Ministry of Science and Higher

Education

Geography of Ethiopia and the Horn

GeES 101
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Geography: Definition, Scope and Themes
• This chapter deals with the meaning, scope, themes,
and approaches of Geography. In addition, it discusses
the location, shape, and size of Ethiopia and the Horn. It
also introduces the tenets of basic map reading skills.
• Hence, this introductory part of the text paves the way
for an understanding of the geographic issues presented
in the succeeding chapters.
Objectives
• Comprehend the meaning and scope of Geography.
• Explain the themes of Geography.
• Explicate the implications of location, shape and size on the
physical environment, socioeconomic and political aspects.
• Acquire basic skills of map reading.
 Meaning of Geography

• It is difficult to forward a definition acceptable to all

geographers at all times and places.
• Many definitions because of the dynamic nature of the
discipline and the changes in its scope and method of study.
• The word ‘geography’ originates from two Greek words.  The
first is ‘geo’ which means ‘the earth’ and the second Greek
word is “graph” which means  ‘to write’ .
• The simple definition of Geography is description of the earth’s
surface.
• A working definition could be:
Geography is the scientific study of the Earth that describes
and analyses spatial and temporal variations of physical,
biological and human phenomena, and their interrelationships
and dynamism over the surface of the Earth.
 Meaning of Geography

• The Spatial Perspective: Geographers can study anything that

has a significant spatial component. Geographers concentrate
on the "where" and by doing this they may be able to gain a
better understanding of what is being studied.
• Businesses use geography when they decide WHERE to locate
a new plant. Real estate developers use geography when they
decide WHERE to build a new housing development. You have
used geography when you decided WHERE to look for a job,
or WHERE to go on vacation, or WHERE to go to school. If the
WHERE is important, then geographers can study it.
• The Temporal Perspective: When Geographers study a topic
they focus on the WHEN.
 Meaning of Geography…..Cont’d

• Geography is much more than cartography, the study of

maps.
• Geography is the study of the physical features of the earth
and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is
affected by these, including the distribution of populations
and resources and political and economic activities.
• By, its nature , Geography is concerned with almost
everything on the face of the Earth ,in the sence that any
phenomena(physical or human) that is irregularly distributed
over the earth surface can be studied by the Geographic
method .
 Branches of Geography

• Geography is divided into two main areas: physical geography

and human geography.
• Physical geography: this branch focuses on Geography as an
Earth science, making use of biology to understand global
flora and fauna patterns, and mathematics and physics to
understand the motion of the Earth and relationship with
other bodies in the solar system.
 Branches of Geography …..Cont’d

• Physical geography looks at the natural processes that make

the surface of the earth the way it is. Physical geography
includes the three major subdisciplines of Geomorphology,
Meteorology, and Climatology.
• Geomorphology: is the study of landforms and landform
processes.
• Meteorology: is the study of atmospheric weather processes.
• Climatology :is the study of climate, which is basically the
long term pattern of temperature
 Branches of Geography…..Cont’d

• Human geography: The human, or political/cultural, branch of

geography – also called anthropogeography focuses on the
social science, non-physical aspects of the way the world is
arranged.
• It examines how humans adapt themselves to the land and to
other people, and in macroscopic transformations they enact
on the world.
• Human geography looks at the human activities that make the
surface of the earth the way it is. Human geography includes
numerous subdisciplines, some of which are: population
geography, cultural geography, economic geography, political
geography , urban geography and many others
 Geographic Techniques

• The world is fortunate that geographers through the ages

have developed a set of spatial tools to help us understand
how the world works. These tools are often referred to as the
geographic techniques and they include the subdisciplines of:
• Cartography: the art and science of making maps and the
oldest of the geographic techniques.
• Remote Sensing: the art and science of obtaining information
about the earth by study from satellites.
• Geographic Information Systems: a GIS is a computer-based
system that collects, stores, analyzes, and displays spatial
information to solve problems.
 The Scope of Geography

• Geography is the study of places and the relationships between

people and their environments. Geographers explore both the
physical properties of Earth's surface and the human societies
spread across it.
• The scope of Geography is the surface of the Earth, which is the
very thin zone that is the interface of the atmosphere,
lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, which provides the
habitable zone in which humans are able to live.
•
 The Scope of Geography….Cont’d
• Atmosphere: We live at the bottom of an invisible ocean
called the atmosphere, a layer of gases surrounding our
planet. Nitrogen and oxygen account for 99 percent of the
gases in dry air, with argon, carbon dioxide, helium, neon, and
other gases making up minute portions. Water vapor and dust
are also part of Earth’s atmosphere.
• Earth’s atmosphere has a layered structure. From the ground
toward the sky, the layers are the troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
• The boundaries between atmospheric layers are not clearly
defined, and change depending on latitude and season.
The Scope of Geography….Cont’d
 The Scope of Geography….Cont’d
• Troposphere: the troposphere is the lowest atmospheric layer.
On average, the troposphere extends from the ground to about
10 kilometer.
• Almost all weather develops in the troposphere because it
contains almost all of the atmosphere’s water vapor.
• Stratosphere:the troposphere tends to change suddenly and
violently, but the stratosphere is calm. The stratosphere extends
from the tropopause, the upper boundary of the troposphere,
to about 50 kilometers (32 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
• The stratosphere is crucial to life on Earth because it contains
small amounts of ozone, a form of oxygen that prevents harmful
UV rays from reaching Earth. The region within the stratosphere
where this thin shell of ozone is found is called the ozone layer.
 The Scope of Geography….Cont’d

