ADAMA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Geography of Ethiopia and the Horn(GeES 101)

Credit hour: 3
Instructor: Netsanet Habtamu

[email protected]

Jan., 2022 G.C.

 CHAPTER ONE
➢ INTRODUCTION
1.1 Definition, Scope and Themes of Geography
1.1.1 Definition of Geography:
Note: The word Geography has been defined by different scholars differently
but the accepted as a working definition is:
✓ It is the scientific study of the Earth that describes and analyses
spatial and temporal variations of physical, biological and
human phenomena, and their interrelationships and dynamism
over the surface of the Earth.
1.1.2. The Scope, Approaches and Themes of Geography

✓ Geography is a holistic and interdisciplinary field of study.

❖ the scope of Geography is the surface of the Earth (atmosphere,

lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere) which provides the
habitable zone in which humans are able to live.
Note: Geography has five basic themes:
1) Location:
✓ is defined as a particular place or position.
✓ Location can be of two types: absolute location and relative location.
2) Place:
✓ refers to the physical and human aspects of a location

✓ is associated with toponym (the name of a place), site (the description of the
features of the place), and situation (the environmental conditions of the
place).

▪ Each place in the world has its unique characteristics expressed in terms of
landforms, hydrology, biogeography etc.

Note: The concept of “place” aids geographers to compare and contrast two
places on Earth.
3) Human-Environment Interaction:

✓ Humans have always been on ceaseless interaction with their natural

environment.
▪ No other species that has lived on our planet has a profound effect on the
environment as humans.
Note: human-environment interaction involves three distinct aspects,
dependency, adaptation, and modification.
✓ Dependency: refers to the ways in which humans are dependent on nature
for a living.
✓ Modification: allowed humans to “conquer” the world for their
comfortable living.
✓ Adaptation: relates to how humans modify themselves, their lifestyles and
their behavior to live in a new environment with new challenges.

4) Movement:
✓ entails to the translocation of human beings, their goods, and their ideas from
one end of the planet to another.

▪ The physical movement of people allowed the human race to inhabit all the
continents and islands of the world

5) Region:

✓ is a geographic area having distinctive characteristics that distinguishes itself

from adjacent unit(s) of space.
❖ Region can be formal Vs functional:
✓ a formal region that is characterized by homogeneity in terms of a certain
phenomenon (soil, temperature, rainfall, or other cultural elements like
language, religion, and economy).

✓ a functional or nodal region characterized by functional interrelationships in

a spatial system defined by the linkages binding particular phenomena.

1.2. Location, Shape and Size of Ethiopia and the Horn

✓ The Horn of Africa (eastern Africa) is a narrow tip that protrudes into the
northern Indian Ocean, separating it from the Gulf of Aden.
 ✓ It is the eastern most extension of African land (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
and Somalia) whose cultures have been linked throughout their long history.

Note: In terms of size, Ethiopia is the largest of all the Horn of African countries,
while Djibouti is the smallest.
1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia
✓ The location of a country or a place on a map is expressed:
a) Astronomical (absolute) location:
✓ states location of places using the lines of latitudes and longitudes.
▪ Ethiopia is located between 3oN (Moyale) and 15oN (Bademe - the
northernmost tip of Tigray) latitudes and 33oE (Akobo) to 48oE (the tip of
Ogaden in the east) longitudes.
▪ The east west distance (150) is longer than the north-south distance (120).
b) Relative location:
✓ expresses the location of countries or places with reference to the location of
other countries (vicinal), landmasses or water bodies.
❖ Example of Vicinal location:
▪ Eritrea to the north and northeast
▪ In relation to water bodies & land masses: In the Horn of Africa, In the Nile
Basin etc.
❖ The implications of the location of Ethiopia are:
✓ Climate: The fact that Ethiopia is located between 30N and 150N (between
the Equator and Tropic of Cancer) implies that the country has a tropical
climate.
 ✓ Socio-cultural: Ethiopia is one of the earliest recipients of the major world
religions namely Christianity, Islam and Judaism due to its proximity to the
Middle East
a) Political: The political history of Ethiopia has been influenced by:

▪ Geopolitical considerations of superpowers,

▪ Adjacency to the Red Sea (a major global trade route),
▪ The Middle East geopolitical paradigms.
❑ As a result, Ethiopia has been exposed for external invasions in a number of
times.
Figure 1.1:Ethiopia’s location in relation to its neighboring countries
1.2.2. The Size of Ethiopia:
✓ Ethiopia with a total area of approximately 1,106,000 km2 is the 8th largest
country in Africa and 25th in the World.

▪ It extends about 1,639 kilometers East-West, and 1,577 kilometers North-

South.

▪ About 0.7% of the country is covered by water bodies.

▪ The size of Ethiopia is also affects both the natural and human
environment of the country.
 Advantages and disadvantages of large size

Advantages Disadvantages

Possess diverse agro ecological zones Demands greater capital to construct

infrastructural facilities

Variety of natural resources Requires large army to protect its territory

Own extensive arable land Difficult for effective administration

Have larger population size Difficult for socio-economic integration

Home for diverse cultures

Greater depth in defense external

invasion
1.2.3. The shape of Ethiopia and its Implications:
✓ The shape of a country has an implication on defense, administration and
economic integration.
❖ Countries of the World have different kinds of shape:

✓ Compact shape countries: The distance from the geographic center of the state
to any of the borders does not vary greatly.

▪ It is easier for defence, socioeconomic and cultural integration.

✓Fragmented shape countries: They are divided from their other parts by
either water, land or other countries.
✓ Elongated shape countries: They are geographically long and relatively
narrow like Chile.
✓ Perforated shape countries: A country that completely surrounds another
country like the Republic of South Africa.

✓ Protrude shape countries: Countries that have one portion that is much more
elongated than the rest of the country like Myanmar and Eritrea.

Note: There are various ways of measuring shape of countries.

✓ These measures are known as the indices of compactness.
▪ These indices measure the deviation of the shape of a country from a
circular shape.
Focus: there is no country with absolutely circular shape, those approximating a
circular shape are said to be more compact.
❖ The four most commonly used measures of compactness:
1) The ratio of area of country to its boundary length: Area-Boundary ratio.

✓ The higher the A/B ratio, the greater the degree of compactness.
2) Boundary-Circumference ratio
✓ It measures how far the boundary of a country approximates the
circumference of a circle of its own size.

▪ the nearer the ratio to 1 the more compact the country is.
3) Area-Circumference ratio:
✓ It compares the area of the country with the circumference of a circle that
passes touching the extreme points on the boundary of the country.

▪ The higher the A/C ratio, the greater the degree of compactness.

4) Area-Area (A/A’) ratio:

✓ The ratio of the actual area of a country to the smallest possible inscribing
circle

▪ The nearer the ratio to 1, the more compact the country is.
Ethiopia's shape compared to its neighbors in the Horn
Country Area(km2) Boundary (km) A/B ratio B/C ratio A/C ratio
Ethiopia 1,106,000 5,260 210.27 1.41 296.61
Djibouti 22,000 820 26.83 1.56 41.83
Eritrea 117,400 2,420 48.51 1.99 96.83
Kenya 582,644 3,600 161.85 1.33 215.28
Somalia 637,657 5,100 125.03 1.80 225.22
 1.3. Basic Skills of Map Reading
➢What is a Map?
✓ A map is a two-dimensional scaled representation of part or whole of the Earth
surface on a flat sheet of paper.
▪ Map reading encompasses a systematic identification of natural features and
manmade features.
Note: Geographers use maps as primary tools for displaying and analyzing
spatial distributions, patterns and relations.
➢ Importance of maps:

✓ Provide the basis for making geographical details of regions represented i.e.
the geographical facts of an area such as relief, drainage, settlement etc.
✓ Maps are powerful tools for making spatial analysis of geographical facts of
areas represented.

✓ Maps are useful for giving location of geographical features by varied

methods of grid reference, place naming etc.

✓ Maps are used on various disciplines like land use planning, military science,
aviation, tourism, marine science, population studies, epidemiology, geology,
economics, history, archaeology, agriculture etc.

✓ Map makes storage of the geographical data of areas represented.

✓ Maps are potentially used to asses’ reliable measurements of the geographical
features like area, size, distance etc.
➢ Types of Maps:
✓ Based on their purpose and functions maps can be classified as:
a) Topographical maps:
✓ depict one or more natural and cultural features of an area.
▪ They could be small, medium or large scale depending on the size of the
area represented.
▪ Contents of topographical maps depend on purpose of a map, scale of a map,
date of compilation, and nature of the land represented.
b) Special purpose/statistical maps:
✓ show distribution of different aspects such as temperature, rainfall,
settlement, vegetation etc.
➢ Marginal Information on Maps (Elements of Maps):
✓ Marginal information is shown on a map to enable the reading and
interpretation of the geographical information of an area represented

a) Title: It is the heading of the given map which tells what the map is all about.

b) Key (legend): It is the list of all convectional symbols and signs shown on
the map with their interpretation.
c) Scale: It is the ratio between the distance on the map and the actual ground
distance.
✓ enable the map user to interpret the ground measurement like road distance,
areal sizes, gradient etc.

d) North arrow: It is indicated with the north direction on a map; used to know
the other important directions of the mapped area like east, west, south, and
north.

e) Margin: Is the frame of the map. It is important for showing the end of the
mapped area

f) Date of compilation: It is a date of map publication.

▪ This enables map users to realize whether the map is updated or outdated.

➢ Basic Principles of Map Reading:

✓ Map Readers must have ideas about the symbol and also the real World
(landscapes).

✓ knowledge of directions is an important principle in reading maps

▪ Unless a reader knows the basic directions, he or she may not use a map
effectively.

……………… //……………..!
 CHAPTER TWO
2. THE GEOLOGY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
2.1. Introduction

✓ Geology: is an Earth science that studies the evolution of the earth, the
materials of which it is made of, and the processes acting upon them.

✓ The earth’s continents were once punched up together in to a single huge

continent called Pangaea.

▪ The large super continent was then split into Gondwanaland where Africa is a
part and Laurasia; and later into smaller fragments over the last million years.
Gondwanaland fragmented
into;
▪Africa
▪South America
▪Antarctica
▪Australia and
▪India.
Laurasia further fragmented
into;
▪North America
▪Europe
▪Asia and
▪Green land.
 ❖A German Climatologist Alfred Wegener
proposed the hypothesis (continental drift
theory) that the continents were once
assembled together as a supercontinent.

➢ Wegener’s principal observations were:

✓ Fit of the continents: The opposing

coastlines of continents often fit together.
 ✓ Match of mountain belts, rock types: If the continents are reassembled as
Pangaea, mountains in West Africa, North America, Greenland, and Western
Europe match up.

▪ South America and

Africa fit together not in
outline, but also in rock
types and geologic
structure.

ROCK DISTRIBUTION
✓ Distribution of fossils: The distribution of plants and animal fossils on
separate continents forms definite linked patterns if the continents are
reassembled.

