Addis Ababa University

CHAPTER SEVEN

POPULATION OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN

By Elias Shiferaw December,2024

 Population Data: Uses and Sources
 Regular and reliable population data are vital for effective socioeconomic
development planning and administration.
 Population data are needed to plan for the provision of infrastructures such as
schools, hospitals, roads, water and sewerage facilities, housing, establishing
voting district boundaries, estimating future tax revenue and designing public
programs.
Sources of population Data
A) Census: A census could be defined as the total process of collecting, compiling
and publishing demographic, economic and social data at a specified time
B) Sample Survey
 This is a method in which a defined population/sample/ is selected with the view
that information acquired would represent the entire population.
 This method is cost effective greatly and it is simple to administer and taken
much faster
 C. Vital Registration
 Vital registration is a system of continuous, permanent, compulsory and legal
recording of the occurrence and the characteristics of vital events like births,
deaths, marriages, divorces, and adoptions.
 Vital registration data tend to be more precise than that of census/sample survey
and the system provides time series data
 Demography is a mathematical and theoretical study of human population.
Challenges of Collection population data
 Poor and inadequately financed methods of collection
 Ignorance of censuses and false statements
 Changes in administrations
 Omission of more inaccessible areas
 Poorly trained enumerators
 Major Characteristics of Census
Universality: inclusion of all persons in a given area during the count,89
Periodicity: census undertaking at regular time intervals with reference to a defined
point of time usually 10 years and 5 years,
Simultaneity: undertaking census in a very limited time duration called the census
day/night,
Government sponsorship being an expensive endeavor, and publication
There are two procedures for collecting census data: dejure and defacto approaches
Dejure approach: it involves counting people according to their usual place of
residence (where he/she lives most of the time).
 This method is more suitable for planning and administrative purposes.
Defacto approach: Under this approach each individual is recorded at the place
where he/she was found at the time of the census.
 Population Dynamics: Fertility, Mortality and Migration
 The population of any particular region (country) grows/declines as a result of the
combined effect of the three demographic variables: fertility, mortality and migration.
Fertility: Frequency of birth in a population
Mortality : Frequency of death in a population
Migration : movement of people from one area or country to the other.
Generally Ethiopian populating is characterized by :
 Predominantly young age population structure
 Uneven spatial distribution
 Rapid population growth
 Annual Growth Rate
Rank Country Population (2024)
(%)
1 Nigeria 223 million 2.54
2 Ethiopia 132 million 2.83
3 Egypt 110 million 1.94
Democratic Republic of
4 102 million 3.07
Congo
5 Tanzania 66 million 2.93
6 South Africa 60 million 1.28
7 Kenya 56 million 2.29
8 Uganda 48 million 3.25
9 Algeria 45 million 1.73
10 Sudan 45 million 2.12

Top Ten most populated African countries and Their annual population Growth Rate
 Demographic Measurements
 In Ethiopia, fertility and mortality are the two principal determinants of population
growth as international migration is insignificant.
Cont…
Cont..
 Levels and trends in Fertility and Mortality rates in Ethiopia

 Birth and death rates show significant spatiotemporal variation.

 Clear differences in birth and death rates are emerging between rural and urban areas of
Ethiopia.
 Urban areas have lower birth and death rates compared to rural areas implying that living
and health conditions are better and family planning programme
 Looking at TFR by region, in 2016 fertility was the lowest in Addis Ababa (1.8 children
per woman) and the highest Somali (7.2).
 Life expectancy at birth in Ethiopia increased from about 36.7 years in the 1960s to 62.6
years in 2016.
 Female life expectancy (65.4 years) is about four years higher than male life expectancy
(61.2 years).
 The lowest life expectancy is in BenishangulGumuz (47 years)
 Causes of Rapid fertility rates in Developing Countries

 Little family planning practices and lack of population education;

 Lower status of women
 Early marriage, particularly of females
 Parents consideration of children as assets
 The relatively high infant and child mortality rates
 Perhaps religious imposition
 Sex preferences
 The effects of rapid population growth in LDCs
 Low per capita GNP
 Increased unemployment and under –employment
 Mounting social ills such as destitution, begging, theft, prostitution
 Continuous inflation that erodes purchasing power of the currency
 Shortage of cultivated land and food shortages
 Overcrowding of social facilities; housing problems
 Environmental problems
 Migration in Ethiopia and the Horn
Migration is considered as a form of geographic mobility involving a permanent or
semi-permanent change of residence between two different countries .

Implications of migration
 Migration yields an increased level of urbanization
 It enhances rural-urban linkages in creating an integrated economy
 It influences spatial population distribution
 Migration negatively influences human fertility and mortality patterns
 It is a means of achieving economic efficiency.
 It can be a cause and consequence of inequality and unequal development
 It is a cause and consequence of diversity
 Creates a creative and open society
 The causes of cross-border migration
 Lack of employment and livelihood opportunities
 Rural underemployment and lack of resources
 Unfavorable political context and insecurity, civil war and political turmoil,
 Misinformation and false promises by brokers/traffickers
 Emergence of „culture of migration‟ and migration networks
 Demand-side factors of migration (shortage of labor in low-paying, informal,
and as domestic work, construction, agriculture in destination countries)
Measure of Migration
Net Migration Rate (NMR
 Population pyramid

 Population pyramids of developing countries like Ethiopia have very broad

bases showing the preponderance of young age population, and become thinner
and thinner upwards and the reverse for MDCs
 The age distribution of the population of Ethiopia shows that the country has a
youthful population resulting in heavy youth dependency.
Implication of high dependency ratio