• Mesosphere: The mesosphere extends from the stratopause

(the upper boundary of the stratosphere) to about 85
kilometers (53 miles) above the surface of the Earth.
• The mesosphere is the least-understood part of Earth’s
atmosphere. It is too high for aircraft or weather balloons to
operate, but too low for spacecraft. Sounding rockets have
provided meteorologists and astronomers their only
significant data on this important part of the atmosphere.
Sounding rockets are unmanned research instruments that
collect data during sub-orbital flights.
 The Scope of Geography….Cont’d

• Thermosphere: the thermosphere is the thickest layer in the

atmosphere. Only the lightest gases—mostly oxygen, helium,
and hydrogen—are found here.
• The thermosphere extends from the mesopause (the upper
boundary of the mesosphere) to 690 kilometers (429 miles)
above the surface of the Earth.
• Exosphere:the exosphere expands and contracts as it comes
into contact with solar storms. In solar storms particles are
flung through space from explosive events on the sun.
• The upper boundary of the exosphere is visible in satellite
images of Earth.
 The Scope of Geography….Cont’d

• Lithosphere: the lithosphere is the rocky outer part of the

Earth. It is made up of the brittle crust and the top part of the
upper mantle. The lithosphere is the coolest and most rigid
part of the Earth. 
• It extends to a depth of about 60 miles (100 km).
• The Earth has two types of lithosphere: oceanic and
continental.
• The continental lithosphere is also called the continental crust.
It is the layer of igneous, sedimentary rock that forms the
continents and the continental shelves.
• Oceanic lithosphere consists mainly of mafic(rich in
magnesium and iron) crust and ultramafic(over 90% mafic)
mantle and is denser than continental lithosphere.
The Scope of Geography….Cont’d
 The Scope of Geography….Cont’d

• Hydrosphere: A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on

a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the
surface of the planet, underground, and in the air.
• A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice. On Earth,
liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes
and rivers.
• All of the oceans, lakes, seas and clouds are an example of the
hydrosphere. All of the Earth's water, including surface water
(water in oceans, lakes, and rivers), groundwater (water in
soil and beneath the Earth's surface), snowcover, ice, and
water in the atmosphere, including water vapor.
The Scope of Geography….Cont’d
 Approaches of Geography
• There are two basic approaches to the study of world
geography. These are Topical & Regional Approaches.
 Topical/systematic/thematic) fields of Geography view
particular categories of physical or human phenomena as
distributed over the Earth. SYSTEMATIC geography, on the
studies one issue and looks at its spatial variations in all parts
of the globe. College courses in systematic geography include:
physical geography, economic geography, cultural geography,
political geography.
 Regional geography is concerned with the associations within
regions of all or some of the elements and their
interrelationships. The REGIONAL approach studies the many
characteristics of each region of the world.
 Basic themes of Geography
A. Location
 Most studies of geography begin with the mention of this
theme
 It answers the question where?
 Two ways of expressing location of a place:
 Absolute location by using latitude and longitude
 Relative location using neighbours, water bodies or landmass
B. Place
• Place refers to the physical and human aspects of a location.
(name and description of the features of the place, situation).
• Each place is unique in terms of landforms, hydrology,
biogeography, pedology, population, cultures…..
• The concept of “place” aids geographers to compare and
contrast two places on Earth.
C. Human-Environment Interaction
• Ceaseless human-environment interactions
• Profound effect on the environment than any other as
humans.
• Human-environment interaction involves:
 Dependency of humans on nature for a living.
 Adaptation -how humans modify themselves, their
lifestyles and their behavior to live in a new environment
with new challenges.
 Modification altering/conquering the environment for their
comfortable living.
D. Movement
• Movement entails translocation of human beings, goods,
and their ideas from one end of the planet to another.
E. Region
• A region is a geographic area having distinctive characteristics
that distinguishes itself from adjacent unit(s) of space.
• It could be a formal region that is characterized by
homogeneity in terms of a certain phenomenon (soil,
temperature, rainfall, or other cultural elements like
language, religion, and economy).
• It can also be a functional or nodal region characterized by
functional interrelationships in a spatial system defined by the
linkages binding particular phenomena.
 1.2. Location, Shape and Size of Ethiopia and the Horn

