13 Suns Tours

INTRODUCTION

The Orgion of the word ;Location ;Area;Population;Archaeology;Geographical feature and language;Season;Water;Time;Flag

The Orgion of the word

Scholars do not hold the same opinion concerning the origin of the word Ethiopia .We would mention three of the translations :

1. Greek Origin –this is the popular one . The scholars under this group claim that the word “Ethiopia “ came from the greek word “aithiopia” which actually is a combination of two words aitho- “I burn” and ops-“ face” . which would give us the aggregate meaning - coloured face people.

2. Egyptian Origin –Claimed by many modern writers.It is believed that the Greeks,though they are the ones who used it in a modified way ,borrowed the word from the Egyptians , and that as early as the Twelfth Dynasty the Egyptians knew the land under the name Ksh, or Kshi. And then these scholars select a specific form of the word with aleph prefix-“ ethosh” making it the valid origin word.

3. Arabic Origin- they uphold the idea that the word “Ethiopia ” originated from the plural form of the word an Arabic word “Tib”-“ atyab” the meaning of which is “Spices ”or “perfumes ”

Location

Officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the country is located a few degrees north of the equator.As a result of which it is widely known as the land of 13 months of sunshine. But the high plateau and mountain ranges compensate the heat granting her another widely known nick name –the Land of Perennial Spring. Ethiopia shares boarders with Somalia in the East (longest, more than 1600 kms), Eritrea in the north (910 Kms ), Djibouti in the northeast (340 Kms ), Kenya in the south (830 Kms ),and the Sudan in the west (1600 Kms ).

Area

Ethiopia has a total area of 1,104,300 square kilometers. If you know Texas, multiply its size by two or are you a European? Then combine the size of France, Spain and Portugal to come up with the approximate size of present day Ethiopia. This makes Ethiopia the fourth largest nation in Sub-Saharan Africa and the 21st largest nation of the world,by area.

Population

With average growth rate of 3%, now the population of Ethiopia has reached 67 million .After Egypt and Nigeria, this country is the third most populous in Africa. With the present growth rate, the number is expected to go sky-high to 120 million with in just 20 years.

Archaeology

Evidence that emanates from the study of human evolution confirms that the geographical area located with in the territory of the present day Ethiopia is where the first human-like creature ,that walked on two feet, lived. Even after the formation of Ethiopia as a nation, the history of the country covers a period of 3000 years. The name,Ethiopia ,is mentioned about 33 times in the Bible and many times in the Quran-the oldest literatures of the world.(Learn More...)

Geographical feature and language

The country enjoys a variety of geographical, biological, cultural, and historical contrasts. The dominant languages being Amharic (with its unique alphabet), Oromo and Tigrian, the country has over 80 languages spoken by the different ethnic groups in the country.(Learn More...)

Season

There are two seasons :the dry season,from October through to May :and the wet season ,which runs from June to September.The weather is also a reflection of the country's geographical contrast ranging from the hottest and the lowest place on this planet (Denakil Depression) to a cold weather (On Bale and Semien Mountains), giving an implication that the land hosts a variety of plant and animal life enough to satisfy the appetite of its visitors.

Water

Ethiopia is surrounded by countries, which rely on rivers which originate in Ethiopia: the Tekezze and Abbay Rivers flow to the Sudan, the Wabe Shebelle and the Genale-Dawa into Somalia, the Omo in Lake Turkana in Kenya. Only the Awash river rises and ends within Ethiopia

Time

Ethiopia is in the GMT +3 hours time zone .Ethiopia follows the Jullian calendar, which consists of 12 months of 30 days each and the thirteenth month of 5 or 6 days.

Flag

The Ethiopian Flag is a composition of three colours .It takes the pattern of vertical bands of red at the bottom, yellow in the middle, and green at the top- often known as a pan-African colour combination

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