Ethiopia: country facts, travel advice and health

Ethiopian Airlines: book domestic flights and pay for them by card.WhatsApp: reliable voice and video calls.Proton VPN / NordVPN: stealth or obfuscated modes can get past blocks on ordinary VPNs.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Cards or cash

Mostly cashMostly cards

Step 2 of 5: Most payments are in cash; cards are accepted only in some places, so carry birr.Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Money in Ethiopia

Ethiopian Birr · ETB

Bring US dollar notes from 2002 or later in good condition; banks may refuse older or worn ones.

Larger bills of $50 and up tend to get a better exchange rate.

Cash machines can fail, so be ready to try another and keep some cash in reserve.

An Ethiopian Airlines international ticket gets 60% off its domestic flights.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Collect Ethiopian Birr in CointryOur sister app for coin and banknote collectors · cointry.appOpen

Public holidays in the next 12 months

Thu, 7 Jan 2027 · Christmas Day (Orthodox) ልደተ-ለእግዚእነ/ ገና

Tue, 19 Jan 2027 · Epiphany (Orthodox) ნათლისღება

Tue, 2 Mar 2027 · Adwa Victory Day የዓድዋ ድል በዓል

Fri, 30 Apr 2027 · Good Friday ስቅለት

Sat, 1 May 2027 · International Workers' Day ዓለም አቀፍ የሠራተኞች ቀን

Sun, 2 May 2027 · Easter Sunday ብርሃነ-ትንሣኤ/ፋሲካ

Wed, 5 May 2027 · Ethiopian Patriots' Victory Day የአርበኞች ቀን

Fri, 28 May 2027 · Downfall of the Derg ደርግ የወደቀበት ቀን

Sat, 11 Sept 2027 · Enkutatash እንቁጣጣሽ/የዘመን መለወጫ/አዲስ አመት

Mon, 27 Sept 2027 · Meskel (Orthodox) መስቀል

Source: Nager.Date · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

02Free

Safety today

Germany, the US and the UK publish their travel advice openly. Here is what those that cover Ethiopia say, side by side, checked daily.

German Foreign Office says

Travel warning for some regions

Calm

Caution ●

Serious

Don’t go

Some regions differ, see the official page.

Source: Auswärtiges Amt
Updated 21 Oct 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

U.S. Department of State says

Reconsider travel

Calm

Caution

Serious ●

Don’t go

Level 3 of 4

Source: travel.state.gov
Updated 26 Aug 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

UK Foreign Office says

Advises against all travel to parts of the country

Some regions differ, see the official page.

Source: GOV.UK
Updated 21 Oct 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

Scams to know

Distraction pickpocketing

Keep valuables close; move away if strangers crowd you, beg, spill something or act ill.

Source: GOV.UK · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Countrywise is a summary. The official page is authoritative.

03Free

Health

Yellow fever, hepatitis A and B and typhoid vaccines advised; malaria in some regions; altitude risk.

Vaccinations

Be up to date on routine shots; yellow fever, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and typhoid vaccines are recommended, and a yellow fever certificate is required when arriving from a risk country.

Malaria

In some regions

Altitude

Addis Ababa and other parts of the country are high enough for altitude sickness to be a risk.

Talk to a travel clinic 4–8 weeks before you go.

Source: CDC
Checked 24 Oct 2026Official page

Summarised from the CDC’s Travelers’ Health pages. Using them does not mean the CDC endorses Countrywise.

04Travel layer

In the app: the travel layer

The travel layer

Read a country like someone who’s been there.

What’s different from home, and what’s the lawMust-see places, free entry and World Heritage sites20 words to remember, with pronunciationStrange and surprising factsThe anthem and national symbolsSaved for offline use

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Must-see · 1Addis Ababa

The capital, and one of Africa's great shopping cities

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

Strange & surprising · #1

The local year has twelve months of 30 days each, then a short thirteenth month.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

National anthem: March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia. The lyrics, translated, and the story are in the app. Source: Wikidata · Checked 1 Nov 2026 ↗

12 World Heritage sites in Ethiopia, each with a photo and its story, in the app. Source: UNESCO World Heritage List

05Free

Deep facts

Economy
GDP	≈ $126.4 billionSource: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Per person	≈ $933Source: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Top exports	coffee, garments, dried legumes, cut flowers, oil seeds (2023)Source: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Population
Population	135.5 millionSource: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Median age	20.6 yearsSource: The World Factbook (archive) · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Life expectancy	67.7 yearsSource: The World Factbook (archive) · 2024 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Religions	Ethiopian Orthodox 43.8%, Muslim 31.3%, Protestant 22.8%, Catholic 0.7%, traditional 0.6%, other 0.8% (2016 est.)Source: The World Factbook (archive) · 2016 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Geography
Area	1,104,300 km²Source: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Climate	tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variationSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Terrain	high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift ValleySource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Government
Type of government	federal parliamentary republicSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Calling code	+251Source: libphonenumber · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗

About the data

Written from the sources we link, and checked against them before each release. Countrywise summarises public sources. We are not an official source. For safety and entry rules, always follow the official page we link to.

From your foreign ministry when it publishes its advice openly (Germany, the US, the UK). Otherwise we show those three side by side. Checked daily, with the date next to every entry.

CDC · 24 Oct 2026 ↗GOV.UK · 24 Oct 2026 ↗IANA Time Zone Database · 23 Oct 2026 ↗libphonenumber · 23 Oct 2026 ↗Nager.Date · 23 Oct 2026 ↗The World Factbook (archive) · 23 Oct 2026 ↗U.S. Department of State · 24 Oct 2026 ↗Unicode CLDR · 23 Oct 2026 ↗Wikidata · 1 Nov 2026 ↗Wikivoyage · 24 Oct 2026 ↗World Bank · 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Flag artwork from flag-icons (MIT licence).