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The
land of thousand miles, the country where the two oldest religions
co-existed in harmony for centuries, home of the arc of covenant and
seed bed of Christianity & origin of civilization. The land of friendly
people with acclaimed hospitality. The land of thirteen months of
sunshine, the only land in Africa for its unique calendar and alphabets.
Above all things,
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It is a
country of great antiquity with a culture and traditions dating
back more than 3,000 years this is Ethiopia.
Ethiopia,
the Origin of mankind and home to various people, is recognized
as one of the cradles of world civilizations. The country claims
to have possessed the world’s most precious relics, the Are of
the covenant and the True cross.
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Conventionally, Ethiopian history begun with the visit of queen
of Sheba, allegedly from Ethiopia, to Solomon, king of Israel in
the tenth century BC: hence the reference to Ethiopia's 3000
years history that we claim so often. Aside from the fact that
this association has scarcely any scientific basis, it
represents too short a view of the Ethiopia's past.
Archeological and linguistic research in recent years has made
possible and necessary the adoption of a longer and more
scientific perspective.
The
discovery in 1974 G.C of the earliest hominid in the Afar
desert, named LUCY can be a very good example. This female
ancestor of the human race was dated to 3.5 million years ago.
As a proof of its long history Ethiopia has many historical
places. Axum is Ethiopia's most ancient city and the site of
many remarkable monolithic stone stelae. At Lalibela there are
11 remarkable rock-hewn monolithic churches. The 17th century
the city of Gondar and the 9th century city of Harar are the
other historical attractions. In addition to these there are
many age-old churches, monasteries and mosques with rich
collection of relic in different parts of Ethiopia. Many
colorful festivals are also additional attractions.
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With a
history stretching to three millennia back and with different
people speaking over 83 languages and 200 dialects, it is no
wonder that the mosaic of cultural diversity of Ethiopia is a
major attraction and enchantment. Ethiopia is rich medley of
people of different religions and customs with distinctive life
styles. There are many interesting cultural traditions in
Ethiopia including the nomadic culture of the people of the Omo
Valley. The life style of the people has hardly changed for
centuries. People still dress from animal skins, drink from
calabashes and decorate with clay. It is unique, undisturbed,
wild and considered to be among the most fascinating in the
African continent. Traveling through this area is like traveling
thousands of years back in time, providing an insight in to an
Africa of a bygone age.
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Although Ethiopia is found very near the Equator, the
country as a whole is far from "tropical" in the accepted
sense of the term. On the contrary the elevated nature of
its highlands rising to over 1,500 meters gives it a
decidedly cooler climate than its geographical location
seems to suggest. Visitors to Ethiopia soon discover that
climate is not merely an expression of latitude, but also of
altitude.
Ethiopia is a country with contrasting nature, from the snow
caped peaks of the Semien Mountains to the arid lands of low
land desert, the Denakil Depression. Its unique landscape
makes Ethiopia to have more endemic flora and fauna than any
other regions in Africa. No other aspect of Ethiopia's
biology typifies its unique situation more than 800 species
of birds are discovered in the region of which more than 16
species are endemic.
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