the angles between the points on a light blue disk. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three main colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors.
Please click here to view the Flag of Ethiopia
The economy of Ethiopia is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of the GDP, 85% of exports and 80% of total employment. However, the agriculture sector is often subject to frequent
droughts and poor civilization practices. Coffee is very essential to the Ethiopian economy with exports of some $270 million in 2000/01. The war with Eritrea in 1999-2000 and recurrent drought have buffeted the economy, and the coffee production in particular. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; but this system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral
for loans. The year 2002 saw strong growth in economy, which can be attributed to good rainfall early in the year, the cessation of hostilities, and renewed foreign aid and debt relief. But
drought struck again late in 2002 and the country was sent reeling back to a frail economy.
