Dire Dawa

This article is about the city. For other uses, see Dire Dawa (disambiguation).
Dire Dawa
Chartered city
From top: Dire Dawa Train Station; Dire Dawa Downtown; Street view of Dire Dawa; Kafira Market; Skyline view in afternoon; Bete Mikael Church
Flag of Dire Dawa
Flag
Official seal of Dire Dawa
Seal
Dire Dawa is located in Ethiopia
Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa
Location within Ethiopia
Dire Dawa is located in Horn of Africa
Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa
Location within the Horn of Africa
Dire Dawa is located in Africa
Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa
Location within Africa
Coordinates: 9°36′N 41°52′E / 9.600°N 41.867°E / 9.600; 41.867
Country Ethiopia
Founded24 December 1902
Government
 • TypeChartered city
 • MayorKedir Juhar[2]
Area
1,213 km2 (468 sq mi)
Elevation
1,276[4] m (4,189 ft)
Population
 (July 2019)
493,000[1]
 • Urban
277,000[3]
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Area code(+251) 25
HDI (2019)0.570[5]
medium · 3rd of 11
Websitewww.dire-dawa.gov.et

Dire Dawa (Somali: Diridhaba, meaning "where (the Somali ancestor) Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", Amharic: ድሬዳዋ, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; Oromo: Dirree Dhawaa, lit. 'Place of Remedy';[6] Arabic: ديري داوا[7][8]) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromo border and one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia (the other being Addis Ababa, the capital). Dire Dawa alongside present-day Sitti Zone were a part of the Dire Dawa autonomous region of the Somali Region stipulated in the 1987 Ethiopian Constitution until 1993 when it was split by the federal government into a separately administered chartered city.[9]

It is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura.

Dire Dawa lies in the eastern part of the nation, on the Dechatu River, at the foot of a ring of cliffs. The western outskirts of the city lie on the Gorro River, a tributary of the Dechatu River. It is located at the latitude and longitude of 9°36′N 41°52′E / 9.600°N 41.867°E / 9.600; 41.867. The city is an industrial centre, home to several markets and the Dire Dawa Airport.

The projected population for 2015 was 440,000 for the entire chartered city and 277,000 for the city proper, making the latter the seventh largest city in Ethiopia.

  1. ^ "Population Projections by Region" (PDF). Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  2. ^ "Kedir Juhar Elected Mayor Of Dire Dawa City". fanabc.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference citypopulation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Dire Dawa, Ethiopia".
  5. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  6. ^ Kefale, Asnake. "Ethnic Federalism and Conflict Management in Ethiopia: The Case of Dire Dawa" in Luc Sindjoun (ed.)'s The Coming African Hour: Dialectics of Opportunities and Constraints, p. 209. Africa Institute of South Africa (Pretoria), 2010. Accessed 15 Feb 2014.
  7. ^ Referencing Dir confederation of Somali clans which inhabit vast area between the Red Sea and Dir Dawa. See Dir.
  8. ^ H.A.R. Gibb; et al., eds. (2009). Encyclopaedia of islam (New ed.). Leiden: E.J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4.
  9. ^ Dire Dawa's dilemma: Sharing power in Ethiopia's eastern melting pot, 2 August 2021