Geography of the Horn of Africa; Ethiopia

Geography: Definition, Scope and Themes

• Geography is the scientific study of Earth, describing and analyzing spatial and temporal variations of physical, biological, and human phenomena.
• Geography also studies the interrelationships and dynamism over the Earth's surface.
• Geography explains the arrangements of natural and cultural features on Earth.
• It helps understand changing spatial structures from the past to the future and it connects atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere.

Approaches and Themes of Geography

• Two continuums in geography: human-physical and topical-regional.
• Topical (systematic) geography focuses on categories of physical or human phenomena's distribution on Earth.
• Regional geography concerns associations within regions, involving elements and their interrelationships.
• Geography has five main themes: location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region.
• Location is a place or position, either absolute or relative, central to geographical studies.
• Place includes the physical and human aspects of a location, like toponym, site, and environmental conditions.
• Each place has unique characteristics: landforms, hydrology, biogeography, pedology, human population size and distinct human cultures.
• Human-environment interaction involves dependency, adaptation, and modification.
• Humans have always interacted with their environment unlike any other species.

Movement

• Movement is how people move human beings, goods, and ideas from one end of the planet to another
• Movement includes the physical movement of people inhabiting continents and islands.
• Transport of goods is another aspect of movement
• The flow of ideas promotes unification, growth, and prosperity.

Region

• Region is a geographic area with distinctive characteristics from adjacent areas.
• A formal region shows homogeneity in soil, temperature, rainfall, cultural elements like language, religion, and economy.
• Functional or nodal regions highlights functional interrelationships in a spatial system.

Location, Shape and Size of Ethiopia and the Horn

• The Horn of Africa is where Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia are
• It is a narrow tip in eastern Africa protruding into the Indian Ocean
• While countries in this region have much in common, also contain unique diversity making each country distinct.
• Ethiopia is the largest country in the Horn of Africa by land area, Djibouti is the smallest.

Location of Ethiopia

• Ethiopia's location is defined in two ways: astronomical and relative.
• Astronomically, Ethiopia is landlocked, located between 3°N (Moyale) and 15°N (Bademe) latitudes.
• Longitudinally, Ethiopia is located between 33°E (Akobo) and 48°E (Ogaden tip).
• Its latitudinal position results in a tropical climate.
• Its longitudinal position causes there to be a one hour difference between the easterly and westerly points; nonetheless, a three hour time zone throughout the country is used for convenience sake.

Vicinal Location

• To the west and northwest is Sudan
• To the southwest lies South Sudan
• To the east is Djibouti
• To the North and Northeast is Eritrea
• To the south is Kenya
• Ethiopia is with the Horn of Africa, southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, south of Europe and Northwest of Indian Ocean.
• Ethiopia is also is with the Nile Basin.

The Implications of Ethiopia's Location

• Being between 3°N and 15°N creates means Ethiopia has a tropical climate, modified by altitude
• The location relative to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and to Africa and Asia influences the climate.
• Ethiopia received Christianity, Islam, and Judaism being near to their place of origin, the Middle East.
• Ethiopia shares linguistic and cultural traits with its neighbors.
• Ethiopia's political history has been influenced by geopolitical considerations of superpowers, access to the Red Sea, Middle Eastern events.
• Ethiopia resisted external invasions and remains without external domination.

Size of Ethiopia

• Ethiopia is the 8th largest country in Africa and 25th in the world, with an area of 1,106,000 sqkms.
• It spans 1,639 kms east-west and 1,577 kilometers north-south.
• Water covers about 0.7% of the country.
• Diverse agro-ecological zones and variety of natural resource are a result of the size of Ethiopia
• Infrastructural facilities demand higher capital due to it's size
• It's size requires large army to protect its territory is another consideration
• Ethiopia's significant arable land and large population contribute to its value
• Efficient administration is difficult because of the country's size

Shape of Ethiopia

• Countries of the World are classifiable under five shapes: compact, fragmented, elongated, perforated, and protruded.
• Country shape affects defense, administration, and economic integration.
• Compact shape countries have borders that do not vary greatly from the geographic center, examples include Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho
• Fragmented shape countries are divided from other parts by water, land, or other countries, examples include UK, Greece
• Elongated shape countries are geographically long and relatively narrow like Chile.
• Perforated shape countries completely surrounds another country like South Africa
• a country like South Africa surrounds Lesotho
• Protrude shape countries one portion that is much more elongated than the rest like Myanmar and Eritrea.

More about Shape

• Shape is measured with the indices of compact
• Indices of compact measure shape of deviation
• Countries with a circular format are said to be more compact
• The ratio of a country's area to its boundary length describes compactness.
• Higher area-boundary ratio equals heightened degree of compactness.
• Closer the boundary-circumference ratio is to 1, the more compact.
• With area-circumference ratio, compares country's area with circumference of circle

Basic Skills of Map Reading

• A map is a two-dimensional scaled representation of a part or whole of the Earth's surface on a flat body.
• Map reading systematically identifies natural and manmade features.
• Maps are powerful tools for making spatial analysis of geographical facts of areas represented in:
• Geographical details
• Land use planning
• Military science
• Aviation
• tourism -Marine Science
• Population Studies
• Epidimiology
• Geology
• Economics
• History
• Archeology
• Agriculture
• Uses varied grid and place naming for ease
• Storage and measurement and assessment is made.
• Common types of maps are topographical and statistical

About maps

• Topographic maps show natural and cultural features at small, medium, or large scales.
• Special purpose or statistical maps show temperature, rainfall, settlement, and vegetation.
• Marginal information on maps enables reading and interpretation of geographical information.
• The title describes a particular map's all about
• A key (legend) is a list and interpretation of conventional map symbols.
• Scale is the map-to-ground distance ratio, aiding ground measurement interpretation.
• Scale can be shown as representative fraction, statements, or linear graphic.
• A north arrow indicates direction, guiding other directions in the mapped area.
• Date of compilation indicates the time date for when map was created for recency purposes
• The margin frames mapped area.

Examine the geographical attributes of the Horn of Africa and Ethiopia, including latitude, longitude, climate, and geopolitical impacts. Analyze the relationships between countries in the region and Ethiopia's interactions with other regions.