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Guide to Ethiopia

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Ethiopia has five immediate neighbours in its situation in the Horn of Africa. These are Somalia to the east, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Eritrea and Djibouti to the north.

Ethiopia today finds itself uncomfortably in a land-locked situation.

When Eritrea became independent in 1993, relations with the country were such that no-one hurried to define the border with any exactness and there seemed little doubt that access to the Red Sea ports would continue without hindrance.

But relations with Eritrea became very strained when, in 1997, Eritrea announced its own currency, the nafka, and the implications of this were to lead to a major dispute between the countries in 1998 over delineation of the border. Suffice it to say here that recent agreements, brokered by the UN and many other supporting countries, have led to UN troops involvement in a buffer zone between the warring factions and relations are at least steadier between the two countries.

Relations with Djibouti are vital to Ethiopia's economy at the moment and the use of the Djibouti port, at the terminus of the French-built railway from Addis Ababa, is at present unimpeded.

Lesser tensions also exist with other neighbouring countries, especially Somalia, who became somewhat embroiled in the problems with Eritrea. Localised battles on Ethiopia's north east border are frequent at present, although it would appear that tensions are, in general, easing.

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