Ethiopia Geography

Ethiopia is an Eastern African country located in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia a country divided by the Great Rift Valley is home to millions of years of archaeological history. Addis Abada is the capital of Ethiopia and home to over 3 million people. Ethiopia has a total population over 99 million people, a number that has been greatly influenced by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In addition, it is around twice the size of Texas and Ethiopia is second only to Nigeria as the most populous country in Africa. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the majority of the population is fourteen years of age and below, and over sixty percent of the population is below twenty-four, providing a large workforce. Historically, Ethiopia is known as the only African

The country shares borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Kenya. The geography of the country comprises mostly of plateaus with a central mountain range that is divided by the Great Rift Valley. Ethiopia is also home to 14 rivers and has a large water reserve. Its natural resources are, gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gasses, and hydropower (CIA World Fact Book). Due to the amount of people who live in rural areas, agriculture comprises 47.7% of the GDP and accounts for 85% of the countries workforces. The countries major exports are "cereals, coffee, oilseed, cotton, sugarcane, vegetables, khat, cut flowers; hides, cattle, sheep, goats; fish" (CIA World Fact

Which is why we will now examine the GINI Coefficient for Ethiopia (Figure 3). The GINI Coefficient looks at inequality within a country through the ways in which the GDP of a country is distributed. Figure 3 indicates that despite a growing GDP per capita, the inequality is growing, this means that the rich are becoming richer while the poor and the extremely poor are in even worse economic situations. The GINI rose from 30 to 34 in less than 20 years, highlighting how little effect increasing GDP can actually have on alleviating extreme poverty. A main factor behind this gap is due to the amount of people in agriculture, around 90% of the total work force. While it comprises the majority of the countries income, it is not an extremely profitable job for small farmers, but extremely beneficial to those who control the exports. This system allows for certain people to reap the majority of the agricultural