A trip through Ethiopia
By Yannis Lagrosa, LarYu Paw, and Joseph Vu
The Ethiopian Flag
The flag colors are green, yellow, and red, with an emblem of a star surrounded by a blue circle. The current flag of Ethiopia, የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ ዓላማ , was adopted on October 31, 1996. The emblem ( star ) on the flag is to represent the diversity and unity of the country, while the blue is intended to represent peace, and the sun's rays symbolize prosperity. The green recalls the land, yellow stands for peace and hope, and red is symbolic of strength.
Food / Drinks
Beef salad
A type of Ethiopian food that has a combination of marinated beef, spice , and sometimes carrot or potatoes which are placed on top of a flat bread.
Chechebsa (a.k.a fir fir or fit fit)
It is often serve for breakfast. It is usually
made of shredded flat bread, spiced butter, and hot spice berbere.
Spris or Spreece
This drink is made of Mango, Avocado, Guava, and other exotic fruits.
Attractions
Simien mountain national park
It is a national park in Ethiopia. It territory include the Simien Mountain and include Ras dashan the highest mountain in Ethiopia.
Sof Omar Caves
It is the longest cave in Ethiopia measuring at 15.1 kilometer.
Blue Nile fall
The Blue Nile Falls, one of the greatest waterfalls in the world, is located in Ethiopia, and is connected to the Blue Nile River. The waterfall, also known as Tis Issat , meaning smoking water, has a devastating of 37 to 45 meters or around 150 feet , and the width is estimated about half a mile. Since the Blue Nile Falls is very popular as far as tourism, some of the locals have decided to get income from the benefits of tourism. The locals are selling food, drinks, souvenirs, charms and walking sticks to the tourists. A hydroelectric station was built to divert the flow of water to the falls for electrical purposes, Now the falls has been decreased in the flow of water, but the falls can be seen for its full extent on Sundays, since the station only operates on weekdays.
Culture
The culture of Ethiopia is varied. Their music are diverse, each country ethic country has different type of music such as folk song, christian element, and Muslim musical form called Manzuma. In some central and northern area, woman traditional clothing are usually made of a cloth called shemma. The bottom of the garment or clothes may be decorated with pattern. Both men and women wear shawl, a.k.a netala for accessories. There are 90 different language spoken in Ethiopia. Mostly known language are Oromo, Amharic, and Triginya. About 62% of the population are Christian, around 30 to 35 are Muslim and 4-5 percent other religion.
Economy/GDP
The Economy in Ethiopia is pretty bad due to the growing population, drought, environment issue such as water pollution, coffee which is really important to the Ethiopia not doing good in the international market, and poor governance driving investors away. GDP (purchasing power parity) is 145.1 billion (in U.S) as of 2014, while the GDP per capita is 1,600 (in U.S dollar) making it one of the lowest per capita income in the world.
Government
The type of government Ethiopia currently has now is Federal Republic. Just like the U.S they have three branches, the executive branch lead by President MULATU Teshome Wirtu, the Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch.
Map
The area is 1.104,300 sq km. The location is west of Somalia and east of Sudan. The country border Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan. South Sudan, and Kenya. The major cities are Addis Adaba (capital), Dire Dawa, Mek'ele, and Adama.
Country slogan/Motto
There are currently no Ethiopia national slogan but one famous slogan is "Ethiopia holds up her hands unto god" which come from Psalm 68:31. During 1930 through 1975 the imperial motto was "Conquering lion of of the tribe of Judah".
Why should you vist Ethiopia
The scenery in Ethiopia is really beautiful, starting from the Blue Nile river to Simien Mountain National park. The cuisine there is something you can't miss especially if you are a coffee lover. The wildlife there is really unique, it has animals like the Ethiopian wolf, Walia ibex Gelada baboon and the mountain nyala. There are also over 850 bird species there if you are a bird lover. Ethiopia has many celebration that are colorful, lively, and dynamic to represent their tradition and culture giving you more reason to vist the country.
Hyperlink
Websites / Links
Ethiopian Flag
www.crwflags.com
Ethiopian Drink
aliseinethiopia.wordpress.com
Simien Mountains National Park
simienpark.org
Sof Omar Caves
www.ethiovisit.com
Blue Nile Fall
en.wikipedia.org
Traditional Dance
www.thelovelyplanet.net
Ethiopian Map
www.mapsofworld.com