Ethiopia

Ethiopia overview

Ethiopia's capital is Addis Ababa. The World Bank counts about 135.5 million people for 2025 on 1,129,819 km² of surface area, and the whole country keeps one time zone: UTC+03:00 all year (2026).

Its six land neighbours are the same in Natural Earth's boundary data and in the Travle map: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan and Sudan.

Population, density and language

The World Bank counts 135,472,051 people in Ethiopia for 2025, which is 10th of 170 by population. Spread over 1,129,819 km² of surface area (2024), that is about 120 people per km², 47th of 169 by density.

Rankings compare the entries in Travle's country list that have World Bank data (170 with population, 169 with surface area). Some list entries are territories, so a rank here is not a rank among sovereign states.

CLDR shares are estimates of people who use each language, so they can add up to more than 100%.

How big is Ethiopia, really?

With 1,129,819 km² (2024, land plus inland water), Ethiopia is 26th of 169 by surface area and covers 0.80% of the combined area of those entries.

In that ordering, Colombia (1,140,619 km²) is just larger; Bolivia (1,098,580 km²) just smaller.

Ethiopia at a glance

Each figure is sourced in its own section below. "Not available" means no source used on this page has the figure.

Ethiopia within Eastern Africa

Natural Earth places Ethiopia in Eastern Africa (UN subregion). Of the 15 entries from Travle's country list in that subregion, Ethiopia is 1st by population and 1st by surface area, with 26.6% of the combined population of those entries.

Entries in Eastern Africa from Travle's country list, by World Bank population

Country	Population (2025)	Area km² (2024)
Ethiopia	135,472,051	1,129,819
Tanzania	70,545,865	945,500
Kenya	57,532,493	591,970
Uganda	51,384,894	241,551
Mozambique	35,631,653	799,380
Madagascar	32,740,678	591,896
Malawi	22,216,120	118,484
Zambia	21,913,874	752,612
Somalia	19,654,739	637,657
Zimbabwe	16,950,795	390,760
Rwanda	14,569,341	26,340
Burundi	14,390,003	27,834
South Sudan	12,188,788	646,883
Eritrea	3,607,003	121,630
Djibouti	1,184,076	23,200

Sources: World Bank WDI (SP.POP.TOTL, AG.SRF.TOTL.K2), data updated 2026-10-08; subregion from Natural Earth 1:110m. A dash means the World Bank has no figure.

Location, borders and position

Ethiopia is in Eastern Africa, Africa. Its outline in Natural Earth lies in the northern hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere. Its capital, Addis Ababa, is at about 9.0° N and 38.7° E.

On land, Natural Earth's boundary data gives Ethiopia 7 neighbours; the Travle game map gives it 6.

Sources: Natural Earth 1:110m (outline and capital) and 1:10m boundary lines (neighbours), public domain.

Where Ethiopia is on the map

Countries bordering Ethiopia

Natural Earth marks part of the boundary with South Sudan as disputed and the boundary with Somalia as indefinite.

Land neighbours of Ethiopia: geographic boundary data compared with the Travle game map

Country	Direction	Land boundary in Natural Earth	Border in Travle
Djibouti	north-east	Yes	Yes
Eritrea	north	Yes	Yes
Kenya	south	Yes	Yes
Somalia	south-east	Yes (indefinite segment)	Yes
South Sudan	west	Yes (disputed segment)	Yes
Sudan	north-west	Yes	Yes

Natural Earth also draws boundary lines with Somaliland, which it maps as separate areas without an ISO country code. They are not listed as countries here.

Geographic column: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin-0 boundary lines (land) 5.1.0 (public domain), checked 2026-10-19; Natural Earth shows de facto boundaries and does not settle disputes. Travle column: the game's own border map.

Money and language in Ethiopia

Currency

• Ethiopian Birr: code ETB, numeric 230. ISO 4217 lists it for this country only.

Official languages

• Amharic: official only here, according to CLDR.

CLDR is a technical reference, not a legal text. Laws and constitutions can describe languages differently.

Currency, domain and dialling code

Ethiopia codes and abbreviations

Sources: Natural Earth (ISO 3166-1), ISO 4217 list one (SIX), IANA Root Zone Database, ITU E.164 list; linked with dates in the sections above.

