Geo 1

• Course Title: Geography of Ethiopia and the Horn by: Belete Ejigu (PhD) Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Development Addis Ababa University EiABC Freshman Course July 2023
• Geography


  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
• Scope of Geography


  • The surface of the Earth, which is the very thin zone that is the interface (boundary) of the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, which provides the habitable zone in which humans are able to live
• Approaches to Geography


  • Human-physical continuum
  • Topical-regional continuum
• Topical (systematic) fields of Geography

  • View particular categories of physical or human phenomena as distributed over the Earth
• Regional geography


  • Concerned with the associations within regions of all or some of the elements and their interrelationships
• Themes/ideas of Geography


  • Location
  • Place
  • Human-environment interaction
  • Movement
  • Region
• Location


  A particular place or position
• Types of location


  • Absolute/Astronomical location
  • Relative/Vicinal location
• Absolute/Astronomical location


  The location of a place is defined by its latitude and longitude or its exact address
• Relative/Vicinal location


  The location of a place with reference to the other countries, landmasses (such as mountains, roads) or water bodies (such as oceans, seas, rivers, lakes)
• Place


  • Physical and human aspects of a location
  • 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
• Aspects of human-environment interaction

  • Dependency
  • Adaptation
  • Modification
• Dependency


  The ways in which humans are dependent on nature for a living
• Adaptation


  How humans modify themselves, their lifestyles and their behavior to live in a new environment with new challenges
• Modification

  Allowed humans to "conquer"/overcome the world for their comfortable living
• Movement


  Translocation of human beings, their goods, and their ideas from one place to another
• Types of movement


  • Translocation of human beings (physical movement of people)
  • Transport of their goods
  • Flow of their ideas
• Region


  A geographic area having distinctive/unique characteristics that distinguishes itself from adjacent unit(s) of space
• Types of regions


  • Formal region
  • Functional or nodal region
• Formal region


  Characterized by homogeneity in terms of a certain phenomenon (soil, temperature, rainfall, or other cultural elements like language, religion, and economy)
• Functional or nodal region


  Characterized by functional interrelationships in a spatial system defined by the linkages binding particular phenomena
• The Horn of Africa is a region of eastern Africa, a narrow tip that projects into the northern Indian Ocean, separating it from the Gulf of Aden
• Countries in the Horn of Africa

  • Djibouti
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Somalia
  • Kenya
  • Sudan
  • South Sudan
• Ethiopia is the largest of all the Horn of African countries, while Djibouti is the smallest
• The Horn contains diverse areas such as the highlands of the Ethiopian Plateau, the Ogaden desert, and the Eritrean and Somali coasts
• The coasts of the Horn are washed by the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean, and it has long been in contact with the Arabian Peninsula and Southwestern Asia
• Astronomical/Absolute location of Ethiopia

  Located between 3°N and 15°N latitudes and 33°E to 48°E longitudes
• The east-west distance (15°) of Ethiopia is longer than the north-south distance (12°)
• Implications of Ethiopia's latitudinal extension


  The country experiences tropical climate
• Implications of Ethiopia's longitudinal extension


  There is a difference of one hour between the most easterly and most westerly points of the country
• Relative location of Ethiopia


  The location of Ethiopia with reference to the location of other countries (vicinal), landmasses or water bodies
• Implications of Ethiopia's location

  • Climate
  • Socio-cultural
  • Political
• Implications of Ethiopia's location on climate

  • 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 various bearings on the climate of Ethiopia
• Implications of Ethiopia's location on socio-cultural aspects

  • 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 neighbors, reflect the influence of location
• Implications of Ethiopia's location on political aspects

  • The political history of Ethiopia has been considerably influenced by geopolitical considerations of superpowers, adjacency to the Red Sea (a major global trade route), and 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
• Ethiopia has a total area of approximately 1,106,000 square kilometers, making it the 8th largest country in Africa and 25th in the World
• Ethiopia extends about 1,639 kilometers East-West, and 1,577 kilometers North-South
• About 0.7% of Ethiopia is covered by water bodies
• Advantages and disadvantages of Ethiopia's large size

  • Not provided in the material