• The Horn of Africa, a region of eastern Africa, is a narrow tip

that protrudes into the northern Indian Ocean, separating it
from the Gulf of Aden.
• It is the easternmost extension of African land composed of
the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, whose
cultures have been linked throughout their long history.
• In terms of size, Ethiopia is the largest of all the Horn of African
countries, while Djibouti is the smallest.
• The Horn contains such diverse areas as the highlands of
the Ethiopian Plateau, the Ogaden desert, and the Eritrean and
Somali coasts.
• Its coasts are washed by the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and
the Indian Ocean,
• It has long been in contact with the Arabian Peninsula and
southwestern Asia. 
1.2. Location, Shape and Size of Ethiopia and the Horn
 1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia
• Two ways of expressing the location of a country or a place:
astronomical and relative locations .
 Astronomical/ absolute or mathematical location, states
location of places using the lines of latitudes and longitudes.
 Ethiopia is located between 3oN (Moyale) and 15oN (Bademe -
the northernmost tip of Tigray) latitudes and 33oE (Akobo) to
48oE (the tip of Ogaden in the east) longitudes.
 As a result of its astronomical location Ethiopia experiences
tropical climate; and due to its longitudinal extension there is a
difference of one hour between the eastern and western points
of the country (3 hours-time zone is used only for convenience).
24 hours= 360 Degrees
1 hour =?
1hourx 360 Degrees = 15 degrees
24 hours
 1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia…..Cont’d

• Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time measured on the

Earth's zero degree line of longitude, or meridian. This runs
from the North Pole to the South Pole, passing through the
Old Royal Observatory in the London suburb of Greenwich.
• If 1 hour is 15 degrees, we add one more hour for each fifteen
degrees towards east direction and subtract one hour for
each fifteen degrees towards west direction.
• After GMT i.e 0 degree if it is 15 degree it is(GMT+1); 30
degree(GMT+2); 45 (GMT+3)…….etc
• Therefore Ethiopia is located is between 33oE to 48oE which is
GMT+3 time zone.
1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia…..Cont’d
 1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia…..Cont’d

 Relative location expresses the location of countries/places

with reference to the location of other countries (vicinal),
landmasses or water bodies.
 Relative location of Ethiopia refers to its location with
neighboring countries, the land masses or water bodies.
 The relative location of Ethiopia can be expressed in terms of
the neighboring countries and it is located :
• South of Eritrea
• West of Djibouti
• Northwest of Smoalia
• North of Kenya
• East of Sudan and South Sudan.
Ethiopia’s location in relation to its neighboring countries
 Implications of the location of Ethiopia
Climate:
 Ethiopia experiences a tropical climate, though modified
by its altitude. Which is located around the equator, from
23.5° further north to 23.5° southern latitude.
 The location of Ethiopia relative to the Indian Ocean, the
Atlantic Ocean and the African and Asian landmass has
also various bearings on the climate of Ethiopia.
Socio-cultural: Ethiopia is one of the earliest recipients of
the major world religions namely Christianity, Islam and
Judaism due to its proximity to the Middle East.
Political: The political history of Ethiopia has been
considerably influenced by:
• Geopolitical considerations of superpowers.
• Adjacency to the Red Sea (a major global trade route).
• The Middle East geopolitical paradigms.
 1.2.2. Size of Ethiopia
• Ethiopia, about 1,106,000 km2 is the 8th largest country
in Africa and 25th in the World.
• About 0.7% of the world’s land area and about 3.6 % of
Africa’s land area.
• Implications of the size of Ethiopia:
 diverse climate,
 varied resources,
 ample arable land,
 large population and diversified cultures,
 administration,
 defense from temporary attacks.

 1.2.3. The shape of Ethiopia and its Implications

• Countries vary not only in location and size but also shapes.
• Some have circular(compact) shapes, others have elongated
(linear) and still others have truncated(fragmented) shapes.
• These shapes have implications on administrative, defense
and economic integration within the country or outside itself.
 1.2.3. The shape of Ethiopia and its Implications
• Types of shapes of countries:
 Compact : The distance from the geographic centre of the
state to any of the borders does not vary greatly.
 Fragmented : They are divided from their other parts by
either water, land or other countries.
 Elongated : long and relatively narrow like Chile.
 Perforated : A country that completely surrounds another
country like the Republic of South Africa.
 Prorupt: Countries that have one portion that is much more
elongated than the rest of the country like Myanmar and
Eritrea.
1.2.3. The shape of Ethiopia and its Implications
Thank You !