College of Social sciences and humanities

School of Geography and Environmental Studies

Geography of Ethiopia and the Horn

Course code (GeES1011)
Instructor: Itabezaw M.
CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Geography: Definition, Scope and Themes
 It is difficult to forward a definition acceptable to all
geographers at all times and places because of
1. the dynamic nature of the discipline and
2. the changes in its scope and method of study.
3. Because of it universal and versatile field
4. It is such a broad and all- encompassing field.
However, the following may be accepted as a working definition.
Geography 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
A. Scope of geography
Scope:- means extent or range and variety of contents which fields of
the study deals with.
 Geography’s scope is very wide.
 The scope of geography includes
 Every thing about the earth and
 How things differ from area to area.
Thus, the scope of Geography is the surface of the Earth, which is the very thin zone
that is the interface of the features in the
 the atmosphere (refer layer of gases),
 Lithosphere (referring to the rocks layer) ,
 Hydrosphere(referring to the various water bodies) and
 Biosphere which provides the habitable zone in which humans are able to live.

.
B. Approach of Geography
 Geography can be approached by considering two continuums:
1) a human-physical continuum and
2) a topical-regional continuum.

 Human- physical approach is studies each geographic phenomena in a general

manners concerned with world contexts.
 The topical (systematic) fields of Geography view particular
categories of physical or human phenomena as distributed over the Earth
 Topical field of geography is studies one issue.
Example:- systematic/ topical geography includes physical
geography, economic geography, cultural geography,
political geography, etc.
 Regional geography is concerned with the associations within regions of all or
some of the elements and
their interrelationships.
Earth system
C. Theme of Geography( principle of Geography)
 Geography has five basic themes namely location, place, human-
environment interaction, movement, and region.

1. Location:- is defined as a particular place or position.

 Most studies of geography begin with the mention of this theme of
geography.
 Location can be of two types: absolute location and relative
location.
 Absolute (Astronomical/mathematical location is defined by its
latitude and longitude or its exact address.
 Relative location:- is known as vicinal location.
 Relative location is relative to another landmarks/ cardinal
directions.
2. Place:- refers to the physical and human aspects of a
location.
 This theme of geography 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,
pedology, characteristics and size of its human population,
and the distinct human cultures.
 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.
 Humans have adapted to the environment in ways that have allowed them to
dominate all other species on Earth.
 Thus, 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.
 Adaptation relates to how humans modify themselves, their lifestyles
and their behavior to live in a new environment with new
challenges.
 Modification allowed humans to “conquer” the world for their comfortable
living.
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.
 Another aspect of movement is the transport of goods from one place on
the Earth to another.
 The third dimension of movement is the flow of ideas that allows the
unification of the human civilization and promotes its growth and
prosperity.
5. Region
 A region is a geographic area having distinctive characteristics
that distinguishes itself from adjacent unit(s) of space.
1. 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).
2. 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
1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia
 The location of a country or a place on a map or a globe is expressed in two
different ways. These are astronomical and relative locations .
1. Astronomical location, also known as absolute or mathematical location, states
location of places using the lines of latitudes and longitudes.
 Astronomically, Ethiopia is a landlocked country 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).
 The latitudinal and longitudinal extensions are important in two ways.
 First, as a result of its latitudinal extension the country experiences tropical
climate and
 secondly due to its longitudinal extension there is a difference of one hour between
the most easterly and most westerly points of the country.
 It is only for convenience that the 3 hours-time zone is used in all parts of the
country.
2. Relative location expresses the location of countries or places with
reference to
 the location of other countries (vicinal),
 landmasses or
 water bodies.
The relative location of Ethiopia is indicated in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1: The relative location of Ethiopia
The implications of the location of Ethiopia are described as follows:
a) 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, though modified by
its altitude.
The location of Ethiopia relative to the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and
the African and Asian landmass has also various bearings on the climate of Ethiopia.

