Monday, August 8, 2011
Ethiopia has one of the most comprehensive history as an independent nation on the continent. It is the oldest country in the world, Ethiopian region is also one of the earliest civilizations in the world. The first Ethiopian Government was formed around the year 980 BC and accept Christianity in the 4th century AD This country is unique when compared to African countries other because it was never colonized during the Scramble for Africa, and continued independent until 1936, when Italian forces control the country. The armies of the United Kingdom and Ethiopia defeated the Italian army in 1941, and Ethiopia regained its sovereignty after signed the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in December 1944. Ethiopia was once called Abyssinia.
Today, Ethiopia is the country a republic and took part actively in the activities of international cooperation. The capital, Addis Ababa is the administrative center of African Unity (AU).
Ethiopia still wearing Julian calendar so that this country will open a series of celebrations to welcome the third millennium in a calendar based on the calendar. Countries in the Horn of Africa uses the Julian calendar to miss approximately 7 years compared with the Gregorian calendar which is more commonly used throughout the world.
The Blue Nile Falls are a waterfall on the Blue Nile river in Ethiopia. They are known as Tis Issat in Amharic, when translated, means "smoking water" They are situated on the upper course of the river, about 30 kilometers downstream from the town of Bahir Dar and Lake Tana. The falls are considered one of Ethiopia's best known tourist attractions.
The falls are estimated to be between 37 and 45 meters high, consisting of four streams that originally varied from a trickle in the dry season to over 400 meters wide in the rainy season. Regulation of Lake Tana now reduces the variation somewhat, and since 2003 a hydro-electric station has taken much of the flow out of the falls except during the rainy season. [1] The Blue Nile Falls have isolated the ecology of Lake Tana from the ecology of the rest of the Nile, and this isolation has played a role in the evolution of the endemic fauna of the lake.
A short distance downstream from the falls sits the first stone bridge constructed in Ethiopia, built at the command of Emperor Susenyos in 1626. According to Manoel de Almeida, stone for making lime had been found nearby along the tributary alata, and a craftsman who had come from India with Alfonso Mendez, the Catholic Patriarch of Ethiopia supervised the construction.