▪ Fossils and types of

rocks on the eastern
coast of S. America
matched those on the
west coast of Africa.
✓ Paleoclimates: is the study of past/ancient climates before availability of
instrumental records.
▪ rocks formed 200 million years ago in India, Australia, South America, and
southern Africa all exhibited evidence of continental glaciations.
2.2. The Geologic Processes: Endogenic and Exogenic Forces
✓ Geology studies of how Earth's materials, structures, processes and organisms
have changed over time.
▪ These processes are divided into two major groups: internal and external
✓ The internal processes (endogenic) include volcanic activity and all the
tectonic processes folding, faulting, orogenesis (mountain building), and
epeirogenesis (slow rising and sinking of the landmass).
 ▪ These processes result in building of structural and volcanic features like
plateaus, rift valleys, Block Mountains, volcanic mountains, etc.

✓ The external (exogenic) processes are geomorphic processes.

▪ They include weathering, mass transfer, erosion and deposition.

▪ They act upon the volcanic and structural landforms by modifying,

roughening and lowering them down.

Note: The landmass of Ethiopia, as elsewhere, is the result of the combined

effect of endogenic and exogenic processes
2.3. The Geological Time Scale and Age Dating Techniques

✓ The geological history is divided in to Eras

▪ Each Era is divided into periods

❖ The Eras are given names that indicate the kind of life that existed in them.

✓ the Paleozoic Era (ancient life) is the age of invertebrates,

✓ the Mesozoic Era (the middle life) is the age of reptiles

✓ the Cenozoic Era (recent life) is the age of mammals.

Focus: Geological time is difficult to measure precisely.

✓ The Earth is believed to have been formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago

✓ the earliest forms of life were thought to have originated approximately 3.5
billion years ago.

❑ The span of time before life appeared was termed the Precambrian Era.

✓ To describe the geology and history of life on Earth, scientists have developed
the geological time scale.
❖ The geological time scale measures time on a scale involving four main units:

1) An epoch is the smallest unit of time on the scale and encompasses a period of
millions of years.
 2) Chronologically, epochs are clumped together into larger units called periods.

3) Periods are combined to make subdivisions called Eras.

4) An eon is the largest period of geological time.

✓ The division of time units in the geological time scale is usually based on the
occurrence of significant geological events (e.g. mass extinctions).

▪ the geological time categories do not usually consist of a uniform length of

time.
Table 2.1: The Geological time scale

Era Period Began (in Million Years) End (my) Major Events (million years ago)

Cenozoic Quaternary 1.6 Present Major glaciers in North America

and Europe (1.5)
Tertiary 70 1.6 Rocky Mountains (65), individual
continents take shape.
Cretaceous 146 70 Dinosaurs extinct (65), western
interior seaway and marine reptiles
(144 – 65)
Mesozoic

Jurassic 208 146 Pangaea (one land mass) begins to

break up (200)
Triassic 225 208 First mammals and dinosaurs

Permian 290 225 Greatest extinction on Earth (245)

Pennsylvani 322 290 First reptiles
an
Mississippia 362 322 Coal-forming forests
n
Devonian 408 362 First land animals and first forests
Paleozoic

(408)
Silurian 439 408 Life invades land

Ordovician 510 439 First fish appeared

Cambria 600 510 Great diversity of marine

invertebrates
Proterozoic 2,500 600 Marine fossil invertebrates (600)
Precambrian

Archean 4,500 2,500 Earliest fossils recorded (3,500),

earliest rock formation (4,000)
➢ Age Dating Techniques:
✓ There are two techniques of knowing the age of rocks: Relative and
absolute age dating.
a) Relative Dating:
✓ Relative dating uses geological evidence to assign comparative ages of
fossils
❖ we can use two ways to know the relative age of a rock:
✓ one way is to look at any fossils the rock may contain.
▪ If any of the fossils are unique to one of the geologic time periods, then the
rock was formed during that particular time period
✓ The second way is to use the "What is on top of the older rocks?"
▪ Mostly younger rocks are on top of older rocks.
❖ The above two methods only give the relative age of rocks -which one is
younger and which is older.
b) Absolute Dating (Radiometric):
✓ This technique was developed with discovery of radioactivity in 1896.

▪ Radioactive elements such as uranium (U) and thorium (Th) decay

naturally to form different elements or isotopes of the same element.

Note: Every radioactive element has its own half-life.

❖ Two of the major techniques include:
a) Carbon-14 Technique: Upon the organism’s death, carbon-14 begins to
disintegrate at a known rate, and no further replacement of carbon from
atmospheric carbon dioxide can take place.
✓ Carbon-14 has half-life of 5730 years
b) Potassium-Argon Technique: The decay is widely used for dating rocks.
✓ Geologists are able to date entire rock samples in this way, because
potassium-40 is abundant in micas, feldspars, and hornblendes.

2.4. Geological Processes and the Resulting Landforms of Ethiopia and

the Horn
 2.4.1. The Precambrian Era Geologic Processes (4.5 billion - 600 million
years ago)
✓ The Precambrian Era covers 5/6th of the Earth’s history.
Note: Due to its remoteness in time and the absence of well-preserved fossils, our
knowledge of the events is limited.

✓ The major geologic event of the Precambrian Era was Orogenesis.

▪ the land was subjected to intense folding.
• accompanied by intrusive igneous activity.
✓ The result was the formation of huge mountain ranges.
▪ In between the orogenic periods and after the last orogenesis, there were long
periods of denudation, which finally reduced these mountains to near-level
(peneplained) rock surfaces.
✓ This “levelled” surface was later (in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras) covered
by younger rock formations.
2.4.2. The Paleozoic Era Geologic Processes (600million - 225 million years
ago)
✓ The Paleozoic Era lasted for about 375 million years.
❖ The major geological process of this Era was denudation.

▪ The gigantic mountains that were formed by the Precambrian orogeny were
subjected to intense and prolonged denudation.
▪ At the end, the once gigantic mountain ranges were reduced to a “peneplained”
surface.
▪ Undulating plain with some residual features (inselbergs) here and there was
formed.
✓ The sediments were transported southward and eastward to form continental
(in Africa) and marine deposits, respectively.

2.4.3. The Mesozoic Era Geologic Processes (225-70 million years ago)

✓ This Mesozoic Era lasted for about 155 million years.

▪ It was an Era of alternate slows sinking and rising (epeirogenesis) of the

landmass.
▪ This process affected the whole present-day Horn of Africa and Arabian
landmass.
▪ At the same time the land was tilted eastward and therefore lower in the
southeast and higher in the northwest.
✓ The subsidence of the land began about 225 million years ago.
▪ As the land sank slowly the sea invaded it starting from Somalia and Ogaden
and slowly spreading northwestward (during the late triassic period).
• This phenomenon continued up to Jurassic period.

✓ As the depth of the sea increased, mud (shale), gypsum and later lime were
deposited.
 ▪ The latter is associated with the flourishing of marine life and decaying and
precipitating of their remains

✓ Mesozoic rocks are considered to have the greatest potential for oil and gas
deposits.
▪ the sands and lime were compacted to form sandstone and limestone layers
respectively.
o These are known as the Adigrat sand stone and Hintalo limestone layers.

✓ In the Horn of Africa and Ethiopia, the slow rise of the land and consequently
the regression of the sea began in the Upper Jurassic.

❖ With the retreat of the sea, another process of deposition occurred.

▪ In the country sedimentation ended with the deposition of clay, silt, sand
conglomerate
o The uppermost layer is known as the Upper sandstone.
❖ By the end of the Mesozoic Era, three major sedimentary formations were laid
and formed:
✓ These were the Adigrat or lower sandstone, Hintalo limestone and Upper
Sandstone.
▪ The Mesozoic sedimentary rocks cover 25% of the land mass of the country.

✓ The Adigrat sandstone is older and thicker in the southeast and progressively
decreases in age and thickness northwestward.
✓ The Upper sandstone, is thicker and younger in the Southeast, while in the
Northwest it is older and thinner.

▪ The transgressing sea and Mesozoic sediments nearly covered the whole of
Ethiopia.

2.4.4. The Cenozoic Era Geologic Processes (70million years ago - Present)

✓ The Cenozoic Era is the most recent of the geologic Eras.

▪ The tectonic and volcanic activities that took place in this Era have an
important effect in the making of the present-day landmass of Ethiopia and the
Horn of Africa.
 ❖ The land was subjected to three major geologic events:
a) Uplifting of the Arabo-Ethiopian landmass and outpouring of huge quantity of
lava.
b) Formation of the Rift Valley and
c) Quaternary volcanism and deposition.

a) Uplifting of the Arabo-Ethiopian landmass and outpouring of lava flood:

✓ The uplifting of the whole of the Arabo-Ethiopian landmass is a continuation

of the slow rise that began in the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

▪ continued to the Paleocene and Oligocene epoch of the Tertiary period.

 ▪ Where the uplifting was of greater magnitude, the land was pushed up to a
maximum height of 2,000 meters above sea level.
o This occurred during the Eocene epoch.

✓ The whole of the Arabo-Ethiopian landmass was pushed up in blocks as one

mass.
▪ The greatest uplift was in central Ethiopia.
❑ At that time the Rift Valley was not yet formed.

b) The Formation of the Rift Valley:

✓ The formation of the Rift Valley is said to be related with the theory of plate
tectonics.
▪ the theory states, the Rift Valley may be lying on the Earth’s crust below which
lateral movement of the crust in opposite directions producing tensional forces
that caused parallel fractures or faults on the sides of the up-arched swell.

❑ As the tension widened the fractures, the central part of the landmass
collapsed to form an extensive structural depression known as the Rift Valley

✓ The major faulting movement probably began in the late Oligocene and
Miocene Epochs of the Cenozoic Era.

▪ Rifting and faulting, however, continued all the time throughout the Pliocene
and even the Pleistocene Epochs.

