CULTUREGRAMS
KIDS EDITION

What’s in CultureGrams

CultureGrams World Edition currently covers 190 countries and each article is written by a native or long term resident of the country. 3-5 new countries are added every year and new countries are selected only if a competent author is found to write the new article.

CultureGrams Kids edition is relatively new and currently covers 68 countries. The articles are written by CultureGram editors with input from country experts and new articles are selected based on school curriculum and cultural diversity. This level is most appropriate for grade school.

The States Edition for the United States and the Provinces Edition for Canada are for Grade School and Middle School and include features such as timelines, original inhabitants, geography and climate.

All the articles are updated yearly. For each country covered you will also find a link to a photo gallery that includes scenes from the country, a list of famous people associated with the country (and not always the ones you think will be there) and a collection of recipes from that country.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we will look at the format of the Kids Edition. The United States and the Provinces formats are the same as the Kids Edition.

The first thing you will see in the Kids Edition is a map of the world--

From here you can look at a continent or focus in on a country by selecting smaller areas.

There is a lot of information in each country report, look at each of the colored boxes for points of interest.

Also note the interesting facts on the first page and the listening station where you can hear actual words in the language of the country.

To see each of the sections you can click on the links on the left of the page or click on View Full Report On PDF or View Accessible Report in the upper right hand corner. Here is the View Accesible Report as you will see it-

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Ityop’iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik

Did You Know

  Elderly people are highly respected in Ethiopia. Adult children are responsible for taking care of their parents.

  Ethiopians avoid passing food and other items with the left hand.

  Ethiopia, the oldest independent nation in Africa, was known anciently as Abyssinia.

  The ancient Ge’ez language still is used as the language of worship in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, even though most people, including priests, don’t understand it.

  Ethiopians claim that the real Ark of the Covenant mentioned in the Bible resides in the St. Mary’s of Zion Church in Axum, where it is guarded and cannot be seen.

  The ancient Kingdom of Axum has giant stone obelisks (pillars) about 75 feet (23 m) tall.

  The recent war with Eritrea killed about 100,000 people.

  The 11 Christian churches of Lalibela are carved into solid rock.

  Many rare animals live in Ethiopia, including the Abyssinian lion and the Gelata baboon.

Flag

The flag has a stripe of green (for fertility), yellow (for hope), and red (for sacrifice). The star symbolizes unity.

National Image

Yellow maskal flowers, picked by children around New Years, are a symbol of spring.

People and Places

Land and Climate

Ethiopia is a landlocked country on the Horn of Africa (the horn-shaped area on the eastern side of the continent). It is almost three times as big as Montana. The Great Rift Valley, where two plates of the earth’s crust meet, divides the country in half. High mountains on both sides give Ethiopia the nickname “the roof of Africa.” Temperatures stay mild at such high elevations, but the dry weather can bring droughts that cause the deaths of thousands. Most people live in rural areas far from cities.

Population

Ethiopia’s population of over 74 million is divided into nearly one hundred ethnic groups. The biggest are the Oromo, Amhara, Tigray, and Somali. These peoples each have their own language and traditions. Usually they get along well and sometimes intermarry. But government neglect of some groups has led to fighting and civil war. In fact, the country of Eritrea used to be part of Ethiopia; today it is its own country. Ethiopia’s population is relatively young, with almost 45 percent of the people younger than 15.

Language

Ethiopians speak more than 70 languages. The national language is Amharic, a relative of Arabic and Hebrew. Its alphabet comes from the ancient Ge’ez language, which is still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Amharic has vowels as part of the letters. So you wouldn’t have a letter b and a separate letter a—you would just have a special letter for the sound “ba!” Learning Amharic is hard because there are 33 letters and 7 forms of each letter. Do some quick math and you have 231 letters to learn! Oromifaa and Tigrinya are two other common languages.

Can You Say It in Amharic?

Hello Tiena yistilign (teh-na EAS-ta-ling)

Good-bye Dehna hun (day-na HOON)

Please Ibakkish (ih-BAH-kish)

Thank you Egzier yistilign (egg-ZARE EAS-ta-ling)

Yes Awo (AH-oh)

No Embie (em-BEE)

Religion

Ethiopian Orthodox doctrine is similar to Roman Catholicism in its emphasis on celebrating Mass and honoring patron saints.

History

Time Line

5000 B.C.

5000 B.C.: Hunters and gatherers build small communities

1000: Menelik I begins the Solomonic line of rulers

0

A.D. 200: The Kingdom of Axum expands; Ethiopia becomes Christian

400: King Ezana helps create the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

960: The Solomonic line ends; the Zague Dynasty begins

1200

ca. 1200: The Lalibela churches are carved from rock

1267: The Zague line ends; the Solomonic line continues

1800

1896: Menelik II defeats the Italian forces at Adwa

1900

1930: Haile Selassie becomes emperor

1936: Italians take Addis Ababa by force; Emperor Selassie goes into exile

1941: Selassie defeats the Italians

1971: Terrible famines cause 200,000 people to starve

1974: Haile Selassie is overthrown by the military

1974–91: Mengistu leads military dictatorship

1991: Mengistu flees; Ethiopa becomes free again

1993: Eritrea becomes an independent country

1998: Border disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea lead to war

2000

2000: Ethiopia and Eritrea sign a peace treaty, ending their two-year war

2002: Ethiopia and Eritrea agree on a new common border, but both sides claim the town of Badme

2005: An international commission rules Eritrea broke international law by attacking Ethiopia in 1998

PRESENT

An Ancient Land

Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent countries in the world. Legend has it that the Queen of Sheba, from Ethiopia, married King Solomon of Israel around 1000 B.C. They had a son called Menelik, who later became the first king of Ethiopia. About A.D. 200 Ethiopia became a powerful trading nation under the Kingdom of Axum. The Axumites built great stone cities and monuments. One of the kings, Ezana, helped create the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Axum prospered for almost one thousand years.

