Ethiopia

Straddling the northern section of the Great Rift Valley, ETHIOPIA is a landlocked country in Eastern Africa; when Eritrea gained its independence in 1991, Ethiopia lost its access to the Red Sea. There are 6 bordering countries: Djibouti, Kenya, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. The capital and most-populated city is Addis Ababa (Ādīs Ābeba), and other Ethiopian cities include Debre Zeyit (Bishoftu), Desē, Dirē Dawa, Bahir Dar south of Lake Tana, Gonder, Hārer, Jīma, Mek'elē, and Nazrēt. The Great Rift Valley stretches diagonally in a northeast-southwest direction. In southwestern Ethiopia, the valley boasts three large lakes: Abaya Hāyk' (northeast lake), Cha'mo Hāyk' (center lake), and the intermittent Ch'ew Bahir lake (southwest lake). Amharic is Ethiopia's official language. As you probably figured out, hāyk' (or hayk) is the Ethiopian word for lake. The Great Rift Valley encounters more lakes before traveling east of Addis Ababa, then northeast towards Djibouti. The currency Ethiopians use is the Ethiopian Birr, and its ISO 4217 currency code is ETB.