▪ The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden were connected as a result of the rifting
and faulting
▪ the Afar depression (including the Gulf of Zula) was down-faulted allowing
the Red Sea
▪ the Danakil Depression and the Red Sea was uplifted to form the Afar Block
Mountains.
➢ The Spatial Extent of the Rift Valley:
✓ The Ethiopian Rift Valley is part of the Great East African Rift system that
extends from Palestine-Jordan in the north to Malawi-Mozambique in the
south,
▪ a distance of about 7,200 kilometers.
o Of these, 5,600 kilometers is in Africa, and 1,700 kilometers in Eritrea and
Ethiopia.
▪ On land, the widest part of the Rift Valley is the Afar Triangle (200-300 km).
✓ The Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the East African System meet and form
the triangular depression of the Afar where the Kobar Sink lies about 125
meters below sea level.
▪ The formation of the Gulf of Aden and the separation of the Arabian Peninsula
from the Horn of Africa
✓ The Rift Valley region of Ethiopian is the most unstable part of the country.
▪ There are numerous hot springs, fumorales, active volcanoes, geysers, and
frequent earthquakes.
Note: The formation of the Rift Valley has the following structural
(physiographic) effects:
❖ It divides the Ethiopian Plateau into two.
❖ It separates the Arabian landmass from African landmass.
❖ It causes the formation of the Dead Sea, Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden troughs.
❖ It creates basins and fault depressions on which the Rift Valley lakes are
formed.

c) Quaternary Volcanic Eruptions and Depositions

✓ They are recent volcanic activities that took place after the formation of the
Rift Valley (Pliocene-Pleistocene Epochs)
▪ This activity was generally limited to the floor of the Rift Valley and the
region south of Lake Tana.
✓ Aden volcanics and recent faulting are more extensively developed in the Afar
region.
❖ The basic volcanic features of the Aden series include the following:
✓ Numerous and freshly preserved volcanic cones, many of which have
explosive craters. Some of these are active Dubi, Erta Ale, Afrera etc.
▪ Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia.

✓ Volcanic hills and mountains, some of which are semi-dormant (Fantale,

Boseti-Gouda near Adama, Aletu north of Lake Ziway, Chebbi north of Lake
Hawassa etc.).
✓ Extensive lava fields and lava sheets some of which are very recent.
✓ Lava ridges
✓ Thermal springs, fumaroles etc.

➢ Quaternary Deposition:

✓ the Earth experienced a marked climatic change, where warmer and dry
periods were alternating with cooler and wet periods.

▪ the time of the last ‘’Ice Age’’ in the middle and high latitude areas and the
time of the ‘‘Pluvial Rains’’ in Africa.
✓ The heavy Pluvial Rains eroded the Ethiopian plateau and the eroded materials
were deposited in the Rift Valley lakes.
▪ The excessive rain resulted in an excessive surface flow; rivers were many
and large.
✓ They carried a lot of water and sediments.
▪ Lake and marshy areas became numerous and deep.

▪ Ziway-Langano-Shalla; Hawasa-Shallo; Chamo-Abaya; and Lake Abe and

the nearby smaller lakes and marsh basins formed huge lakes.

✓ After the ‘‘Pluvial Rains’’, the Earth’s climate became warmer and drier.
✓ The quaternary deposits are mainly found in the Rift Valley (Afar and Lakes
Region), Baro lowlands, southern Borena, and parts of northwestern low lands.

❖ Generally, the Cenozoic rocks cover 50% of the land mass of the country.
2.5. Rock and Mineral Resources of Ethiopia
✓ The occurrence of metallic minerals in Ethiopia is associated with the
Precambrian rocks.
▪ The exploitation and search for mineral deposits in Ethiopia has been taking
place for the past 2,000 years
2.5.1. Brief Facts and Current State of Main Minerals in Ethiopia
✓ Ethiopia has abundant mineral resources of metals and precious metals, coal,
and industrial minerals.
✓ The major minerals in Ethiopia include: gold, platinum, potash, tantalum,
Gypsum and Anhydrite, marble etc.
➢ Gold:
✓ mined in Benishangul-Gumuz (Metekel), Adola., Lega-dembi, Adola etc.

➢ Platinum:
✓ The Yubdo area in Wellega, is the only active Ethiopian Platinum mine.
➢ Tantalum
✓ Significant deposit of tantalum and niobium is found in southern Ethiopia

……………… //……………..!
 CHAPTER THREE
3. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
3.1. Introduction
✓ The topography of Ethiopia is largely determined by the geologic activities of
the Cenozoic Era.
➢ General Characteristics of the Ethiopian Physiography
✓ The Ethiopian landform is characterized by great diversity.
▪ There are flat-topped plateaus, high and rugged mountains, deep river
gorges and vast plains.
✓ Altitude ranges from 125 meters b.s.l (Kobar Sink) to the highest mountain in
Ethiopia, Mount Ras Dashen (4,620 m.a.s.l), fourth highest mountain in Africa.
✓ Ethiopia has the largest proportion of elevated landmass in the African
continent (Roof of East Africa).
▪ More than 50% of the Ethiopian landmass is above 1,000 meters of elevation;
and above 1,500 meters makes 44% of the country.

▪ Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia,
and its northernmost portion extends into Eritrea.

✓ The Ethiopian Highlands are rugged mass of mountains, situated in the Horn
of Africa.
▪ Most of the country consists of high plateau and mountain ranges that are
sources of many rivers and streams

▪ the country to be described as the “Water Tower of East Africa”.

✓ The diversity in topography is accompanied by differences in other natural
features such as soil, climate, vegetation and wild life.
➢ Characteristics of Ethiopian highlands:
✓ Moderate and high amount of rainfall (>600 mm/year),
✓ Lower mean annual temperature (<200C),
✓ The climate is favourable for biotic life,
✓ Rain-fed agriculture is possible,
✓ Free from tropical diseases,

✓ Attractive for human habitation and densely settled etc.

Note: the highlands have been significant throughout Ethiopian history in the
economic, cultural and political life of the people.

✓ highlands make up nearly 56% of the area of the Ethiopia.

▪ subdivided into lower highland (1,000 - 2,000 m.a.s.l), which make up 35%
and higher highland (>2,000 m.a.s.l) constituting nearly 22%.
➢ Characteristics of Ethiopian lowlands (40%):
✓ Fewer amounts of rainfall and higher temperature,
✓ High prevalence of tropical diseases,
✓ Lower population densities,
✓ Nomadic and semi-nomadic economic life,
✓ Vast plain lands favourable for irrigation agriculture along the lower river
basins etc.
3.2. The Physiographic Divisions of Ethiopia

➢ The three major physiographic units in Ethiopia:

1) The Western Highlands and Lowlands

✓ This physiographic unit includes all the area west of the Rift Valley.
▪ It extends from north to south encompassing nearly the whole western half
of Ethiopia.
▪ It makes up about 44% of the area of the country.
✓ This region is further subdivided into four groups of highlands (76.3%) and
four groups of lowlands (23.7%)
➢ The Western Highlands
a) The Tigray Plateau:
✓ It extends from the Tekeze gorge in the south to central Eritrean highlands
▪ It is separated from the Eritrean plateau by the Mereb River.
▪ It constitutes about 13% of the area of the region.

✓ Most of the land being in between 1,000 and 2,000 m.a.s.l.

✓ There are high mountains in this plateau with elevations of over 3000 meters,
namely Mount Tsibet (3988 m.a.s.l), Mount Ambalage (3291 m.a.s.l), and
Mount Assimba (3248 m.a.s.l).
▪ The famous monastery at Debre-Damo, a tableland that can only be climbed by
a rope pulley is also located in this plateau region.
b) North Central Massifs:
✓ This Physiographic division is the largest in the western highlands.
▪ its northern and southern limit follows the Abay and Tekeze gorges.
✓ 58% of the region is at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters
▪ the second highest physiographic division next to the shewan plateau

▪ The region consists of the Gonder, Wello and Gojjam Massifs.

✓ Out of the 26 mountain peaks with altitude of more than 4,000m.a.s.l in

Ethiopia, 19 mountain peaks are found in this physiographic region.
▪ Mount Ras Dashen (4,620 m.a.s.l), Mount Weynobar/Ancua (4462 m.a.s.l),
Mount KidisYared (4453 m.a.s.l), and Mount Bwahit (4437 m.a.s.l) in the
Simen Mountain System.
▪ Mount Guna (4,231m.a.s.l) in the Debre Tabour Mountain System, Abune
Yoseph (4,260 m.a.s.l) in the Lasta highlands of Wello and Mount Birhan
(4,154 m.a.s.l) in the Choke Mountain System in Gojjam are also part of Simen
Mountain System.
c) The Shewa Plateau/central highlands
✓ is bounded by the Rift Valley in the east and southeast, by the Abay gorge
in its northern and western limit, and the Omo gorge in the south and west.
▪ This plateau occupies a central geographical position in Ethiopia.

✓ It is the smallest of the Western highlands (11%)

Fig.: The Abbay Gorge
 ✓ Nearly 3/4 of its area is at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters
▪ therefore, the largest proportion of elevated ground
✓ is drained outward in all directions by the tributaries of Abay, Omo, and Awash.
▪ The tributaries of Abay: Guder, Muger, Jema etc. have cut deep gorges and
steep sided river valleys.
✓ The highest mountain in the Shewan plateau is Mount Abuye-Meda (4,000
m.a.s.l) in Northern Shewa, Mount Guraghe in the south is 3,721 meters high.
d) The Southwestern Highlands
✓ This Physiographic subdivision consists of the highlands of Wellega,
Illuababora, Jimma, Kaffa, Gamo and Gofa.
✓ It is the second largest in the Western highlands (22.7%)
 ▪ It extends from the Abay gorge in the north to the Kenya border and Chew
Bahir in the south.
▪ About 70% of its area lies within 1,000-2,000 meters altitude.
✓ The southwestern plateau is the wettest in Ethiopia.
▪ It is drained by Dabus, Deddessa (tributaries of Abay), Baro, Akobo and the
Ghibe/Omo rivers.
❖ the most dissected and rugged terrain that accommodates the most numerous
and diverse ethnic linguistic groups in Ethiopia.
✓ Mount Guge is the highest peak (4,200 m) in this physiographic subdivision.

➢ The Western Lowlands:

✓ extend from Western Tigray in the north to southern Gamo-Gofa in the South.
 ▪ The general elevation ranges between 500 and 1000 meters above sea level.
✓ is further subdivided into four by the protruding ridges.

❖ These are the Tekeze lowland, Abay-Dinder lowland, Baro lowland, and
Ghibe lowland from north to south.
✓ With the exception of the Baro lowland, the region is generally characterized
by arid or semi-arid conditions.
▪ Pastoral or semi-pastoral economic activities dominate the area.
✓ As one moves northwards, the degree of aridity increases, making rain-fed
agriculture more difficult.
2) The Southeastern Highlands and Lowlands

✓ This physiographic region is the second largest in terms of area.

▪ accounts for 37% of the area of Ethiopia.
▪ The highlands make up 46% of the physiographic division while the rest is
lowland.
✓ further subdivided into two units of highlands and two units of extensive
lowlands:
➢ The Southeastern Highlands
a) The Arsi-Bale-Sidama Highlands

✓ These highlands are found to the east of the Lakes Region.

▪ They make up 28.5% of the area of the region and 62% of the south -
Eastern Highlands.
▪ Mount Kaka (4,180 m.a.s.l), Mount Bada (4,139 m.a.s.l) and Mount Chilalo
(4,036 m.a.s.l).

