Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (sometimes spelled
Addis Abeba, the spelling used officially by the Ethiopian Mapping Institute;
Amharic አዲስ አበባ,
Āddīs Ābebā "new flower";
Oromo Finfinne) is the
capital city of
Ethiopia and the
African Union, as well as its predecessor, the
OAU. As a
chartered city (
ras gez astedader), Addis Ababa has the status of both a city and a state. The city has as many as 80 nationalities speaking 80 languages, and Christian and Muslim communities. Addis Ababa is located about 2,500 m above
sea level at ). [
1]
The site was chosen by Empress
Taytu Betul and the city was founded in
1886 by her husband, Emperor
Menelik II, and now has a population of around four million, and an eight per cent annual growth rate.
The city lies at the foot of
Mount Entoto, and is home to
Addis Ababa University. Addis Ababa University was formerly known as Haile Selassie I University, after the former Emperor of Ethiopia, who donated his Guenete Leul Palace to be the University main campus in 1961.
Addis Ababa was founded by the Ethiopian emperor
Menelik II. Menelik, as King of
Shewa, had found
Mount Entoto a useful base for military operations in the south of his realm, and in 1879 visited the reputed ruins of a medieval town, and an unfinished rock church that showed proof of an Ethiopian presence there prior to the campaigns of
Ahmad Gragn. His interest in the area grew when his wife Taytu began work on a church on Entoto, and Menelik endowed a second church in the area. However the immediate area did not encourage the founding of a town due to the lack of
firewood and
water, so settlement actually began in the valley south of the mountain in
1886. Initially, Taytu built a house for herself near the "Filwoha" hot
mineral springs, known to the local
Oromo people as
Finfinne, where she and members of the Showan Royal Court liked to take mineral baths. Other nobility and their staffs and households settled the vicinity, and Menelik expanded his wife's house to become the
Imperial Palace which remains the seat of government in Addis Ababa today. Addis Ababa became Ethiopia's capital when Menelik II became Emperor of Ethiopia. The town grew by leaps and bounds. One of Emperor Menelik's contributions that is still visible today is the planting of numerous
eucalyptus trees along the city streets.
In
1936,
Italian troops occupied Addis Ababa during the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War, making it the capital of
Italian East Africa. Addis Ababa was governed by the
Italian Governors of Addis Ababa from 1936 to 1939. After the Italian army in Ethiopia was frustrated by Ethiopian patriots, and hugely defeated with British help during the
Liberation of Ethiopia, Emperor
Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa on
May 5,
1941 and immediately began the work of re-establishing his capital.
Emperor Haile Selassie helped form the
Organization of African Unity in
1963, and invited the new organization to maintain its headquarters in the city. The OAU was dissolved in 2002 and replaced by the
African Union (AU), also headquartered in Addis Ababa. The
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa also has its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa was also the site of the
Council of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in
1965.
|
Over 51% of the population is female. |
Based on figures from the
Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA) published in 2005, Addis Ababa has an estimated total population of 2,973,004, consisting of 1,428,001 men and 1,545,003 women. The CSA estimated that presently there are no rural parts to the city, so 100% of the inhabitants are considered urban dwellers; Addis Ababa contains 24% of all urban dwellers in Ethiopia. With an estimated area of 530.14 square kilometers, this chartered city has an estimated density of 5,607.96 people per square kilometer.
1These estimates are based on the 1994 census, in which the population of Addis Ababa was reported to be 2.3 million of which 28,149 lived in the rural parts of the city. 51.6% were females, while 48.4% were male.
Almost all ethnic groups are represented in Addis Ababa due to its position as capital of the country. The major ethnic groups represented are the
Amharas (48.3%),
Oromo (19.2%),
Gurage (17.5%), and
Tigrean (7.6%), while others constitute 7.4% of the population.
82% of the population are
Orthodox Christians, 12.7%
Muslims, 3.9%
Protestants, 0.8%
Catholics, and 0.6% followers of other religions (
Hindus,
Jews,
Bahais,
Jehovah's Witnesses,
Agnostics, etc.).
2The CSA of Ethiopia estimated in 2005 that farmers in Addis Ababa had a total 20,700 head of cattle (representing less than 0.1% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 7,900 sheep (less than 0.1%), 3,150 goats (less than 0.1%), 380 horses (less than 0.1%), 270 mules (0.18%), 4,780 donkeys (0.19%), 21,420 poultry of all species (less than 0.1%), and 170 beehives (less than 0.1%).
3 |
Addis Ababa cityscape Courtesy: whileseated.org |
Addis Ababa is the headquarters of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the
African Union.
The fossilized skeleton, and a plaster replica of the early hominid
Lucy (known in Ethiopia as
Dinkinesh) is preserved at the
Ethiopian National Museum in Addis Ababa.
The city is home to the
Ethiopian National Library, the
Ethiopian Ethnological Museum (and former
palace), the
Addis Ababa Museum, the
Ethiopian Natural History Museum, the
Ethiopian Railway Museum and the
National Postal Museum.
Notable buildings include
St George's Cathedral (founded in
1896 and also home to a
museum),
Holy Trinity Cathedral (once the largest
Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral and the location of to
Sylvia Pankhurst's tomb) as well as the burial place of Emperor
Haile Selassie and the Imperial family, and those who fought the Italians during the war. There is also
Menelik's old Imperial palace which remains the official seat of government, and the
National Palace formerly known as the Jubilee Palace (built to mark Emperor Haile Selassie's Silver Jubilee in
1955) which is the residence of the President of Ethiopia. The
Hager Fikir Theatre, the oldest theatre in Ethiopia, is located at the Piazza district.
Africa Hall is located across Menelik II avenue from this Palace and is where the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is headquartered as well as most UN offices in Ethiopia. It is also the site of the founding of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) which eventually became the
African Union. Near Holy Trinity Cathedral is the Parliament building, built during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, with its clock tower. It continues to serve as the seat of Parliament today. Across from the Parliament is the Shengo Hall, built by the
Derg regime of
Mengistu Haile Mariam as its new parliament hall. The Shengo Hall was the world's largest pre-fabricated building, which was constructed in
Finland before being assembled in Addis Ababa. It is used for large meetings and conventions. Near Bole International Airport is the new Medhane Alem (Savior of the World) Cathedral, which is the second largest in Africa. In the Merkato district, which happens to be the largest open market in Africa, is the impressive Anwar Mosque. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family is also in the Merkato district.
Other features of the city include the large
Merkato market, the
Jan Meda Race Ground racecourse,
Bihere Tsige Recreation Centre and a
railway line to
Djibouti, while the
Entoto Mountains start among the northern suburbs.Suburbs of the city include
Shiro Meda and
Entoto in the north,
Urael and
Bole (home to Bole International Airport) in the east,
Nifas Silk in the south-east,
Mekanisa in the south, and
Keraniyo and
Kolfe in the west.
Public transportation is through public
buses or blue and white
share taxis, locally known as "blue donkeys". The taxis are usually
minibuses that can sit at least twelve people. Two people are responsible for each taxi, the driver and a
weyala who collects fares and calls out the taxi's destination.
The city is served by
Bole International Airport, where a new terminal opened in 2003. The old Lideta Airport in the western "Old Airport" district is used mostly by small craft and military planes and helicopters. Addis Ababa also has a
railway connection with
Djibouti City, with a picturesque French style railway station.
#
CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.3.#
FDRE States: Basic Information - Addis Ababa (accessed 12 March 2006)# CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables D.3 - D.5.
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Introduction to Addis Ababa
