Eritrea Djibouti Somalia Ethiopia Eritrea Djibouti Excellent locations

Eritrea & Djibouti Somalia & Ethiopia

Eritrea & Djibouti Excellent locations on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Eritrea l l l l l Multi-ethnic state of 6 million Magnificent natural and ancient sites Mostly Christians & Muslims Descended from the Kingdom of Aksum, which adopted Christianity in the first century Colonized by Italy in the early 20 th century, it became a federation with Ethiopia in 1947. As in Libya and Ethiopia, the Italians behaved very badly and left destruction in their wake. The Eritrean-Ethiopian War of Independence of 1993, 1998 -2000, hasn’t really ended. Ethiopia lost Eritrea, and is therefore landlocked But hostilities continue and many refugees have fled and are included in those trying to get to European countries.

Highlands near Asmara, the capital

Djibouti A tiny country with a huge and excellent harbor in one of the most strategic places in the world at the southern end of the Red Sea (recall the Suez Canal)

Djibouti l l l l Colonized by the French, it is still home to an important French port Part of the Land of Punt in antiquity, Puntland is eastern Somalia Independent in 1977 Multi-ethnic, with under 1 million people, mostly Muslims At the entrance to the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean, The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Djibouti is the valued site of the French and American Navy Camp Lemonier is a U. S. Naval Expeditionary Base, the only permanent U. S. military base in Africa, established as the primary support base for Operation Enduring Freedom, shared with coalition troops, mainly French Camp Lemonier is the centerpiece of the U. S. drone and surveillance bases for all of Africa and the hub of aerial operation in the Persian Gulf region. About 4, 000 coalition troops are stationed at Camp Lemonier.

U. S. Land Mine Clearing Team, Djibouti

The “Horn” of Africa Yemen Gulf of Aden Ethiopia Somalia

There were more than 250, 000 registered Somali refugees living in Ethiopia in one of the world’s largest refugee camps. The Ogaden is the hottest and driest part of Ethiopia.

Mogadishu, Somalia

Nearly 1 million Somali Refugees in the region: U. N. High Commission for Refugees, 2016

Eritrea Kenya Somali Refugee camps

Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya, world’s largest. Visit it on Google Earth, zoom in.

2012 numbers have increased by thousands.

Somali Pirates

$2 million ransom is air-dropped by the French

Somali pirate’s AK

Mogadishu

Al Shabab, Somali Jihadis affiliated with Al Qaeda

Be sure to watch the first video, which is dated, but covers the history and culture of Somalia. VICE and Journeyman TV reporters take you deep into the story. l Somalia in 8 minutes VICE: The Lives of Somalis l The Fight Against Al Shabab Somalia’s Incredible Pirate Free- for-All l Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks (not for the faint of heart, but none of these VICE shows are).

Ethiopia: Landlocked! 2/3 is high equatorial plateau. This moderates temperatures. Remember that green means low elevation and not vegetation, so it’s hot. The highest elevation is almost 10, 000 ft/4, 200 m. The Plateau is bisected by the great Rift Valley, which is also a cultural divide, but not as much as the difference between highland lowland Ethiopia. Abyssinia in the ancient world.

Precipitation, Temperature & Elevation: blue is cool and wet, red is hot and dry. The Afar Triangle is an extension of the Rift Valley. Its lowest elevation is 509 ft/155 m below sea level. It’s the hottest place on Earth & volcanic.

Addis Ababa

Simien Mountains, northwestern Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s Omo Valley

Omo Valley, Ethiopia: 200, 000 people in at least 8 different ethnic groups. Hamar boys in white ash for a dance. Mursi woman, Why do this? Adornment for beauty or an atrocity to make her unattractive to slavers?

Lalibela, Ethiopian holy city of Coptic Christian Churches carved into the volcanic landscape. St. George’s Church.

Ethiopians are majority Coptic Orthodox Christian.

Emperor Haile Selassie: one of the great men of the 20 th century.

Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, “The Lion of Zion” Haile Selassie I (1892 – 1975), a prominent figure in Ethiopian and African history, born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. The heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13 th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Haile Selassie means “Power of the Holy Trinity. ” To the Rastafari movement, which has millions of adherents worldwide, he is considered to be the religious symbol of God incarnate.

Rastafarians (L, Bob Marley) regard Haile Selassie as a deity

At the League of Nations in 1936, the Emperor's protest of the use of chemical weapons against his people foreshadowed not only the worldwide conflict that was to come, but also the advent of the technological “refinement of barbarism” that would come to mark modern warfare. Selassie was a gifted speaker, and some of his speeches have been counted among the most memorable of the twentieth century. His internationalist views led to Ethiopia's becoming a charter member of the United Nations, and his political thought and experience in promoting multilateralism and collective security have proved seminal and enduring. Coronation: 1930 Speech to the U. N. in 1963

H. I. M. Haile Selassie I Speech to the United Nations (excerpt) New York City, NY October 4, 1963 ". . . until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil. . . "

Haile Selassie on You. Tube