b) 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, which was
the origin of these religions. The linguistic and other cultural relationships, which Ethiopia
shares with its neighbours, reflect the influence of location.
c) Political: The political history of Ethiopia has been considerably 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; though
the country resisted foreign intervention and remains free of external domination.
1.2.2. Size of Ethiopia
 Ethiopia with a total area of approximately 1,106,000 square kilometers 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 also affects both the natural and human environment
of the country.
1.2.3. The shape of Ethiopia and its Implication
 Countries of the World have different kinds of shape that can be divided into five main
categories: compact, fragmented, elongated, perforated, and protruded.
 These shapes have implications on defense, administration and economic integration within a
country.
 Whether some kind of shape is advantageous to a country or not, however, depends on many
other factors.
1. 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.
2. Fragmented shape countries: They are divided from their other parts by either water,
land or other countries.
3. Elongated shape countries: They are geographically long and relatively narrow like
Chile.
4. Perforated shape countries: A country that completely surrounds another country like the
Republic of South Africa.
5. Protrude shape countries: Countries that have one portion that is much more elongated
than the rest of the country like Myanmar and Eritrea.
There are four most commonly used measures of compactness.
These are:
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.
Example: A/B= 1,106,000km2/5260km
A/B = 210.27
2. The ratio of boundary length of a country to the
circumference of a circle having the same area as the
country itself:
 Boundary-Circumference ratio.
 It measures how far the boundary of a country approximates
the circumference of a circle of its own size.
 Therefore, the nearer the ratio to 1 the more compact the country
3. The ratio of the area of the country to the circumference of
the smallest inscribing circle: 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. The ratio of the actual area of a country to the smallest
possible inscribing circle: AreaArea (A/A‟) ratio.
 The area of the inscribing circle is the area of the smallest possible
circle whose circumference passes through the extreme points on the
boundary.
 Half length of the longest distance between two extreme points gives
radius of the inscribing circle.
 The nearer the ratio to 1, the more compact the country.

Example:- Ethiopian area= 1,106,000km2

area of the smallest inscribing circle = ∏r2
D/2=r2 1639/2= 819.5
C= 3.14*(819.5)= 2,108,761.985
A/A= 1,106,000km2/2,108,761.985
A/A= 0.522
 1.3. Basic skills of map reading
1.3.1. Definition of map reading
 A map is a two-dimensional scaled representation of part or whole of the Earth
surface on a flat body such as piece of paper, black board, wood or cloth.
 Map reading encompasses a systematic identification of natural features and
manmade features.
 Natural features include mountains, plateaus, hills, valleys, river, ocean, rocks,
plain etc.
 On the other hand, manmade features include roads, railway, buildings, dam
etc.
 Although many disciplines use maps, they have a special significance for
Geographers as primary tools for displaying and analyzing spatial distributions,
patterns and relations.
 Since these features cannot easily be observed and interpreted in real
landscapes, maps are essential to Geographers.
 1.3.2. 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.
 The measurements can be of area size, distance etc.
1.3.3. Types of Map
 There are many types of maps according to their purpose and
functions. For the purpose of this course, topographical and
statistical maps are considered.
A. Topographical maps: Topographic 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: These are maps, which
show distribution of different aspects such as temperature,
rainfall, settlement, vegetation etc.
1.3.4. 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.
 This includes:
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.
 Scales enable the map user to interpret the ground measurement like road distance, areal sizes,
gradient etc. It can be expressed as representative fraction, statements/verbal scale, and linear
(graphic) scale.
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 west.
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.
1.3.5. Basic Principles of Map Reading
 In developing map reading abilities and skills, certain basic
principles must be applied by the map-reader to translate map
symbols into landscape images.
Principle 1: visualizing map symbols
 Map Readers must have ideas about the symbol and also the
real World (landscapes).
 Every map symbol must be visualized by the reader to read a
map.
 The first symbols introduced should be those, which refer to
landscape. features of which the reader already has some
images. Map symbols should be introduced as needed.
Principle 2: knowledge of direction:
 Secondly, knowledge of directions is an important principle in
reading maps.
 One of the basic functions of maps is to help us to orient
ourselves and to locate places on the earth.
 Unless a reader knows the basic directions, he or she may not use
a map effectively.
principle 3: knowledge of grid reference (location)
 Before locating features using a map, north (the north arrow)
should be determined and the readers should have practice in
finding this direction.
 Next they should learn to read direction on a specific map and the
location of the features shown on the map in relation to one
another
 Thank
you!!!!