Lalibela Ethiopia!
Ethiopia provides us with lots of our favourite spices – anise, turmeric, cloves, ginger, coriander, cumin etc
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10 fun facts
Coffee is also a major export of Ethiopia. In fact, coffee itself was first discovered in Ethiopia and some reports suggest that the coffee plant was accidentally discovered when a goat herder found his flock running restlessly after eating it!
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10 fun facts
The same Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila, won the Olympic marathon twice. The only individual to win twice and he ran it barefoot! That was in 1960.
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10 fun facts
Lalibela is in the Amhara Region. The town has a population of 18,000 but there are tens of thousands more in the surrounding countryside.
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King Lalibela ruled in the 13th Century and his legacy is the incredible rock cut churches, making Lalibela a pilgrimage site for Coptic Christians.
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Ethiopia has 13 months in every year. The only country to do this! They celebrate New Year’s Day on September 11th.
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Ethiopia is considered to be the world’s first Christian State.
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Ethiopia was never formally colonised. Twice it has fought off the Italians, most recently in 1937. Only Russia and Ethiopia have never been colonised.
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Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries on the planet, established in 980BC, hundreds of years before most other African countries.
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People in Ethiopia speak 88 different languages. But most people (63%) speak Oromo or Amharic.
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