10 interesting facts about ethiopia

The 'Jebena', Ethiopian coffee pot, usually made of clay with a neck and pouring spout

1. Founded in 980 B.C. Ethiopia has existed as a country for at least 3000 years.
2. Ethiopia has more than 80 different ethnic groups each with it's own language, culture, and traditions.
3. Ethiopia has it's own calendar which is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar (it's 2013 now in Ethiopia).
4.   Ethiopia has 13 months in a year and the day begins at dawn (instead of midnight).
5. Ethiopia is home to 112 million people.
6. Ethiopia is a very religious country. 99% of it's citizens say that religion is important to them.
7. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa with it's own writing alphabet called Ge'ez, an ancient Semitic language.
8. Addis Ababa is the highest capital city in Africa at 2,400 meters and it's name means 'new flower'.
9. Injera is the traditional large spongy, pancake-like bread made of teff flour.  Teff is unique to Ethiopia. Ethiopian food is eaten with the fingers by tearing off a piece of injera and dipping it in a meat or vegetable stew called wat.
10.   Ethiopia has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world.

An Ethiopian feast!