Fun facts about Ethiopia

• Ethiopia is 10th of the 170 entries in Travle's country list with a World Bank population figure.
• It has the largest population of the 15 entries in Eastern Africa from Travle's country list.
• The longest Travle trip from Ethiopia takes 13 steps, to Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
• UNESCO lists 12 World Heritage properties in Ethiopia; the earliest inscription dates from 1978.

Each fact is calculated from the sources cited on this page.

How far can you travel from Ethiopia in Travle?

In Travle, Ethiopia is two steps from Egypt through Sudan, and from there the route continues into Asia. In total 125 countries are reachable from Ethiopia.

In total 125 of the 171 other countries in the map can be reached by land. The longest trips take 13 steps and end in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. The other 46 cannot be reached without crossing the sea (18 in North America, 13 in South America, 6 in Oceania, 5 in Asia, 3 in Europe, 1 in Africa).

Nearby routes from Ethiopia

Shortest land routes in the game's map to the countries up to 3 steps away. There can be several routes of the same length; this list shows one. The section above shows how many countries are reachable in total.

• Djibouti: 1 step (Ethiopia → Djibouti)
• Eritrea: 1 step (Ethiopia → Eritrea)
• Kenya: 1 step (Ethiopia → Kenya)
• Somalia: 1 step (Ethiopia → Somalia)
• South Sudan: 1 step (Ethiopia → South Sudan)
• Sudan: 1 step (Ethiopia → Sudan)
• Central African Republic: 2 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Central African Republic)
• Chad: 2 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Chad)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo: 2 steps (Ethiopia → South Sudan → Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Egypt: 2 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Egypt)
• Libya: 2 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Libya)
• Tanzania: 2 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Tanzania)
• Uganda: 2 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Uganda)
• Algeria: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Libya → Algeria)
• Angola: 3 steps (Ethiopia → South Sudan → Democratic Republic of the Congo → Angola)
• Burundi: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Tanzania → Burundi)
• Cameroon: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Central African Republic → Cameroon)
• Israel: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Egypt → Israel)
• Malawi: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Tanzania → Malawi)
• Mozambique: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Tanzania → Mozambique)
• Niger: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Libya → Niger)
• Nigeria: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Chad → Nigeria)
• Palestine: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Egypt → Palestine)
• Republic of the Congo: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Central African Republic → Republic of the Congo)
• Rwanda: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Tanzania → Rwanda)
• Tunisia: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Sudan → Libya → Tunisia)
• Zambia: 3 steps (Ethiopia → Kenya → Tanzania → Zambia)

World Heritage in Ethiopia

UNESCO lists 12 World Heritage properties in Ethiopia. The first two, inscribed in 1978, were the Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela, a cultural site, and Simien National Park, a natural one.

• Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (cultural, inscribed 1978)
• Simien National Park (natural, inscribed 1978)
• Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region (cultural, inscribed 1979)
• Aksum (cultural, inscribed 1980)
• Lower Valley of the Awash (cultural, inscribed 1980)
• Lower Valley of the Omo (cultural, inscribed 1980)
• Tiya (cultural, inscribed 1980)
• Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town (cultural, inscribed 2006)
• Konso Cultural Landscape (cultural, inscribed 2011)
• Bale Mountains National Park (natural, inscribed 2023)
• The Gedeo Cultural Landscape (cultural, inscribed 2023)
• Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia (cultural, inscribed 2024)

Source: UNESCO World Heritage List (XML feed); checked 2026-10-19. Names as listed by UNESCO; descriptions on this page are our own.

Ethiopia — frequently asked questions

What is the capital of Ethiopia?

Addis Ababa.

Which countries border Ethiopia?

Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan and Sudan, according to Natural Earth. The Travle map uses the same six.

What currency and language does Ethiopia use?

The currency is the Ethiopian Birr (ETB). Unicode CLDR gives Amharic official status; other sources may describe Ethiopia's working languages differently.

How many people live in Ethiopia?

The World Bank counts 135,472,051 people for 2025.

How big is Ethiopia?

1,129,819 km² of surface area (2024), according to the World Bank.

What is the dialling code and internet domain of Ethiopia?

The international dialling code is +251 and the country-code domain is .et.

What time zone does Ethiopia use?

UTC+03:00 all year (2026).

Keep exploring

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