✓ The Bale highlands are separated from the Arsi highlands by the head and
main stream of Wabishebelle.
▪ The highest mountain peaks in this region are Tulu-Demtu (4,377 m.a.s.l)
and Mount Batu (4,307 m.a.s.l).
▪ The Arsi-Bale Highlands are important grains producing areas with still
high potential.
❖The Sidama Highlands are separated from the Bale Highlands by the Ghenale
river valley.
▪ They occupy the southwestern corner of this region.
▪ The prominent feature here is the Jemjem plateau, an important coffee
growing area.
▪ Rivers Wabishebelle and Ghenale along with their tributaries have dissected
this physiographic region.

▪ Weyb River, tributary of Ghenale, has cut an underground passage (Sof

Omar cave) through the Mesozoic Limestone rocks.

▪ The cave is found near Bale Mountains.

B) The Hararghe Plateau:
✓ is a north-easterly extension of the south-eastern highlands.
▪ extends from the Chercher highlands in the south-west to Jigjiga in the east.
▪ makes up 38% of the South Eastern highlands and 17.4% of the whole
physiographic region.
▪ It has the smallest proportion of upper highland (>2,000 meters).
▪ Much of the Trappean lava is removed and the Mesozoic rocks are extensively
exposed.
▪ The highest mountain here is Mount Gara-Muleta (3,381 m.a.s.l).
➢ The Southeastern Lowlands:
✓ are located in the southeastern part of the country and they are the most
extensive lowlands in Ethiopia.
▪ They make up 54% of the area of the physiographic region and around one-
fifth of the country.

▪ is divided into Wabishebelle plain (60%) and the Ghenale Plain (40%).
o include the plains of Ogaden, Elkere, and Borena.

▪ Because of the harsh climatic conditions, these lowlands are little used and
support very small population.

▪ sparsely inhabited by pastoral and semi-pastoral communities.

✓ The economic potential for this region includes animal husbandry, irrigation,
agriculture and perhaps exploitation of petroleum and natural gas.
3.2.3. The Rift Valley:
✓ is a tectonically formed structural depression.
▪ is bounded by two major and more or less parallel escarpments.
✓ the Rift Valley has separated the Ethiopian Highlands and Lowlands in to two.
▪ extends from the Afar triangle in the north to Chew Bahir for about 1,700
km2.
▪ covers 18% of the area of Ethiopia.
✓ is elongated and funnel shaped, with a NE-SW orientation
✓ It opens out in the Afar Triangle, where it is the widest, and narrows down to
the south.
✓ The floor of the Rift Valley is made up of interconnected troughs, grabens
and depressions.
▪ Altitude in the floor ranges from 125 meters b. s. l. at Dallol Depression, to as
high as 2,000 meters a. s. l. in the Lakes region.

❖ subdivided into three physiographic sub-regions:

✓ the Afar Triangle, the Main Ethiopian Rift, and the Chew Bahir Rift.
a) The Afar Triangle:
✓ is the largest and widest part of the Rift Valley.
▪ makes up 54% of the Rift Valley area.
▪ low altitude (300-700 m).
✓ most hostile environments on Earth (maximum temperatures can exceed
50°C during the summer wet season
▪ characterized by faulted depressions (grabens), volcanic hills, active
volcanoes, volcanic ridges, lava fields and low lava platforms.
▪ Lakes (Abe, Asale, and Afrera) occupy some of these basins.
✓ A prominent feature in this region is the Denakil Depression (Kobar Sink).
▪ A larger part of this is covered by thick and extensive salt plain.
▪ Lake Asale and Lake Afrera occupy the lowest parts of this sunken depression.
▪ The Afar Triangle is generally hot and dry.
✓ The economic importance of this region includes salt extraction, irrigation
along the Awash River and electric potential from geothermal energy.
Fig: Ertalle
b) The Main Ethiopian Rift/Central Rift:
✓ refers to the narrow belt of the R. V. that extends from Awash River in the
north to Lake Chamo in the south.
▪ is bounded by the western and eastern escarpments.
▪ is the narrowest and the highest.
✓ has an average width of 50-80 kilometers and general elevation of 1,000-2,000
meters above sea level.
▪ The floor in many places is dotted by cinder cones and volcanic mountains.
▪ The big ones include Mount Fentale, Boseti-guda (near Adama), Aletu (north
of Lake Ziway) and Chebi (north of Lake Hawasa).

▪ the lakes region of the Main Ethiopian Rift is generally milder and watery.
 ▪ Here rain-fed agriculture is practiced.
▪ Other resource bases include the recreational value of the lakes, the
agricultural importance of some streams and lakes, and the geothermal
energy potential.
c) The Chew Bahir Rift:

✓ is the smallest and the southern-most part of the Rift Valley.

▪ Gneissic highlands of Konso and the surrounding highlands separate it from
the Main Ethiopian Rift to the north.

▪ Characterized by broad and shallow depression, which is a marshy area

covered by tall grass,
➢ The Impacts of Relief on Biophysical and Socioeconomic
Conditions
✓ The highly dissected character of the landscape over much of the
country's territory along with the limited extent to which flat
surfaces are present influence the various socioeconomic aspects
of Ethiopia as presented hereunder.
a) Agricultural practices
✓ Relief influences farm size and shape in that in an area of rugged
terrain the farmlands are small in size and fragmented and tend
to be irregular in shape.
 Choice of farming techniques and farm implements are highly influenced by
relief as in rugged terrain mechanized farming techniques are difficult to
practice.
 Relief influences crop production as some corps are well adapted to higher
altitudes (barley, wheat) and others to low altitude (sorghum, maize).
 The practice of animal husbandry is also influenced by relief as most equines
and sheep are reared in the higher altitudes and camels and goat are well
adapted to lower altitudes
b) Settlement pattern:
✓ Highlands of Ethiopia that experience a temperate type of climatic condition that
are mainly free from most of the tropical diseases are densely settled.

 Rugged and difficult terrain hinders the development of settlement and its
expansion.
  The highlands of Ethiopia are characterized by sedentary life and permanent
settlements while lowlands that are inhabited by pastoralists have temporary
settlements.
c)Transportation and communication:
✓ The highly dissected nature of the landscape is a barrier to the development of
internal surface transportation that resulted in the long-term isolation of many
communities
 The difficult terrain makes infrastructure development and maintenance costly.
 The rugged topography rendered rivers less navigable due to the waterfalls, deep
gorges and steep cliffs.
d) Hydroelectric power potential
✓ The great difference in altitude coupled with high rainfall created suitable
conditions for a very high potential for the production of hydroelectric power
in Ethiopia.
 e) Socio-cultural feeling
✓ The rugged terrain as a result of excessive surface dissection resulted in the long-
term isolation of communities that led to the occurrence of cultural diversity.
 People who live in the highlands have been identifying themselves as degegnas
(mountaineers) and those who live in the lowlands as kollegnas (lowlanders).
f) Impacts on climate
✓ The climate of Ethiopia is a result of the tropical position of the country and
the great altitudinal variation of the general topography.
 Highlands with higher amount of rainfall and lower rate of evapo-transpiration
tend to be moisture surplus compared to the moisture deficit lowlands.
g) Impacts on soil
✓ Steep mountain slopes provide low angle of rest, unstable surface materials and
subject to degradation processes and relatively form shallow and little
developed soils.
h) Impacts on natural vegetation
✓ Relief through its effect on climate and hydrology affect the type of natural
vegetation grown in an area.
 CHAPTER FOUR
➢ Drainage Systems and Water Resource of Ethiopia and the Horn
❖ Introduction:
✓ About 71% of the earth’s total surface is covered by water bodies majorly
occupied by seas and oceans.
▪ Of the earth’s total water surface, nearly 97.5% is alkaline accumulated in
seas and oceans.

✓ The remaining 2.5% is fresh water, of which nearly 68.7% is deposited in

glaciers, 30.1% in ground water, 0.8% in permafrost and 0.4% in surface
waters.
✓ Water in lakes, rivers, atmosphere, soils and wetlands are considered as
surface waters.
✓ Surface and ground waters are by far the most abundant and easily available
fresh waters.
❑ Around 0.7 % of the total land mass of Ethiopia is covered by water
bodies.
❖ Ethiopia is called the water tower of “Eastern Africa”.

➢ Major Drainage System of Ethiopia:

❑ How do you conceptualize drainage system?
✓ The flow of water through well-defined channel is known as drainage.
✓ A drainage system is made up of a principal river and its tributaries

❑ A river system begins at a place called the source or headwater and ends at
a point called mouth.

✓ Therefore, a drainage system is branched network of stream channels together

with the adjacent land slopes they drain.
❖ Drainage pattern of an area is the outcome of the:
✓ geological processes, nature & structure of rocks, topography,
slope etc.
❖ A drainage basin:
✓ is the topographic region from which a river and its tributaries
collect both the surface runoff and subsurface flow.
 Note: the general patterns of major river basins in Ethiopia are
determined by topographical structures.
➢ Major Drainage Systems in Ethiopia:
▪ Why do rivers rise from higher slope and flow towards the lower?
❖ Ethiopia possesses three major drainage systems namely:

✓ are the largest of all drainage systems draining 40% of the total
area of the country and carry 60 percent of the annual water
flow.
✓ coextends with the westward sloping part of the western highlands
and western lowlands.
✓ has four major river basins namely the Tekeze, Abay, Baro-Akobo,
Ghibe (Omo).
▪ the Ghibe (Omo) flows southward.
▪ Abay, Tekeze and Baro flow westward ultimately joining the
Nile & ends at Mediterranean Sea.
❖ Abay River Basin:
✓ The largest river both in volumetric discharge and coverage in the
western drainage systems is the Abay.
 ▪ covers an area of 199,812 km2, covering parts of Amhara, Oromia
and Benishangul-Gumuz regional states.
▪ it carries 65 percent of the annual water flow of the region

▪ rises from Lake Tana (some sources indicate its origin from Sekela,
Choke mountain) flows about 1,450 kilometres and joins the White
Nile in Khartoum, Sudan to form the Nile Rever.

✓ The major tributaries of Abay are: Guder, Jema, Dedesa rivers etc.

❖ Tekeze and its tributaries: carrying 12 percent of the annual water

flow of the region drains 82,350 Km2 of land surface
 ▪ has two main tributaries (Angereb and Goang) which rises in the
central highlands of Ethiopia.
▪ is termed Atbara in Sudan, which is a tributary of the Nile.
❖ Baro-Akobo and Ghibe/Omo rivers: drain the wettest highlands
in the south and southwestern Ethiopia.
✓ carry 17 percent and 6 percent of the annual water flow respectively
▪ In the lower course, the Baro River flows across an extensive
marshy land
▪ has an area of 75,912 km2, covering parts of the Benishangul-
Gumuz, Gambella, Oromia, and SNNPR.
✓ Baro together with Akobo forms the Sobat River in South Sudan.
▪ The Ghibe/ Omo River finally empties in to the Chew-Bahir at
the mouth of Lake Turkana.
b) The Southeastern Drainage Systems:
✓ The basin which is mainly drained by Wabishebelle and Ghenale,
slopes south-eastwards across large water deficient plains.
▪ Major highlands of this basin include plateaus of Arsi, Bale,
Sidama and Harerghe.

