ClaraVeelman February19,2014 WorldGeography Ethiopia

Ethiopia is located in eastcentral Africa. It is bordered on the west by Sudan, on the east by SomaliaandDjibouti.ItisonthesouthbyKenyaandonthenortheastbyEritrea.

Italians were the Colonial influence on ethiopia. Ethiopia's part in European politics developed from French and British influence in the region. Ethiopia was one of the few territories which had not become a European colony, so Italy soon made its designs known. Ethiopia was really not a free or democraticnation.

For the past20years,theOgadenNationalLiberationFronthaswagedarebellionin Ethiopia's Somali region fighting forindependence fromEthiopia.ReportsthatEritreahadbeenarmingtheIslamist militia in Somalia led to fears that instability there could lead to a wider regional conflict. The Somali region experienced adramaticincreaseinarmedconflictafteranApril2007attackonaChineserunoil field by the ONLF. Also, according to the Ploughshares armed conflicts report, 2010 saw the continuation of lowintensity fighting between the ONLF and government forces, with a September Somalilandcoastincidentcausing123ONLFdeaths.

The students in Ethiopia start school and have the same amount of school years as people in

America. Anaverageclasssizeis65studentsperteacher,andfewschoolsuppliesareavailabletoeach student for example schools lack pens, books, paper, and most schools don't even have water or useable toilets. The society of Ethiopia expects teachers and parents to use corporal punishment to maintain order and discipline. They believe that through punishing children for bad habits they in turn learngoodones.

The economy of Ethiopia is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of gross domestic product (GDP), 43% of exports, and 85% of total employment. Ethiopia has almost no private sector business at all. Many government owned properties during the previous regime have now been transferredtoprogovernmententerprisesinthenameofprivatization.

Ethiopian believers are Christian, with a large Muslim minority. There are still a few small Falasha Jewish communities in Ethiopia, as well. Animists are rare inEthiopiatoday.Ethiopiais62.8% Christian (43.5% Ethiopian Orthodox, 19.3% other), 33.9% Islam, 2.6% Traditional and 0.6% other. Inshorteveryoneisreligious,orat leastclaimstobe.Becausetodenyyourfamily'sreligionistobecast out,andtodenyallreligionisjustunheardof.