Menilek II and Adwa

With the help of the Portuguese, Ethiopia held its ground against Muslim invaders in the 1500s. In the 1880s, Italy also tried to take over Ethiopia. King Menelik II and almost 100,000 men battled and beat the Italians in 1896 at Adwa. It was a proud day for Ethiopia because Britain, France, and other countries had already taken over most of Africa.

Emperors and Dictators

From 1930 to 1974, an emperor called Haile Selassie ruled Ethiopia. With British help, he defeated the Italians, who had invaded a second time. However, civil war with the region of Eritrea and a famine that left millions hungry led to Selassie’s overthrow. A brutal dictator named Mengistu Haile Mariam followed. He killed hundreds of thousands of people and let many more starve so that he could stay in power.

A New Democracy

People fought back against the dictatorship in a long civil war. In 1993, after much fighting, the province of Eritrea became an independent country. Finally, Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe, and Ethiopians gained their freedom again in 1994. Under the new leader, Meles Zenawi, the country created a new constitution and started to fix its broken economy. However, in 1998, a border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea led to war, which killed 100,000 people. Although a peace treaty was signed two years later, tension between the two countries continues. Ethiopia faces many challenges today, but it has high hopes for the future.

Lifestyle

Games and Sports

Ethiopians’ favorite sport is soccer, but at Christmas they play a game called gana chawata (Christmas game), which is like hockey. Players make their own small bats, and each team tries to hit a wooden ball into a goal. Girls love playing hopscotch, which they call sanyo mak sanyo, meaning “Monday Tuesday.” Young boys and girls play “bride and groom.” Boys make and realistically dress a little figure of a man; girls do the same for the bride. Competitive marble-shooting matches cause excitement among village children. Checkers, cards, and a board game called gebeta are popular, too.

Holidays

New Year’s Day in Ethiopia celebrates the beginning of a new year and a new season. The rainy season is over, and the dry season arrives. Children enjoy picking bright yellow flowers, tying them in bunches, and giving them to family members or villagers with their congratulations. The children also collect enough money from friends and family to buy a lamb. An adult will help them grill or roast it. Besides feasting, many sing, dance, and sometimes swim.

Food

A common meal in Ethiopia is a porridge made from corn, oats, barley, or another grain. It is made with milk and eaten with some butter. Fruits and vegetables are eaten when they’re in season. Injera, a flat bread, is eaten with different meats. Many foods are eaten with berbere, an incredibly hot and spicy sauce. Children often eat meals separately from their parents.

Schools

Until recently, kids were usually taught in Amharic, but now the government wants kids to learn in their local languages. It’s difficult to find books in the local languages, but it’s also hard for young children to learn in a language they might not even speak at home! In junior high school, kids begin to learn English, and by the time they get to high school, almost all of their classes are taught in English.

Life as a Kid

Life for most Ethiopian kids revolves around their family and village, since the majority live in rural (country) areas. More than half don’t get to go to school because they live too far away or are needed at home. Fewer girls make it to school because they must work to contribute to their families. Many families could not survive without their children caring for younger siblings, tending animals, fetching water, and gathering firewood. Many children don’t live long because of disease or malnutrition, but those who do enjoy learning, having fun, and playing with friends, much like you.

Society

Government

President: Girma Woldegiorgis
Prime minister: Meles Zenawi

Ethiopia has had several different governments in the last one hundred years, but not many of its leaders have given the people rights or respect. In 1995, Ethiopia became a democracy, or government by the people, but it still struggles to stay stable. The country has an elected president, but the president has very little power. It’s the prime minister who actually leads the government. Ethiopia’s lawmaking body is called Parliament.

Money and Economy

Almost all Ethiopians are farmers, even though only a little more than 10 percent of the land is good for crops. Most struggle just to feed and clothe their families. The dry climate, long droughts, disease, and ongoing wars have made it hard to make a living. Ethiopia’s main crop and source of money is coffee. Animal hides and grain are also sold to other countries. The currency (money) used in Ethiopia is called the birr.

Getting Around

Ethiopia is mountainous and rocky, and most rivers aren’t safe for travel. Getting around in Ethiopia is tough unless you live in a big city. Most roads are not paved, and many places have no roads at all. If you go by car, get four-wheel drive! In the country, people walk or ride a horse, donkey, or camel. Buses go between big cities, and a railroad connects Ethiopia to the neighboring country of Djibouti.

Fun Facts & Contacts

A Different Calendar

Ethiopia’s calendar is different than yours. It has thirteen months: twelve months of thirty days each and one month of five or six days. New Year’s Day falls on 11 September. The Ethiopic calendar is eight years and eight days behind yours (except from 11 September to 31 December, when the calendar runs seven years and eight days behind). This means that the date 15 March 2006 for us is 7 March 1998 for Ethiopia!

Learn More

Contact the Embassy of Ethiopia, 3506 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008; phone (202) 364-1200; web site www.ethiopianembassy.org.

© 2007 ProQuest-CSA LLC and Brigham Young University. All rights reserved. It is against the law to copy, reprint, store, or transmit any part of this publication in any form by any means without written permission from ProQuest-CSA.