▪ Wabshebelle and Ghenale cross the border into Somalia, carrying

25% of the annual water flow of Ethiopia.
✓ Ghenale river basin has an area of 171,042 km2, covering parts of
Oromia, SNNPR, and Somali regions.
▪ Ghenale, which has fewer tributaries but carries more water than
Wabishebelle, reaches the Indian Ocean.
o In Somalia it is named the Juba River
✓ Wabishebelle with a total catchment area of 202,697 km2, is the
largest river in terms catchment area.
o It is the longest river in Ethiopia
▪ It drains parts of Oromia, Harari and the Somali regions.
▪ fails to reach the Indian Ocean where at the end its water
disappears in the sands, just near the Juba River.
❖ Ethiopian Rivers:
River Catchment Annual Terminus/Mouth Major tributaries
Area(km2) Volume BMC

Abay 199,812 54.5 Mediterranean Dabus, Dedessa, Fincha, Guder, Muger,

Jema, Beshilo

Wabishebelle 202,697 3.4 Coast of Indian Ocean Ramis Erer, Daketa Fafan

Genale Dawa 171,042 6 Indian-Ocean Dawa, Weyb, Welmel, Mena

Awash 114,123 4.9 Inland (within Ethiopia) Akaki, Kesem, Borkena, Mile

Tekeze 87,733 8.2 Mediterranean Goang, Angereb

Gibe (Omo) 79,000 16.6 Lake Turkana Gojeb

Baro Akobo 75,912 23.23 Mediterranean Akobo

Source: Compiled from different basin development master plans

❑ General Characteristics of Ethiopian Rivers:

✓Almost all major rivers originate from the highlands elevating

(>1500 m. a. s. l.)

✓ Majority of Ethiopian rivers are trans-boundary,

✓ extreme seasonal fluctuation (wet season, runoff is higher & rivers

are full bursting their banks, destroying small bridges, damage
roads and flooding low lands, during the dry seasons they became
mere trickles of water or even dry up,

✓ have rapids and waterfalls along their course,

Drainage Basins of Ethiopia
c) The Rift Valley Drainage System:
✓ is an area of small amount of rainfall, high evaporation and small
catchment area.
▪ The only major river basin is that of the Awash.
• has a catchment area of 114,123 km2 and has an average annual
discharge of 4.9 billion cubic meters.
• originates from Shewan plateau in central highlands, & flows
1250 kms.

• covers parts of the Amhara, Oromia, Afar, Somali, Dire Dawa,

and Addis Ababa City
Fig.: The Awash River
✓ Note: Awash is the most utilized river in the country.
✓ Awash flows in a northeast direction & ends in a maze of small
lakes and marshy area; the largest of which is Lake Abe on the
Ethio-Djibouti border.
✓ In the Rift Valley drainage systems, there is no one general flow
direction (Following the Rift Valley orientation)
❑ The Afar drainage sub-basin has practically no stream flow.
▪ It is an area of little rain, very high temperature and very high
evaporation.
▪ Lake Afrera and Asale are the only main surface waters in the
basin w/c formed by tectonic activities.

▪ The Southern part of the Rift Valley is described as lakes region.

▪ small streams that drain to the lakes (Meki and Katar Rivers flow
into Ziway, Bilate into Abaya & Segen into Chew Bahir.)
• Lakes Ziway and Langano drain into Lake Abijiata through the
small streams of Bulbula and Horocolo respectively.
❖ Ethiopian Lakes:
✓ Almost all Ethiopian lakes are result of tectonic process that took
place during Quaternary period of Cenozoic era
▪ Except few Ethiopian lakes, majority of lakes are located within the Rift
Valley System.
✓ Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia
▪ formed by slower sinking between Gojjam and Gonder massifs.

✓ Crater lakes: Bishoftu, Wonchi (near Ambo), Hayk (near Dessie),

on top of Mount Zikwala, Ashenge (Tigray) is formed on a tectonic
basin.
✓ man-made lakes: Koka, Fincha and Melka Wakena etc. dammed
following hydroelectric power generation projects.

Note: Cluster of lakes are lined up within main Ethiopian rift

❖ Lake Abaya is the largest of all the lakes in the system.

❑ Shala and Ziway are the shallowest and the deepest lakes in the
central Ethiopian Rift respectively
Area and depth of some of Ethiopian Lakes

Lake Area Max. Depth(m) Lake Area Max.

(km2) (km2) Depth(m)
Tana 3600 9 Abijata 205 14
Abaya 1162 13.1 Awassa 129 10
Chamo 551 13 Ashenge 20 25
Ziway 442 8.95 Hayk 5 23
Shala 409 266* Beseka 48.5 11
Koka 205 9
Lake Wonchi
Fig.: Lake Shalla
Fig.: Lake Zequala
➢ Water Resources Potentials and Development in Ethiopia
✓ As compared to surface water resources, Ethiopia has lower
ground water potential.
▪ Climatic and geophysical conditions determine the availability of
groundwater resource
❖ Generally, water resource potential of Ethiopia is underutilized due
to so many factors like technology, location of rivers etc.
a) Hydro-electric Potential
✓ Ethiopian rivers have a very high potential for generating
electricity /exploitable capacity about is 45000 MW
 ✓ The first H.E.P.G. plant was installed on Akaki River (Aba Samuel)
in 1932.
▪ Currently Ethiopia is administering 14 hydroelectric power plants
constructed on lake Aba Samuel, Koka, Tis Abay, Awash, Melka Wakena,
Fincha, Gibe/Omo, Tana Beles and Tekeze etc.

✓ The major problem related to the use of Ethiopian rivers for the
hydroelectric power is:
▪ the seasonal flow fluctuations and impact of climate change and
variability, sedimentation in the reservoirs etc.
b) Irrigation and Transportation
✓ The rugged terrain limits the uses of Ethiopian rivers both for
irrigation and transportation
▪ In the highlands, steep slopes, rapids, waterfalls, narrow and deep
valleys and gorges are important obstacles.

✓ The Baro-Akobo and Genale Dawa river systems have large

irrigation potential compared to other basins.
▪ >60% of the area under irrigation so far is located in Rift Valley
Drainage System
 ✓ Majority of Ethiopian rivers are not suitable for transportation.
except Baro river
▪ Lake Tana and Abaya are relatively the most navigable
c) Fishing and Recreation:
✓ The majority of Ethiopian lakes are rich in fish
▪ Currently Lake Tana and Chamo are potentially the major fishing
grounds
❖ > 60% of fish supplies are coming from Ethiopian main Rift Valley
lakes.
 ❑ Some of the lakes are threatened by sedimentation, invasive
species (water hyacinth), over exploitation and expansion of
investments around lakes.
CHAPTER FIVE
WEATHER & CLIMATE OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
❖ What is the difference between weather & climate?
✓ Weather: is the current state of the atmosphere including temperature,
atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, cloudiness
and precipitation.
▪ Hotness or coldness, rainy or cloudiness, sunniness, windiness or
calmness, of air you are feeling on the daily base
 ✓ Climate: refers the state of the atmosphere over long time periods,
decades and more.
▪ is the composite of daily weather conditions recorded for long
periods of time.
✓ The climate of Ethiopia is controlled by the seasonal migration of
the ITCZ, complex topography of the country etc.
▪ ITCZ: is simply the convergence of Northeast trade & Equatorial
westerlies winds
✓ In Ethiopia, the temporal and spatial variations in elements of
weather and climate because of its closeness to equator and Indian
Ocean.
➢ Elements and Controls of Weather and Climate:
Elements Controls

1) Temperature 1) Latitude and angle of the sun

2) Precipitation and humidity 2) Land and water distribution

3) Winds and air pressure 3) Winds and air pressure

4) Altitude and mountain barriers

5) Ocean currents
 ➢Controls of Weather and Climate:

1) Latitude:
✓ is the distance of a location from the equator (angular location of a
place to the direct rays of the sun)
▪ The sun shines directly on equator for more hours during the year
than anywhere else.
✓ towards the poles, less solar insolation is received during the year &
the temperature become colder.
❖ Latitudinal location of Ethiopia and the Horn resulted in:
 ✓ high average temperatures
✓ high daily and small annual ranges of temperature
✓ no significant variation in length of day and night between
summer and winter etc.
b) Inclination of the Earth's Axis:
✓ This inclination determines the location of the Tropics of Cancer,
Capricorn and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles
▪ As the earth revolves around the sun, inclination produces a change
in the directness of the sun's rays, which in turn causes the
differences in length of day and seasons.
➢ Rotation
occurs when something is spinning around an axis. Rotation of the earth is
the spinning of earth on its axis it results
-Day and night
-Apparent movement of the sun
➢ Revolution
The Earth is revolves around the sun (orbit of the sun)
One full revolution takes 3651/4 days (1year) and it result
-Seasons
-Variation in the length of the day
As a result of inclination of the earth, rotation and revolution
-Solstice and
-Equinoxes are resulted
➢ Equinoxes and Solstices:
✓ An equinox is the instant of time when the sun strikes the plane of
the Earth's equator
▪ the length of day and night are equal
❖ Equinox appears twice a year:
-March 21st (Vernal/spring equinox)
-September 22nd (Autumn / fall equinox)
a) The Vernal (spring) equinox: is the day when the point of
verticality of sun’s rays crosses the equator northwards.
▪ the length of day and night are equal
▪ Vernal (spring) equinox marks the beginning of Spring season
▪ March 21 marks the offset of the vernal equinox.
 b) The Autumn equinox: appears to happen when the sun crosses
equator giving approximately equal length between day and night.

