Ethiopia
A Hidden Empire of comfort and
Modern Communications

With an area of over 492,000 square miles (1,237,000 km2), Ethiopia is the tenth largest country in Africa (more than twice the size of France). She is bordered by the Red Sea to the East, the Nile lands to the West, and East Africa to the South-forming a true crossroads between the East, the Middle East and the rest of Africa.
   Her dramatic geographic contours, formed a million years ago, have been hailed by experienced travellers as probably the most spectacular in the world. They range from mountain peaks to high plateau to desert lands 350 or more feet below sea level. Her main rivers,
each hundreds of miles long, are the Blue Nile, the Awash and the Wabe Shebele. From the highlands of Gojjam Province, the Blue Nile plunges over the Tisisat or "Smoke of Fire" Falls, at the start of its 1,000 mile journey to join the White Nile in the Sudan.
The major portion of the country consists of a high plateau which is responsible for Ethiopia's climate, unique in Africa, comparable to the best climate anywhere in the world: months of guaranteed sunshine, yet, thanks to the altitude, refreshingly mild-with upland temperatures seldom rising above 77 °F (25 °C) nor falling below 45 °F (7 °C).
Lying near the Equator, Ethiopia's seasons are reversed: her spring commences in September, and summer runs from January to the middle of March. The rainy seasons are well defined. The little rains occur between March and June; mid-June to September is the period of the "big rains". No rain falls between September and mid-March.
1 Simian Mountains near Gondar. 2 Sunset in the Rift Valley. 3 Blue Nile Falls at Tisisat ("Smoke of Fire"). 4 Lake Tana. 5 The "Amba" of Debra Damo in Tigre Province. 6 Maskal daisies cover the highlands in September after the rains. 7 Salt formations in Dankali Desert. 8 Lake Abiata bordered by typical, flattopped, umbrella-shaped acacia trees. 9 Fields and meadows in Central Ethiopia.
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