Ethiopia Culture Tour Department visits Henan Museum.

  

    Ethiopia Culture Tour Department visits Henan Museum.

The cultural industry delegation, a group of six of Ethiopia Culture Tour Department visited Henan Museum on March, 2012.

They visited the basic exhibition “Ancient Civilizations Brilliant of the Central Plains” and some other thematic exhibitions of the museum, such as:“Henan Ancient Jade Article Hall”，“Zhu Dynasty Bronze Article Hall”，“Treasures Hall of Ming Qing Dynasty” and so on.

The delegation highly appraised the exhibitions and wondered the profound cultural history in the centre of China.

This time the Ethiopia cultural industry delegation also visited Palace Museum, National Museum, Olympic venues etc. in Beijing.

Bothe sides have a group photo taken to mark the occasion.

Something about Ethiopia 

Geography

Area: 1.1 million sq. km (472,000 sq. mi.); about the size of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico combined.

Cities: Capital--Addis Ababa (pop. 3 million, 2010 est.). Other cities--Dire Dawa (379,896), Nazret (189,000), Gondar (229,368), Dessie (133.007), Mekelle (238,852), Bahir Dar (199,568), Jimma (132,000), Awassa (176,267).

Terrain: High plateau, mountains, dry lowland plains.

Climate: Temperate in the highlands; hot in the lowlands.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective--Ethiopian(s).

Population (est.): 82 million.

Annual population growth rate (est.): 2.6%.

Ethnic groups (est.): Oromo 34.5%, Amhara 26.9%, Tigre 6.1%, Somali 6.2%, Sidama 4%, Gurage 2.5%, Wolaita 2.3%, Afar 1.7%, other nationalities 3%.

Religions (est.): Ethiopian Orthodox Christian 43.5%, Muslim 33.9%, Protestant 18.6%, remainder indigenous beliefs.

Languages: Amharic (official), Tigrinya, Arabic, Guaragigna, Oromifa, English, Somali.

Education: Years compulsory--none. Attendance (elementary)--87.9%. Literacy--43%.

Health: Infant mortality rate--77/1,000 live births.

Work force: Agriculture--80%. Industry and commerce--20%.

Government

Type: Federal republic.

Constitution: Ratified 1994.

Branches: Executive--president, Council of State, Council of Ministers. Executive power resides with the prime minister. Legislative--bicameral parliament. Judicial--divided into federal and regional courts.

Administrative subdivisions: 9 regions and 2 special city administrations: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Political parties: Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), and other small parties.

Suffrage: Universal starting at age 18.

Central government budget (2009-2010): $6.0 billion.

Defense: $341 million (1.14% of GDP FY 2009-2010).

National holiday: May 28.

Economy

GDP (FY 2009-2010): $29.9 billion.

Annual growth rate (2009-2010): 10.4%.

GDP per capita (2009-2010): $365.

Average inflation rate (FY 2009-2010): 2.8%.

Natural resources: Potash, salt, gold, copper, platinum, natural gas (unexploited).

Agriculture (42% of GDP): Products--coffee, cereals, pulses, oilseeds, khat, meat, hides and skins. Cultivated land--17%.

Industry (13% of GDP): Types--textiles, processed foods, construction, cement, and hydroelectric power.

Services (45% of GDP).

Trade (2009-2010): Exports--$2.0 billion. Imports--$8.4 billion; plus remittances--official est. $2 billion.

Fiscal year: July 8-July 7.

GEOGRAPHY

Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Sudan. The country has a high central plateau that varies from 1,800 to 3,000 meters (6,000 ft.-10,000 ft.) above sea level, with some mountains reaching 4,620 meters (15,158 ft.). Elevation is generally highest just before the point of descent to the Great Rift Valley, which splits the plateau diagonally. A number of rivers cross the plateau--notably the Blue Nile flowing from Lake Tana. The plateau gradually slopes to the lowlands of Ethiopia's neighbors to the west and the Somali-inhabited plains to the southeast.

HISTORY

Hominid bones discovered in eastern Ethiopia dating back 4.4 million years make Ethiopia one of the earliest known locations of human ancestors. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. Herodotus, the Greek historian of the fifth century B.C., describes ancient Ethiopia in his writings. The Old Testament of the Bible records the Queen of Sheba's visit to Jerusalem. According to legend, Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, founded the Ethiopian Empire. Missionaries from Egypt and Syria introduced Christianity in the fourth century A.D. Following the rise of Islam in the seventh century, Ethiopia was gradually cut off from European Christendom. The Portuguese established contact with Ethiopia in 1493, primarily to strengthen their influence over the Indian Ocean and to convert Ethiopia to Roman Catholicism. There followed a century of conflict between pro- and anti-Catholic factions, resulting in the expulsion of all foreign missionaries in the 1630s. This period of bitter religious conflict contributed to hostility toward foreign Christians and Europeans, which persisted into the 20th century and was a factor in Ethiopia's isolation until the mid-19th century.

Overall, the 2010 elections were not up to international standards because the environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place. The EPRDF used the advantages of incumbency to restrict political space for opposition candidates and activists. At the local level, thousands of opposition activists complained of EPRDF-sponsored mistreatment ranging from harassment in submitting candidacy forms to beatings by local militia members, and complained further that there was no forum free of EPRDF control to which to present those complaints.