▪ sun moves south across the celestial equator on 23rd of September

▪ It marks the beginning of Autumn season
✓ Solstice is when the overhead sun appears to cross northern or
southern points to the equator resulting in unequal length of days and
nights in the hemispheres/the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator/.
a) The summer Solstice: on June 21st, the northern hemisphere has
maximum tilt towards the sun experiencing longest daylight of the year.
 ✓ It is the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern
Hemisphere

b) The winter solstice: December 22nd, is the day when the maximum
southward inclination is attained in S. hemisphere. it occurs when the
sun overhead on 23 ½° S i.e. Tropic of Capricorn.
▪ In this event, the sun inclination to south hemisphere caused longest
night and shortest daylight for N. hemisphere.
3) Altitude:
✓ Under normal conditions, there is a general decrease in temperature
with increasing elevation. The average rate at which temperature
changes per unit of altitudinal change is known as lapse rate.
 ✓ This rate is limited to the lower layer of the atmosphere
(Troposphere). The normal lapse rate is 6.5°c / km rise in altitude i.e.
as altitude of places changed by 1 km, temperature change by 6.5°c.
➢ Types of lapse rate:
a) Dry adiabatic laps rate:
✓ An adiabatic lapse rate is the rate at which the temperature of an air
parcel changes in response to the expansion or compression process
associated with a change in altitude.
▪ Vertical displacements of air are the major cause of adiabatic
temperature changes. When air rises, it expands because there is less
weight of air upon it.
✓As long as the air in the parcel is unsaturated (humidity content of ˂
100%) or movement of air does not changed to condensation, the rate
of adiabatic cooling or warming remains constant.
▪ That constant rate is 10°c/1km change in altitude & this rate which
applied only in less humidity air is known as dry adiabatic lapse
rate.
b) Wet Adiabatic laps rate:
✓ If saturated air containing water droplets were to sink, it would
compress and warm at the moist adiabatic rate because evaporation
of the liquid droplets would start the rate of compressional warming.
▪ Hence, the rate at which rising or sinking saturated air changes its
temperature is less than the dry adiabatic rate.
❖ This process is called wet adiabatic temperature change. The rate
of cooling of wet air is approximately 50c per 1 km climbing.
c) Environmental/Atmospheric lapse late:
✓ This is the inverse relationship b/n temperature & altitude meaning
that temperature is highest at low altitudes but decreases as
altitude increases
▪ because of atmospheric heat is from terrestrial radiation rather
than from direct solar radiation.
 ✓ lower layer of atmosphere is warmer since it closer to surface
radiation, high density of lower atmosphere, full of water vapor
and dust at low layer which can absorb earth radiation.
❖The rate of change is 6.50c /km. Totally, this rate is formed due to
inversion of temperature with altitude.

➢ Spatio-temporal Distribution of Temperature:

✓ The spatial distribution of temperature in Ethiopia is primarily

determined by altitude and latitude
✓ Tropical temperature conditions have no full spatial coverage b/c:
▪ The Ethiopian topography is dominated by highlands
▪ are limited to the lowlands in the peripheries.
❖ Mean annual temperature varies from over 30 0Cin the tropical
lowlands to less than 100c at very high altitudes.
✓ The Bale Mountains are among highlands where lowest mean annual
temperatures are recorded.

✓ The highest mean maximum temperature in the country is recorded

in the Afar Depression.
✓ The major controls determining temperature distributions are latitude
and cloud cover.
▪ In the tropics, the daily range of temperature is higher and the
annual range is small, whereas the reverse is true in the temperate
latitudes.
✓ Ethiopia’s daily temperatures are more extreme than its annual
averages.
✓ In Ethiopia and elsewhere in the Horn, temperature shows seasonal
variations.
▪ months from March to June have highest temperatures. Conversely,
low temperatures are recorded from November to February.
 ✓ there is a slight temperature increase in summer
❖ Southern part of Ethiopia receives highest temperature in autumn and
spring whereas the northern part of the country, summer season is
characterized by higher temperature.
➢ Spatiotemporal Distribution of Rainfall:
✓ Rainfall system in Ethiopia is characterized by complexities b/c:
▪ Influenced by the position of ITCZ
✓ In short, it is characterized by spatial and temporal variabilities.
❖ The convergence of Northeast Trade winds and the Equatorial
Westerlies forms the ITCZ, which is a low-pressure zone
▪ inter-annual oscillation of the surface position of the ITCZ causes a
variation in the Wind flow patterns over Ethiopia and the Horn.
✓ Following the position of the overhead sun, the ITCZ shifts north
and south of the equator.
▪ As a result equatorial westerlies from the south and southwest
invade most parts of Ethiopia bringing moist winds.
✓ The ITCZ shifts towards Tropic of Capricorn in January a& during
this period, the Northeast Trade Winds carrying non-moisture-
laden dominates the region.
▪ Afar and parts of Eritrean coastal areas experience rainfall in
this period.
✓ Following the directness of the Sun in March and September around
the equator, the ITCZ shifts towards equator.
▪ During this time, the central highlands, southeastern highlands and
lowlands receives rainfall as the south easterlies bring moist
winds.
➢ Seasonal or Temporal Variabilities:
✓ rainfall is highly variable both in amount and distribution across
regions and seasons.
a) Summer (June, July, August):
✓ Characterized by heavy rain fall in most parts of Ethiopia
❖ From mid-June to mid-September, majority of Ethiopian regions,
except lowlands in Afar and Southeast, receive rainfall as the sun
overheads north of the equator.

▪ Ethiopia and the Horn are under the influence of the Equatorial
Westerlies (Guinea monsoon) i.e. high pressure cells from Atlantic
Ocean and Easterlies (high pressure cell of Indian Ocean).

✓ the Guinea monsoon and the South easterly winds are responsible for
the rain in this season.
b)Autumn (September, October and November):
✓ Since ITCZ shifts to equator and equatorial westerlies become
weak, south easterlies trade wind invades moderate rain for
southeastern lowlands of Ethiopia.
▪ the south easterlies from Indian Ocean are the source of rain for the
lowlands in southeastern part of Ethiopia.
c) Winter (December, January and February):
✓ In winter, the overhead sun is far south of equator

▪ Northeasterly winds originating from the landmass of Asia

dominantly prevail Ethiopian landmass.
▪ The northeasterly winds crossing the Red Sea carry very little
moisture and supplies rain only to the Afar lowlands and the Red
Sea coastal areas.

d) Spring (March, April and May):

✓ the southeasterlies from the Indian Ocean provide rain to the

highlands of Somalia, and to the central and southeastern lowlands
and highlands of Ethiopia.
 ➢Rainfall Regions of Ethiopia:
✓ Based on rainfall distribution, both in space and time, four rainfall
regions are there:
1) Summer rainfall region:
✓ comprises almost all parts of the country, except the southeastern and
northeastern lowlands
▪ The region is divided in to dry and wet />1000 mm/ summer rainfall

2) All year-round rainfall region:

✓has many rainy days than any part of the country (southwestern part)
▪ moist air currents of equatorial Westerlies called the Guinea
Monsoons are source of rain
✓ duration and amount of rainfall decreases as we move from southwest
to north and eastwards
❖ The average rainfall in the region varies from 1,400 to over 2,200
mm/year.
3) Autumn and Spring rainfall regions:

✓ comprises areas receiving rain following the influence of

southeasterly winds. South eastern lowlands of Ethiopia receive rain
▪ The south-easterlies bring rainfall from the Indian Ocean
 ▪ About 60 percent of the rain is in autumn and 40 percent in spring
4) Winter rainfall region:
✓ receives rain from the northeasterly winds
▪ the Red sea escarpments and some parts of the Afar region receive
their main rain.
➢ Agro-Ecological Zones of Ethiopia:
▪ traditionally based on temperature the agro-ecological zones of
classified into five:
a) The Wurch Zone:
✓ is an area having altitude higher than 3,200 meters above sea level
and mean annual temperature of less than 10⁰c
▪ E.g: Ras Dashen, Guna, Megezez in North Shoa, Batu, Choke,
Abune Yoseph etc.
b) Dega Zone:
✓ having relatively higher temperature and lower altitude compared to
the wurch Zones

▪ the Dega-zone is long inhabited and has dense human settlement

due to reliable rainfall for agriculture and absence of vector-borne
diseases such as malaria.
 c) Weyna Dega Zone:
✓ has warmer temperature and moderate rainfall lies between 1500-
2,300 meters above sea level.
▪ is the second largest zone covering more than 26% of the landmass
of Ethiopia.
❖ temperature and rainfall highly suitable for majority for crop
production hence, the zone includes most of the agricultural land.
▪ has also two growing seasons
d) Kolla Zone:
✓ is the climate of the hot lowlands with an altitudinal range of 500 to
1500 meters
 ▪ E.g: peripheries in south, southeast, west and northeastern parts of
the country
▪ Average annual temperature ranges between 20oC and 30oC whreas,
mean annual rainfall is erratic, it can be as high as 1500 mm in the
wet western lowlands of Gambella.
✓ Rainfall is highly variable from year to year
e) Bereha Zone:

✓ is the hot arid climate of the desert lowlands & it is largely confined
to lowland areas with altitude of lower than 500 meters
✓ average annual rainfall is less than 200 mm, and average annual
temperature is > 27.5oC.
❖ Characterized by: strong wind, high temperature, low relative
humidity, and little cloud cover etc.
E.g: the Danakil depression etc.
Zones Altitude (m) Mean annual Length of growing Mean annual Area Global
rainfall (mm) periods (days) temperature (0C) share (%) Equivalece

Wurch (cold to >3,200 900-2,200 211–365 Below 10 0.98

Afro Alpine
moist)

Dega (cool to humid) 2,300 - 900-1,200 121–210 ≥11.5–17.5 9.94

Temperate
3,200

Weyna Dega (cool 1,500 - 2300 800-1,200 91–120 >17.5 – 20.0 26.75 Sub tropical
sub humid)
Tropical
Kola (Warm semiarid) 500 - 1,500 200-800 46–90 >20.0 – 27.5 52.94
Desert

Berha (Hot arid) <500 Below 200 0–45 >27.5 9.39

➢ Climate Change/Global Warming: Causes, Consequences and
Response Mechanisms

✓ Climate change is natural and has always been there.

❖ It is a change in the state of the climate by changes for an extended
period of time

❑ Current Trends of Climate in Ethiopia:

✓ Ethiopian climate experiences extremes such as drought, flood etc.

▪ Ethiopia ranked 5th out of 184 countries in terms of its risk of
drought
▪ 12 extreme drought events were recorded between 1900 and 2010.

• Among the 12, seven of the drought events occurred since 1980. The
majority of these resulted in famines.

❖ Trends in Temperature Variability:

✓ Ethiopia has experienced climatic changes. Mean annual temperature
has shown 0.2°C to 0.28°C rise per decade over the last 40-50 years.

