Official Name
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE)

Political System
Federal System with multi-party democracy

Regional States/City Administrations
Tigray; Oromia; Amhara; Afar; Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region; Benshangul Gumuz; Harari; Gambella; Addis Ababa City Administration; Dire Dawa Administrative Council.

Capital City
Addis Ababa

Area
1.14 million square kilometers

Population
80.1 million (July 2010)

Language
Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with diverse languages. Amharic is the working language of the Federal Government. English is widely used in business transactions, and as a medium of instruction in secondary schools and higher educational institutions.

Religion
Major religions are Christianity and Islam.

Calendar
Ethiopia uses a unique calendar which divides the year into 12 months of 30 days each. The remaining five or six days in a leap year constitute the short 13th month of “Pagumen”. The calendar is seven years behind the Gregorian calendar with the Ethiopian new year falling in the month of September.

Financial Year
8 July – 7 July

Working Hours
Ethiopia is in the GMT+3 time zone. Government office hours are 8:30am-12:30pm and 1:30-5:30pm from Monday –Thursday and on Fridays from 8:30-11:30am and 1:30-5:30pm.

Monetary Unit
1 Birr = 100 cents

Internet domain
.et

International dialing code
+251