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Ethiopia TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
Roads: Construction of adequate road system
greatly hampered
by rugged terrain of highlands and normally heavy seasonal
rainfall. Approximately 18,000 kilometers of roads in 1991,
of which 13,000 kilometers were all-weather roads. Road
density lowest in Africa; perhaps three-fourths of farms
more than one-half day's walk from an all-weather road.
Railroads: One line operating in 1993 from
Addis
Ababa to
city of Djibouti. Second line from Akordat to Mitsiwa
discontinued operation in 1976 because of unprofitability
and partly destroyed in later fighting.
Ports: Two major ports--Aseb and
Mitsiwa--both in
Eritrea;
further access to ocean transport through port of Djibouti;
all usable by deep-sea vessels.
Civil Aviation: Important in domestic
communications
because
of underdeveloped state of other means of transportation.
International airports at Addis Ababa, Asmera, and Dire
Dawa; major airports at a few other towns; remaining
airfields little more than landing strips. In 1993 Ethiopian
Airlines provided domestic service to some forty-five
destinations and international service to Africa, western
Europe, India, and China.
Telecommunications: Minimal system.
Radio-relay
links
connected Addis Ababa with Nairobi and Djibouti; other
international service via Atlantic Ocean satellite of
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(Intelsat). Limited local telephone service and equipment;
four AM radio stations, one shortwave transmitter;
television service in ten cities.
Data as of 1991
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