▪ A rise in average temperature of about 1.3°C has been observed

between 1960 and 2006.
➢ Causes of Climate Change:
✓ Can be categorized as anthropogenic/manmade and natural causes:
a) Natural Causes:
❖ Earth orbital changes:
✓ the tilt of the earth lead climatically important changes in the
strength of the seasons. More tilt means warmer summers and
colder winters.
❖ Energy Budget:
✓ Sun’s energy output appears constant, small changes over an
extended period of time can lead to climate change
▪ The sun very gradually increasing its amount of radiation so that it is
now 20% to 30% more intense than it was once.
❖ Volcanic eruptions:
✓ releases large volumes of sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, water
vapor, dust, and ash into the atmosphere
▪ The release of large volume of gases and ash can increase planetary
reflectivity causing atmospheric cooling.
 b) Anthropogenic Causes:

✓ The release of greenhouse gases CO2, Methane, Nitrous oxide,

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane
▪ Deforestation, release of industrial gases etc.
➢ Consequences of Climate Change:
✓ has already caused loss of life, damaging property and affecting
livelihoods.
❖ The impact of climate change is higher in low income countries,
since they have limited capacity to cope up
▪ The impacts are on: human health, water resources, agriculture,
ecosystem etc.
➢ Climate Response Mechanisms:
❑ Mitigation and its Strategies:
✓ are those actions that are taken to reduce and control greenhouse gas
emissions changing the climate
▪ Some mitigation measures: Practice Energy efficiency, Increase the
use of renewable energy such as solar, Efficient means of transport
implementation: electric public transport, bicycle, shared cars etc.
 ❖ Adaptation and its Strategies:
▪ Some of the major adaptation strategies include: building flood
defenses, landscape restoration and reforestation, flexible and
diverse cultivation to be prepared for natural catastrophes etc.
➢ Group Assignment (20%):Date of submission and presentation: August
28/12/2013 E.C
Group Titles

Group 1 Chapter 6: Ethiopian Soils - Natural Vegetation of Ethiopia

Group 2 Chapter 6: Natural Vegetation and Wild Life in Ethiopia – End

of chapter 6

Group 3 Chapter 7: Population of Ethiopia - Population Distribution in

Ethiopia

Group 4 Population Distribution in Ethiopia – End of chapter 7

 CHAPTER 6
SOILS, NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES
OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
➢ What is soil?
❖ Composition of soils:
▪ weathered mineral materials (45%), organic matter (5%), air (20-
30%) and water (20-30%).
✓ Soil formation is a long-term process (several thousands of years
to form a single stratum of soil.)
 ✓ The formation of a particular type of soil depends on parent
material, climate, topography, living organism and time.
❖ There are three types of weathering involving in soil formation:
A) Mechanical (physical) weathering:
✓ causes decrease in size without appreciably altering composition
▪ stresses due to heating and cooling or expansion of ice break
the rock
✓ water containing sediment or wind carrying debris is another type
of physical weathering.
B) Biological weathering:
✓ involves the weakening and subsequent disintegration of rock by
plants, animals and microbes
▪ Microbial activity breaks down rock minerals by altering the rock’s
chemical composition
C) Chemical weathering:
✓ involves the modification of the chemical and mineralogical
composition of the weathered material.
▪ The most common chemical weathering processes are hydrolysis, oxidation,
reduction, hydration, carbonation, and solution.
 ➢ Properties of soil:
a) Physical properties:
✓ are influenced by composition and proportion of major soil
components
▪ Properties such as texture, structure, porosity etc.
▪ These properties affect air and water movement in the soil
b) Chemical Properties:
✓ Soil properties like availability of minerals, electrical conductivity,
soil pH, etc.
 ➢ Major Soil Types in Ethiopia:
✓ Soils of Ethiopia are basically derived from crystalline, volcanic
and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks.
▪ soil divisions in the country are based on the geologic structure.
✓ FAO has identified 18 soil associations in Ethiopia at scale of
1:2,000,000
1) Nitosols and Acrisols:

✓ are strongly weathered soils but far more productive than most
other tropical soils.
▪ are basically associated with highlands with high rainfall

▪ poor in soluble minerals like potassium, calcium etc.

▪ rich in non-soluble minerals like iron and aluminum.
✓ The reddish-brown color of these soils is because of high
concentration of iron (ferric) oxides due to leaching

✓ are dominantly found in western highlands (Wellega), southwestern

highlands (Kaffa, Illuababora), Southern highlands, Central
highlands, and Eastern highlands.
✓ Acrisols are one of the most inherently infertile soils of the tropics,
becoming degraded chemically
▪ have very low resilience to degradation
▪ are characterized by low productive capacity
2) Vertisols:
✓ are heavy clay soils with a high proportion of swelling clays when
wet, and cracks when dry
▪ are extremely difficult to manage (hence easily degraded), but has
very high natural chemical fertility.
✓ are also soils of highlands and moderate climates.
✓ mostly develop on volcanic plateau basalt, trachyte and pyroclastic
materials, sedimentary rocks, colluvial slopes and alluvial plains.
✓ are commonly found in parts of Northwestern, Central and
Southeastern highlands (especially in Gojjam, Shewa, Arsi, Bale
and central Hararghe).
3) Lithosols, Cambisols and Regosols:
✓ are mostly found in rugged topography and steep slopes.

▪ are young, shallow and coarse textured and so have low water
holding capacity
▪ are found in areas of low rainfall
▪ most of the areas covered by these soils have limited agricultural
use
✓ are found in different parts of rugged and steep slopes of Central
Highlands, on the Rift Valley Escarpments and highlands in of
western Hararghe. Regosols and Lithosols are also found in the
Danakil and eastern Ogaden.
4) Xerosols, Yermosols and Solanchaks:
✓ are soils of desert or dry steppe soils majorly available in arid and
semiarid areas.
 ▪ are characterized by high salt content and low organic content,
because of the scanty vegetation.
✓ have poor humus content and nitrogen, but are rich in phosphorus
and potash and can be very fertile if irrigated.
▪ Xerosols are soils of the deserts, has low organic content
▪ are extremely subjected to wind erosion and concentration of
soluble salts.

✓ Solanchaks are saline soils which develop in areas of high

evaporation and capillary action
✓ Xerosols are found in Ogaden and northeastern escarpments,
whereas the Yermosols and Solonchaks cover the Ogaden and Afar
plains
✓ Solonchaks are majorly located in salty plains of Afar.
5) Fluvisols:
✓ develop on flat or nearly flat ground, on recent alluvial deposits
▪ are associated with fluvial (river), marine (sea) and lacustine
(lake) deposits.
▪ are soils formed due to deposition of eroded materials from
highlands
✓ The deposition takes place in depressions, lower valleys and
lowlands.
▪ Omo, Awash, Abay and the plains of Akobo and Baro Rivers are
home for fluvivsols.
▪ Lakes region (main Ethiopian rift) is also characterized by
fluvisols.
6) Luvisols:
✓ develop mainly in areas where pronounced wet and dry seasons
occur in alternation
✓ have good chemical nutrients and they are among the best
agricultural soils in the tropics.
▪ are intensively cultivated.
✓Found Lake Tana area, parts of Northern, Central and Eastern
Highlands and Southern lowlands.
➢ Soil Degradation:
✓ is defined as a change in any or all of soil status resulting in a
diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and
services or
▪ is the deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological properties
of soil.
❖ There are three major types of soil degradation:
1) Physical Degradation:
✓ the deterioration of the physical properties of soil
a) Compaction: densification of soil is caused by the elimination or
reduction of structural pores.

b) Soil erosion: is a three-phase process consisting of the detachment

of individual soil particles, transportation and deposition
2) Biological Degradation:
✓ Reduction in soil organic matter content, decline in biomass carbon,
and decrease in activity and diversity of soil fauna are ramifications
of biological degradation
▪ biological degradation of soil is more severe in the tropics than
in the temperate zone.
▪ be caused by indiscriminate and excessive use of chemicals and
soil pollutants.
3) Chemical Degradation:
✓ Nutrient depletion is a major cause of chemical degradation.
▪ excessive leaching of cat-ions in soils with low-activity clays causes
a decline in soil pH and a reduction in base saturation.
▪ caused by the buildup of some toxic chemicals
➢ Causes of soil degradation:
a) Natural causes:
✓ Topographic and climatic factors such as steep slopes, frequent
floods and tornadoes, storms and high-velocity wind, high-intensity
rains and drought in dry regions
b) Man made/anthropogenic:
✓ Deforestation and over exploitation of vegetation, overgrazing,
indiscriminate use of agrochemicals and lack of soil conservation
practices, and over extraction of ground water.
➢ Soil Erosion Control Measures:
✓ aim is to reduce erosion
❖ Erosion is a natural process, it cannot be prevented.
a) Biological Control measures:
✓ include vegetative strips, plantation, and reforestation
▪ can prevent splash erosion, reduces the velocity of surface runoff,
increases surface roughness which reduces runoff and increases
infiltration etc.
b) Physical control measures:
✓ used to control the movement of water and wind over the soil
surface
▪ The major types of control measures commonly applied in Ethiopia
includes terracing, check dams, gabion, trenches, contour
ploughing, soil bunds etc.
➢ Natural Vegetation:
✓ refers to a plant cover that develops with little or no human
interference
▪ Its distribution on the surface of the earth is uneven &
controlled by climate, soil types, drainage, etc.
✓ the natural vegetation of an area becomes a very good indicator of
the climatic conditions.
✓ characteristics of Ethiopia's natural vegetation:
▪ are to a large extent determined by elevation, temperature and
rainfall
➢ Major Natural Vegetation Types of Ethiopia:
✓ Based on altitude the vegetation belts of Ethiopia classified into the
five:
1) Afro-alpine and Sub-afro alpine Region:
 ✓ Ethiopia has the largest extent of Afro-alpine and sub afro-alpine
habitats in Africa
▪ also known as high mountain vegetation
▪ are found on mountains having an elevation ranging between 3,200
and 4,620 m.a.s.l
✓ The Afro-alpine region is found at very high altitudes (4,000 –
4,620 m).
▪ Temperature records of 0oC and below are widely experienced
in these ecosystems
▪ The Bale and Semein mountains are typical examples of afro-alpine
vegetations.
✓ the Sub-afro-alpine region is found at a lower elevation, roughly
between 3,300 and 4,000 meters.
❖ Lobelia rhynchopetalum (giberra) and Erica arborea (Asta) are some
of the dominant species in the Afro-alpine and Sub-afro alpine
regions respectively
2) Forest Region:
✓ forests are found at different elevations, 450 to 3,500m in humid
parts and 2,300 to 3,300 m in most arid parts
✓ Highland forests include Hagenia Abyssinia (Kosso), Juniper procera
(tid), Arundinaria Alpina(kerkha), Podocarpus falcatus (zigba),
Aningeria adolfi-friedericii (keraro)
✓ Lowland forests Olea africana (Weyra), Gallery (Riverine) Forests
like shola, acacia etc.
3) Woodland Savannah Region:
✓ found in areas of wide altitudinal ranges (250 to 2,300 m).
▪ the large part of this region is found at a lower elevation and in a
drier environment.
➢ Woodland savannah regions
✓ Juniper procera (tid) is dominant species for both the Junipers
Forests and Junipers Woodlands.
✓ Acacia woodlands are dominated by both trees and shrubs, which
belong to the same genus 'Acacia'. E.g. Acacia etbaica (grar),
Acacia mellifera (Konter).
✓ Mixed deciduous woodlands: As the name implies, most of the trees
in mixed deciduous woodlands shed their leaves during the dry
season
4) Steppe and Semi Desert Regions:
✓ are regions in the arid and semi arid parts of the country where the
temperature is very high and the rainfall very low.
✓ are found at low elevations 100 to 1,400 m
▪ semi-deserts at 130 meters below sea level to 600 m
▪ xerophytic (drought-resisting plants) are the dominant vegetations
(short shrubs, scattered tufts of grass species and a variety of
acacias etc.)
➢ Natural vegetation Degradation
✓ Major causes:
• Clearing of forests for cultivation
• Timber exploitation practices
• Charcoal burning and cutting for fuel
▪ Expansion of settlements both rural and urban, and clearing for
construction etc.
➢ Natural Vegetation Conservation
✓ is simply protection and management of biodiversity
❖ There are three main approaches of biodiversity conservation:
• Protection: Protected areas include sanctuaries, national parks,
and community conservation areas.
▪ Sustainable forest management
▪ Restoration or rehabilitation
➢ Wild Life/wild animals in Ethiopia:
✓ Ethiopia is one of the few countries in the world, which possess
unique and characteristic fauna with a high level of endemicity
▪ 279 mammalian species of which 31 are endemic