 Imposition of heavy burden on the working population

 Allocation of most of the household budget to food and other household needs

 Diversion of limited resources on social services

 Creation of a society with booming population

 Sex Structure
 Sex structure: refers to the ratio of male population to female population at
different age groups.
 Sex ratios are generally lower for urban areas, and higher for rural areas primarily
due to larger female in-migration to urban areas
Population Distribution in Ethiopia
 Population distribution refers the spread of population on earth
 The distribution of population in Ethiopia is very uneven as a result of physical
and human factors operating together.
 The most important physical factors that affect population distribution include
climate, soil, vegetation, drainage and slope while the historical pattern of
population movement, the type of economic activity, urbanization,
industrialized and the demographic variables are important human factors.
 Measures of Population Distribution
Population Density
 Population density refers to the number of people per unit area.
A. Crude Density
 Crude density is found by dividing total population to total area.
B. Physiological Density
 Physiological density is a ratio between total population and arable part of a
country.
C. Agricultural Density/Rural density
 This is a kind of density, which takes only agricultural population as a numerator
and cultivated land as a denominator.
 AD measure is more meaningful than both crude and physiological density
measures as it gives a better indication of the pressure of population on land
resources.
Population and altitude nexus in Ethiopia
 Languages Families and Languages of Ethiopia
 The Ethiopian languages belong to two Supper Families: Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-
Saharan. Most Ethiopian languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic Supper Family.
 A. Afro-Asiatic The Afro-Asiatic Supper Family, is divided into three families,
namely: Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic.
Cushitic
 The Cushitic languages are predominantly spoken in central, southern, eastern and
northeastern parts of Ethiopia mainly in Afar, Oromia and Somali Regional States.
 It has the largest number of speakers and the widest spatial coverage. This family
of languages consists of many individual languages such as Oromigna,
Somaligna, Sidamigna, Afarigna, Kembatigna, Hadiyigna, Alabigna,
Gedeogna, Agew etc
 Semitic
 The Semitic languages are spoken in northern, central and eastern parts of
Ethiopia particularly in the regional states of Tigray, Amhara, Harari and
Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regional State.
 Some of the Semitic Languages include Amarigna, Tigrigna, Guragigna,
Siltigna, Aderigna, and [Link], Zay….
Omotic
 The Omotic languages are predominantly spoken in the south–central and
south-western parts of Ethiopia mainly between the Lakes of southern Rift
Valley and the Omo River.
 Wolaitigna, Gamogna, Kullogna, Kefigna, and Kontigna. Dorzegna, Hammer..
are some of the languages in this family spoken by millions and many
thousands of people.
 B. NiloSaharan
 The Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken in the western lowlands of Ethiopia along the
border with Sudan, in Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz Regional States.
 Spoken by small numbers of people often less than 500,000 people. The individual
languages of Nilo-Saharan Supper Family include Kunamigna, Bejigna, Gumuzigna,
Maogna,, Nuerigna, Annukigna, Berta…
Settlement Types and Patterns
 Population settlement: refers to a community or locality where people live and interact
within a defined geographic area.
 Settlements are divided into two, namely, rural and urban on the bases of the dominant
economic activity, population densities and availability of socioeconomic and
infrastructural facilities.
 Towns or urban centers have non-agricultural activities as dominant, while rural areas are
almost totally agricultural.
 Population densities are generally very high in urban areas and low in rural areas
 Categories of rural settlement
Temporary / Mobile Settlements
 The lowlands in most parts of the Rift Valley and peripheral areas, being generally
hot and dry, are characterized by pastoral herding and mobile settlements.
Permanent Settlements
 Settlements are considered as permanent if there are no frequent changes in their
locations.
 Permanent settlements are of two types. Namely Scattered, diffused or
dispersed), while the other one is grouped/ clustered or nucleated.
Urban Settlements and Urbanization in Ethiopia
 Urbanization: refers to the increase in the percentage of the population living in
urban centers.
 The major criteria used to classify settlements as urban in Ethiopia

 Minimum of 2,000 people

 Two-thirds of the population engaged in non-agricultural activities;

 A chartered municipality ( a local government entity)

 The presence of social services and amenities

 Modern urbanization in Ethiopia is associated with the establishment of Addis Ababa as a

capital by Emperor Menelik II in the late 19th century.

 Distribution of Urban Centers in Ethiopia
i. Primary Clusters
 The Addis Ababa Metropolitan cluster includes Addis Ababa and its surrounding
towns; and Adama and its surrounding towns
ii. Secondary city clusters
 consist oflLake Tana Urban Cluster: Bahir Dar, Gondar Debre Tabour, Debre Markos
 South Rift Valley Urban Cluster: Hawassa-Shashemene-Dila; and Hosana-Sodo-Arba
Minch
 Eastern Urban Cluster: Dire Dawa, Harar, Jigjiga
 Mekelle Urban Cluster: Mekelle, Adigrat, Shire, Axum
 Dessie- Kombolcha Urban Cluster.
 Jima Urban Cluster: Jima, Agaro, Mizan, Tepi, Gambella
iii. Tertiary urban clusters include:
 Nekemte Urban Cluster: Nekemte, Dembidolo, Gimbi, Metu, Assosa
 Gode - Kebri Dar oasis city network
 Semera-Mille – Asaita oasis city network