Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE LAND
With a land area of 1,098,000 sq km, Ethiopia is five times the size of Britain and twice the
size of Texas. Its topography is remarkably diverse, ranging from 20 peaks higher than
4000m to one of the lowest, hottest, driest and most inhospitable points on the Earths sur-
face: the infamous Danakil Depression, which in parts lies almost 125m below sea level
and sprawls into neighbouring Eritrea and Djibouti.
Two principal geographical zones can be
found in the country: cool highlands and their
surrounding hot lowlands.
Ethiopia's main topographical feature is the
vast central plateau (the Ethiopian highlands)
with an average elevation between 1800m and
2400m. It's here that the country's major peaks are found, including Ras Dashen (more cor-
rectly, but less commonly, known as Ras Dejen) at 4543m, Ethiopia's highest mountain and
Africa's 10th highest.
The Danakil Depression has the highest average
temperature of anywhere on Earth.
The mountains are also the source of four ma-
jor river systems, the most famous of which is
the Blue Nile. Starting from Lake Tana and
joined later by the White Nile in Sudan, it nur-
tures Egypt's fertile Nile Valley. The other prin-
cipal rivers are the Awash, the Omo and the
Wabe Shebele.
Southern Ethiopia is bisected diagonally by the Rift Valley. Averaging around 50km
wide, it runs all the way south to Mozambique. The valley floor is home to many of
Ethiopia's most important lakes, including a well-known chain south of Addis Ababa.
The Earth's crust is rifting apart at the rate of 1cm
to 2cm a year in the Danakil Depression and there
has been a near continuous sequence of earthquakes
here.
FUNNY FROGS
During a scientific expedition to the Harenna Forest in the Bale Mountains a few years ago, biologists discovered
four entirely new frog species in the space of just three weeks. Many of the frogs appear to have made peculiar ad-
aptations to their environment. One species swallows snails whole, another has forgotten how to hop and a third has
lost its ears.