▪ require urgent conservation action for Walia Ibex (Capra walie),

Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus gelada), Mountain Nyala
(Tragelaphus buxtoni), Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis), Starck’s
Hare (Lepus starcki).
✓ Generally, the main wild life concentrations in the country occur in
the southern and western parts.
❖ wild animals in Ethiopia can be classified into five:
1) Common wild animals (those animals that are found in many
parts of the country (e.g. hyenas)

2) Game (lowland) animal, (which include many herbivores like

giraffes, wild asses, zebras etc. and carnivores like lions, leopards,
and cheetahs)
 3) Tree animals or arboreals (which include monkeys, baboons)
4) A variety of birds in the Rift Valley lakes
5) Rare animals (gelada baboon and Semien fox) scattered in
highlands; walia- ibex in the Semien Massifs, Nyala in the Arsi Bale
massifs
➢ Wildlife Conservation:
✓ importance of wildlife can be categorized as ecological, economic,
investigatory, conservation of biological diversities etc.
❖ National Parks of Ethiopia:
S.no Name Region Year est. Area in sq.km

1 Kafeta Shiraro Tigray 1999 5000

2 Semien Mountains Amhara 1959 412
3 Alatish Amhara
4 Bahir Dar Blue Nile River Millennium Amhara 2008 4729
5 Borena Saynt Amhara 2008 4325
6 Yangudi-Rassa Afar 1969 4731
7 Awash Oromiya and Afar 1958 756
8 Dati Wolel Oromiya 2010 1031
9 Bale Mountains Oromiya 1962 2200
10 Yabello Oromiya 1978 1500
11 Abijata Shala Oromiya 1963 887
12 Arsi Mountains Oromiya 2012
13 Geralle Somali 1998 3558
14 Gambella Gambella 1966 4650
15 Nechsar SNNPR 1966 514
16 Omo SNNPR 1959 3566
17 Mago SNNPR 1974 1947
18 Maze SNNPR 1997 202
19 Gibe Sheleko SNNPR 2001 248
20 Loka Abaya SNNPR 2001 500
21 Chabra Churchura SNNPR 1997 1190
 ✓ Some of the national parks are unique in their wild animals:

1) Abiyatta-Shalla lakes National Park is predominantly bird

sanctuary. Important bird species include the flamingos and pelicans.
2) Omo, Mago, and Gambela National Parks have hippopotamus and
crocodiles in rivers and lakes.
3) Semien and Bale Mountains National Parks have rare animals like
Walia ibex, Semien fox, gelada baboon and Nyala.
➢ Challenges of wildlife conservation in Ethiopia:

▪ Limited awareness on the importance of wild life

▪ Expansion of human settlement in protected areas.
▪ Conflict over resource ,Overgrazing (fodder and wood)
▪ Illegal wildlife trade, Excessive hunting etc.
 CHAPTER 7
POPULATION OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
➢ Population Data: Uses and Sources

✓ Regular and reliable population data are vital for effective

socioeconomic development planning and administration

▪ are needed to plan for the provision of infrastructures such as

schools, hospitals, roads, water and sewerage facilities, housing,
establishing voting district boundaries, estimating future tax revenue

❖ There are three conventional sources of obtaining population data:

 1) Census:
✓ is the total process of collecting, compiling and publishing
demographic, economic and social data pertaining at a specified time
(s) to all persons in a defined territory.
❖ major characteristics:
✓ Universality: inclusion of all persons in a given area during the
count,

✓ Periodicity: census undertaking at regular time intervals with

reference to a defined point of time usually 10 years and 5 years,
✓ Simultaneity: undertaking census in a very limited time duration
called the census day/night,
✓ Government sponsorship being an expensive endeavour, and
publication
❖ two procedures for collecting census data:
a) Dejure approach: it involves counting people according to their
usual place of residence (where he/she lives most of the time).

▪ gives a picture of the total permanent population of an area

b) Defacto approach: Under this approach each individual is recorded
at the place where he/she was found at the time of the census.
2) Sample Survey:
✓ population/sample/ is selected with the view that information
acquired would represent the entire population.
▪ is advantageous over census as costs can be greatly reduced; and it
is simple to administer and taken much faster.
▪ sample surveys have the inherent weaknesses related to sampling
errors
3) Vital Registration:
✓ is a system of continuous, permanent, compulsory and legal
recording of the occurrence and the characteristics of vital events like
births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and adoptions.
▪ more precise than that of census/sample survey and the system
provides time series data.
❖ Population Dynamics: Fertility, Mortality and Migration:
✓ population of any particular region (country) grows/declines as a
result of the combined effect of the three demographic variables:
fertility, mortality and migration.
▪ Ethiopia is endowed with a large and fast-growing population
ranking 2nd in Africa after Nigeria
 ➢ Demographic Measurements:
✓ In Ethiopia, fertility and mortality are the two principal determinants
of population growth
1) Crude Birth Rate refers to the number of live births/1000
population

2) General Fertility Rate refers to the total number of live births per
women of reproductive age
✓ is a relatively specific measure of fertility as it specifically relates
births to women in the reproductive age.
3) Total Fertility Rate (T.F.R.) refers to the average number of children
that a woman would have at the end of her reproductive period if the
current age specific fertility rate remains unchanged.
▪ Where, Bi = Total live births in age group i, Wi =Total number of
women in age group I (i =age group i.e. 1= 15-19, 2=20-24 3=25-
29, 4 = 30-34, 5 = 35-39, 6=40-44, 7 = 45-49)
4) Crude Death Rate refers to the number of deaths per one
thousand population in a year
5) Infant Mortality rate refers to the total number of deaths of infants
per one thousand live Birth

6) Maternal Mortality Rate: refers to death of mothers in

connection from pregnancy and birth complications per hundred
thousand live birth.
7) Life Expectancy at birth: refers to the average number of years
that a newly born baby is expected to live.
▪ Life expectancy at birth is greater for urban areas than for rural areas
8) Natural Rate of Increase: is the difference between crude birth
rate and crude death rate expressed in percentage
NRI= (C.B.R. - C.D.R.)
➢ Levels and trends in Fertility and Mortality rates in Ethiopia:
✓ Birth and death rates show significant spatiotemporal variation
(between rural and urban areas of Ethiopia.)
▪ Urban areas have lower birth and death rates compared to rural areas
▪ Women in rural areas have an average of 5.2 children, compared
to 2.3 children among women in urban areas.

✓ regions that have TFR rates more than the national average are
Somali (7.2), Afar (5.5), Oromia (5.4), and Tigray (4.7).

▪ the lowest life expectancy is in Benishangul- Gumuz (47 years)

followed by SNNPR (49 years).
✓ birth rates are high due to:
▪ Little family planning practices and lack of population education

▪ Early marriage, particularly of females etc.

Country C.B.R C.D.R I.M.R Life Expectancy
(Years)

Ethiopia 36.5 7 49.6 62.6

Kenya 23.9 6 37.1 64.3
Somalia 36.6 11 94 52.8
Eritrea 29.6 7 45 65.2
Djibouti 23.4 8 45.8 63.6
Highest Angola/Niger= 44.2 Lesotho=15.0 Afghanistan=110 Monaco=89.4

Values
Mali= 43.9 Lithuania=14.6 Somalia=94 Japan=85.3

Lowest Monaco=6.6 Qatar=1.5 Monaco=1.8 Chad=50.6

Values Japan=7.7 UAE=1.9 Japan=2 Guinea Bissau=51.0

Source: Population Reference Bureau, population data sheet, 2017

✓ Countries of the Horn of Africa have higher population growth rate
that exceeds 2.6 %.

✓ consequences of this rapid population growth:

▪ low per capita GNP,
▪ increased unemployment and under -employment
▪ continuous inflation that erodes purchasing power of the
currency
▪ overcrowding of infrastructural and social facilities
▪ Environmental problems such as deforestation, soil erosion, loss
of biodiversity
➢ Migration in Ethiopia and the Horn:

✓It is an old and inevitable phenomenon

➢ Sex Structure:

➢ Age Structure:

✓ Old Age index:

➢ Population Distribution in Ethiopia:
✓ is very uneven as a result of physical and human factors
▪ physical factors that affect population distribution include climate,
soil, vegetation, drainage and slope
▪ Human factors: the type of economic activity, urbanization,
industrialized etc.
➢ Measures of Population Distribution:
❖ Population Density:
✓ refers to the number of people per unit area
a) Crude Density:
✓ is found by dividing total population to total area.
▪ does not show variations in population distribution within a given
area.
✓ SNNP region has the largest population density (173 people/km2)
followed by Amhara region

✓ Somali, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz are regions with low

densities
 Region Population Area(km2) Density(p/km2)

Tigray 5,247,005 84,722 61.9

Afar 1,723,000 72,053 23.9
Amhara 20,401,000 154,709 131.9
Oromia 33,692,000 284,538 118.4
Somali 5,453,000 279,252 19.5
Benishangul Gumuz 1,005,000 50,699 19.8
SNNPR 18,276,000 105,476 173.3
Gambella 409,000 29,783 13.7
Harari 232,000 334 716
Addis Ababa 3,273,000 527 6,210
Dire Dawa City Adm. 440,000 1,559 282
Total 90,078,000 1,063,652 84.7

Source: CSA, Statistical Abstract,2015.

b) Physiological Density:
✓ is a ratio between total population and arable part of a country

✓ Agricultural/rural Density:
✓ which takes only agricultural population as a numerator and
cultivated land as a denominator.
▪ gives a better indication of the pressure of population on land
resources
✓ Rural population per square kilometer of cropland is the highest for
Somali Afar and Gambella.

▪ is due to the smaller proportion of land that is appropriate for

agriculture

✓ The smallest agricultural density lies in Benishangul (3.8),

Amahra (5), Oromia (5.6) and Tigray (5.9).
 Age sex Composition

Total population Total area Arable Rural birth Death Male 0-14 65+
(Km2) Land Km2 Pop.

110,000,000 1,106,000 6,000,000 80% of Tp 10 million 5 million 50 million 10% of 5% of

TP Tp
Calculate:
I. the rate of natural increase
II.The total population of the country at the end of the year if migration has
no significant effect
III.Sex ratio
IV.Age dependency ratio
V.Crude density
VI. Dependency ratio
VII. Agricultural Density
VIII. physiological density