ermanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
41%; forest and woodland 24%; other 22%; includes irrigated NEGL%

_#_Environment: geologically active Great Rift Valley susceptible to
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; deforestation; overgrazing; soil
erosion; desertification; frequent droughts; famine

_#_Note: strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest
shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; major resettlement
project--that was ongoing in rural areas and would have significantly
altered population distribution and settlement patterns over the next
several decades--has been derailed because of ongoing civil wars

_*_People
_#_Population: 53,191,127 (July 1991), growth rate 3.1% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 45 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 114 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 53 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Ethiopian(s); adjective--Ethiopian

_#_Ethnic divisions: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigrean 32%, Sidamo 9%,
Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%

_#_Religion: Muslim 40-45%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35-40%, animist
15-20%, other 5%

_#_Language: Amharic (official), Tigrinya, Orominga, Guaraginga,
Somali, Arabic, English (major foreign language taught in schools)

_#_Literacy: 62% (male NA%, female NA%) age 10 and over can
read and write (1983 est.)

_#_Labor force: 18,000,000; agriculture and animal
husbandry 80%, government and services 12%, industry and construction 8%
(1985)

_#_Organized labor: All Ethiopian Trade Union formed by the government
in January 1977 to represent 273,000 registered trade union members

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

_#_Type: on 28 May 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF) took control in Addis Ababa; on 29 May 1991
Issayas AFEWORKE, secretary general of the Eritrean People's Liberation
Front (EPLF), announced the formation of a provisional government in
Eritrea, in preparation for an eventual referendum on independence
for the province

_#_Capital: Addis Ababa

_#_Administrative divisions: 25 administrative regions (astedader
akababiwach, singular--astedader akababi) and 5
autonomous regions*