Afar
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Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. Formerly known as Region 2, its capital is Asayita. Covering 96,707 km2 in the northeast of the country, its population (as of 1999) is 1,188,000. The Afar Depression, locally known as the Danakil depression, is the three-way junction where the spreading ridges that form the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift. The Depression, the lowest point in Ethiopia and one of the lowest in Africa, is found in the north of the region.
The Afar language is spoken in the district. Afar peoples live primarily in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, eastern Eritrea, and Djibouti, but as they are traditionally nomadic herders, they may be found further afield. The Afar have a strong relationship with their environment and its wildlife, sharing land and resources with animals and doing them no harm. It is this tendency that is largely responsible for the preservation of the critically endangered African wild ass (Equus Africanus), which has become extinct in more vulnerable environments.
Fossil Finds
Afar was the site of the discovery of "Lucy," the Australopithecus afarensis skeletal remains, by Donald Johanson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. On March 5, 2005, another skeleton, estimated to be 3.8 million years old and said to be the world's oldest bipedal hominid skeleton, was found in the region.
See also
External links
- Map of Afar Region at UN-OCHA (http://www.uneue.org/Maps/photos/Afarpage.htm)