Culture & People

Updated September 2026 by Dawit Deggu Mohis, Addis Ababa. Sooner or later somebody will invite you home. It happens to visitors here far more than they expect — a shopkeeper, a guide’s cousin, a family you met on a bus. Accepting is the best decision you will make on your trip, and it comes with … Read more

Rigidity in schedules and meetings is not part of the Ethiopian culture. Meetings here are known to start with lots of social chats characterized with drinking coffee and tea.

Updated September 2026 by Dawit Deggu Mohis, Addis Ababa. In Ethiopia the greeting is not a formality you get through before the real conversation. It is the conversation — or at least the part that decides how the rest of it goes. Foreign visitors who walk up and ask a question straight away are not … Read more

Language There are 86 individual languages indigenous to Ethiopia, of which Amharic is the National Language and is widely spoken by most people. Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Ge’ez script. The writing system is called Fidal, meaning alphabet, script, letter, or character. Most Ethiopians speak conversational English, this … Read more

Dates, time and Ethiopian calendar Ethiopians follow a solar calendar that is unique as it is almost similar to Julian and Coptic calendars. A year has 13 months with the first 12 months having 30 days and the last month consisting of 5 days or 6 days in a leap year. Christmas is celebrated on … Read more

Gifts are highly appreciated in the Ethiopian culture and are normally given during religious celebrations and events. Most gifts are always sealed and wrapped when submitted to the host. Expensive gifts are not commonly given as most people are not rich. Examples of common gifts to give are flowers, pastries or fruits. It is a … Read more