araya-thesis

Introduction
Map 1. Map of Ethiopia, its regional states and city administrations.
Demographic situation
Projections from the 2007 Ethiopian population and housing census estimate the total
population for the year 2010 to be 79.8 million with an annual population growth rate
of 2.6%. Ethiopia is the home of a mosaic of nations, nationalities and peoples varying
in population size from more than 18 million to less than 1000 spread across the
country and with more than 80 different spoken languages. According to the 2007
census, 83.6% of the population were living in rural areas. The capital city of the
country is Addis Ababa with 2.7 million people. The average size of a household is 4.7
members. The pyramidal age structure of the population has remained predominately
young with 44% under the age of 15 years. While the male‐female sex ratio is almost
equal, women in the reproductive age group constitute 24% of the population
[11,12,14].
13