Sport, culture and politics in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia in East Africa, formally known as Abyssinia is a republic. It is bounded on the north-east by Eritrea and Djiboute, on the east and southeast by Somalia, on the south-west by Kenya, and on the west and northwest by Sudan. Ethiopia covers approximately 1,228,176 square kilometres in area, half of which is high tableland, known as the Ethiopian plateau. The capital is Addis Ababa. The population is approximately 52 million. It is estimated that 11 per cent of the population live in urban areas; the vast majority of the population live in rural areas. The official language of the country is Amharic which is spoken by approximately 60 per cent of the population. Over 70 other languages are spoken by the various ethnic groups which comprise Ethiopia, the largest being Oromos. Approximately 50 per cent of the population are Christians, while 40 per cent are Muslims. Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest nations, having a per capita income of only $120 per annum. The life expectancy for men is only 44 years and 47 years for women. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture which constitutes 40 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Ethiopia is a poor country and consequently adequate health and education provision is not possible. In common with many other developing countries, most of the population has a poor diet, health, housing, welfare and education. Understandably, therefore there are problems in developing a sport system in Ethiopia. The main problem is a lack of a clear sports policy. During the Marxist administration which ended in 1991 the country did not have a clear, nor an appropriate sports policy. It was organized to reflect a socialist ideology and did not take into account Ethiopia's situation as a developing country lacking facilities and equipment. Ethiopia is not only poor, but has a high population growth. The economy cannot provide the necessary resources for sport facilities. There is also a lack of qualified teachers, managers and coaches; a lack of sports clubs in a wide range of activities; a lack of courses and seminars to improve the quality of administrators; an absence of private and voluntary sector investment and funding in sport; and a lack of recognition of sport as an important subject in the national school curriculum. In Ethiopia education is free at all levels, but in reality facilities are only available to approximately one-third of school age children owing to the location of most schools in urban areas; most of the population living