Ethiopia is one of the most diverse places imaginable.  From the mountainous peaks of the highlands to the grassy valleys of the Rift Valley to the Eastern desert of the Danakil Depression, the geography is every bit as diverse as the people who live there.  Altitudes in Ethiopia range from 4,000 meters in the Simien Mountains to below sea level in the Danakil Depression.

The Weather in Ethiopia is hard to beat.   While the highlands can get pretty cold and the low lying areas can get incredibly hot, Addis Ababa is an amazing 70 degrees F most of the year.  There are two distinct rainy seasons –  a short rainy season (Belg) which arrives in February and only lasts for a month or so and a longer rainy season (Krempt) that arrives in late June and hangs around until September.  Even during the rainy season, the sun comes out most every day.  This has helped the Tourism ministry to tout Ethiopia as having 13 months of Sunshine.

Ethiopia also has the distinction of having its own way of telling time and calendar.  Ethiopians tell time on a schedule that is based more closely on sunrise and sunset – like one would expect of biblical cultures.   6am is known as 12 o’clock, and 6pm is also 12 o’clock.  This becomes pretty easy to tell since we are so close to the equator and therefore have pretty close to 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night year round.   Added to this is a calendar that has 13 months.  12 of these months are 30 days long and then the 13th month is either 5 or 6 days long (in the case of a leap year).  The differences in calendar also means that Ethiopia is in a different year.   The year 2010 by the European calendar is the year 2003 here in Ethiopia.  September 11th is New Year’s Day.

Ge’ez is one of the most ancient languages in the world and is still used today by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has its own unique customs and traditions, which have been influenced by Judaism.

Ethiopia is the only African country that has its own script.

The Ge’ez script for Ge’ez

Punctuation

Numerals

These numerals developed from the Greek alphabet, possibly via Coptic.

No natural disaster and a peaceful land.

We wish to see you soon.

Ethiopia