Based on many years of field work by the two senior authors (Ib Friis and Sebsebe Demissew) and with the application of GIS analyses (by P. van Breugel) 15 major vegetation types in Ethiopia are described and mapped. The book descibes the structure and floristic composition of the vegetation types recognised, and the descriptions are illustrated with selected photographs from many parts of Ethiopia. Parts of the book is an atlas with 29 map plates and a legend to signatures. This atlas shows the potential distribution of the 15 natural vegetation types. The book also describes the relation between the new classification of vegetation types and two previous classifications, also with vegetation maps showing distribution of vegetation, by respectively R.E.G. Pichi Sermolli (1957) and Frank White (1983).