ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia, traditionally known as Abyssinia, is ancient and mysterious beyond our imaginations. Ethiopia is in east-central Africa. Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa where over 2,716,200 people reside. The Republic of South Sudan borders it on the west, the east by Somalia and Djibouti, the south by Kenya, and the northeast by Eritrea. It has several high mountains, the highest of the Simien Mountains is Ras Dashan at 15,158 ft (4,620 m). The Blue Nile, or Abbai, rises in the northwest and flows in a great semicircle before entering the Sudan. Its chief reservoir, Lake Tana, lies in the northwest. Some of the highest and most stunning places on the African continent are found here, such as the jaggedly carved Simien Mountains and some of the lowest, such as the hot but fascinating Danakil Depression, with its sulphur fumaroles and lunar-like landscape. 

Ethiopia is one of world’s oldest nation-states with Solomonic dynasty descent from King Menelik I, the son  of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. Ethiopia is also the land where archeologists found the oldest known human ancestors that lived even earlier than "Lucy" or Dinkenesh, meaning 'thou art wonderful'. These Ethiopian fossils, named Ardipithecus ramidus Kadabba (root man ancestor), discovered in Ethiopia's Middle Awash area, approximately 140 miles northeast of Addis Ababa, date back between 5.2 and 5.8 millions years ago.

Ethiopia is truly a land of extreme beauty and diversity from its rural landscape to its people. Ethiopia is a land where ancient cultures, traditions, and religious practices have been exquisitely preserved. From the rituals of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Islamic prayers, ceremonial practices for the Zar and Abdar spirits to Rastafarianism, a door remains open to all who seek to know Africa in all of her mellifluous and contrasting expressions. Ethiopia is a land where history and the contemporary walk hand in hand freely embracing both the sacred and the profane.