTU regime in 1991, including several Islamic militant groups
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO,
G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU,
NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
chancery: 3506 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 364–1200
FAX: [1] (202) 686–9857
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Tibor P. NAGY, Jr.
embassy: Entoto Street, Addis Ababa
mailing address: P. O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa
telephone: [251] (1) 550666
FAX: [251] (1) 551328
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; Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors
Ethiopia Economy
Economy - overview: Ethiopia's economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of GDP, 90% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent periods of drought and poor cultivation practices, and as many as 4.6 million people need food assistance annually. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy, and Ethiopia earned $267 million in 1999 by exporting 105,000 metric tons. According to current estimates, coffee contributes 10% of Ethiopia's GDP. More than 15 million people (25% of the population) derive their livelihood from the coffee sector. Other exports include live animals, hides, gold, and qat. In December 1999, Ethiopia signed a $1.4 billion joint venture deal to develop a huge natural gas field in the Somali Regional State. The war with Eritrea forced the government to spend scarce resources on the military and to scale back ambitious development plans. Foreign investment has declined significantly. Government taxes imposed in late 1999 to raise money for the war depressed an already weak economy. The war forced the government to improve roads and other parts of the previously neglected infrastructure, but only certain regions of the nation benefited. Recovery from the war is mostly contingent on natural factors. A drought has continued into the end of 2000 and food relief is expected to be needed through mid-2001 at least. Ethiopia may receive Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief by the end of the year.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $39.2 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $600 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 45%
industry: 12%
services: 43% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 33.7% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2000 est.)
Labor force: NA
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture and animal husbandry 80%, government and services 12%, industry and construction 8% (1985)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $1 billion
expenditures: $1.48 billion, including capital expenditures of $415 million (FY96/97)
Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 1.625 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 3.08%
hydro: 96.92%
nuclear:
