Эфиопское нагорье: география, история и происхождение кофе

Mountain range in northern Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to It is sometimes called the "Roof of Northeastern Africa" due to its height and large area. It is the only country in the region with such a high elevated surface. This elevated surface is bisected diagonally by the Great East African Rift System which extends from Syria to Mozambique across the East African Lakes. Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia, and its northernmost portion reaches into Eritrea.

In the southern parts of the Ethiopian Highlands once was located the Kingdom of Kaffa, a medieval and early modern state, whence the coffee plant was exported to the Arabian Peninsula. The land of the former kingdom is mountainous with stretches of forest. The land is very fertile, capable of three harvests a year. The term coffee derives from the قهوة and is traced to Kaffa.

The Highlands are divided into northwestern and southeastern portions by the Main Ethiopian Rift, which contains a number of salt lakes. The northwestern portion, known as the Abyssinian Massif, includes the Semien Mountains, part of which has been designated the Simien Mountains National Park. Its summit, Ras Dashen (4,550 m), is the highest peak in Ethiopia. Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, also lies in the northwestern portion of the Ethiopian Highlands. The southeastern portion is known as the Harar Massif. as magma from the Earth's mantle uplifted a broad dome of the ancient rocks of the Arabian Nubian Shield. The opening of the Great Rift Valley split the dome of the Ethiopian Highlands into three parts; the mountains of the southern Arabian Peninsula are geologically part of the ancient Ethiopian Highlands, separated by the rifting which created the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and separated Africa from Arabia. Around 30 million years ago, a flood basalt plateau began to form, piling layers upon layers of voluminous fissure fed basaltic lava flows. Most of the flows were tholeiitic, save for a thin layer of alkali basalts and minor amounts of felsic (high silica) volcanic rocks, such as rhyolite. In the waning stages of the flood basalt episode, large explosive caldera forming eruptions also occurred. The Ethiopian Highlands were eventually bisected by the Great Rift Valley as the African continental crust pulled apart. This rifting gave rise to large alkaline basalt shield volcanoes beginning about 30–31 million years ago. The northern Ethiopian Highlands contain four discernible planation surfaces, the oldest one being formed not later than in the Ordovician Period. Contrary to what has been suggested for much of Africa, planation surfaces in northern Ethiopia do not appear to be pediplains nor etchplains. These heavy rains cause the Nile to flood in the summer, a phenomenon that puzzled the ancient Greeks, as the summer is the driest season in the Mediterranean climate that they knew.

These slopes are home to a number of endemic wildlife species, including the endangered walia ibex (Capra walie) and the gelada baboon, whose thick fur allows it to thrive in the cooler climates of the mountains. These two species are only found on the northern side of the valley, while another rare endemic, the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) is restricted to the southern side, and now survives at higher altitudes than its original habitat since the lower slopes are heavily farmed. More widespread mammals found here include the mantled guereza (Colobus guereza), which is also threatened as its habitat disappears as does that of many other mammals of the highlands such as olive baboon (Papio anubis), Egyptian wolf (Canis aureus), leopard (Panthera pardus), lion (Panthera leo), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), caracal (Caracal caracal), serval (Leptailurus serval), common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), and giant forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni). Birds include Rueppell's chat, the finch Ankober serin (Serinus ankoberensis), white winged flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi), and blue winged goose. The farmland is home to many butterflies, especially Papilio, Charaxinae, Pieridae and Lycaenidae. There are several endemic animal species, one of which, the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), is critically endangered. Other endemics include the big headed mole rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) which is common on the Sanetti Plateau in the Bale Mountains. The mountain nyala finds its way up to the high moorlands although it is more common at lower elevations. Wintering birds include wigeon (Anas penelope), shoveler (Anas clypeata), ruff (Philomachus pugnax), and greenshank (Tringa nebularia). Other fauna in the area also includes aardvark, eagle, Egyptian wolf, gelada, secretarybird, Nubian ibex, and marabou stork and Ethiopian endemic species such as the shrew (Crocidura harenna), the narrow footed woodland mouse (Grammomys minnae), and Menelik's bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus meneliki), which is a subspecies with long, dark fur.