This comprehensive study is the result of research by an interdisciplinary team of international scholars, all with a particular interest in Ethiopia. The first part of the book contains an important classification of Ethiopian languages, looks at their distribution and studies some special language situations. The second part describes the official status of languages, the effects of migrations, urbanization and education, and discusses the spread of Amharic and patterns of bilingualism. The third part analyses in detail the organization of language teaching and teacher training in Ethiopia.