es,
volcanic eruptions; frequent droughts

Environment - current issues:

deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water
shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor
management

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

landlocked - entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de
jure independence of Eritrea on 24 May 1993; the Blue Nile, the
chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in T'ana Hayk
(Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia; three major crops are believed to
have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean

People
Ethiopia

Population:

82,544,840
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 46% (male 18,922,334/female 19,017,593)
15-64 years: 51.4% (male 20,749,002/female 21,656,509)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 947,323/female 1,252,077) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 16.9 years
male: 16.6 years
female: 17.2 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

3.212% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

43.97 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

11.83 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA
note: repatriation of Ethiopian refugees residing in Sudan is
expected to continue for several years; some Sudanese, Somali, and
Eritrean refugees, who fled to Ethiopia from the fighting or famine
in their own countries, continue to return to their homes (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 82.64 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 94.08 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 70.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 54.99 years
male: 52.54 years
female: 57.51 years (2008 est.)