Addis Ababa Profile

The original 'capital' of Ethiopia was Entoto however, because of its high tableland location, Entoto was considered to be fairly miserable not least because of the cold and it's locality didn't provide ample firewood for fires and cooking. The then Ethiopian Emperor, Menilek II (1889-1913), succumbed to his wife's demands and agreed to build her a presidential home in a nearby area known as 'Finfinne' in the local Oromo language, meaning 'presence of hot springs' at the foot of Entoto's tableland. Taitu, the Empress, named the new locality Addis Ababa ('New Flower) and work started on the new development in earnest during 1886-1887. At first the new Addis Ababa was little more than a presidential home named the Menelik Palace (but more widely called the Ghebbi), buildings for staff and retainers however, once again, availability of firewood became an issue as many of the local trees were felled for construction, heating and cooking purposes resulting in thousands of eucalyptus trees being imported from Australia to provide sufficient wood for then present and future use.

Given that Addis Ababa was now the seat of power, with Menilek's generals all given land close to the presidential palace to build their own homes, the nascent Addis Ababa soon attracted others workers and, by 1910, the city had a population of nearly 70,000 permanent residents. Menilek died in 1913 during the First World War, following a massive stroke that had effectively incapactitated him six years earlier with a regency established. Addis Ababa continued to develop apace during that period with a railway line opening to Djibouti in 1917 and the fledgling city became the capital of Italian East Africa from 1936 to 1941 during which time it adopted European influences. In 1941 Addis Ababa saw the withdrawal of Italian forces as they decamped to Amba Alagi in the face of incurrsons by allied troops and the city was liberated on 5th May 1941 by Major General Orde Charles Wingate and Haile Selassie. Today Addis Ababa is home to some 5,228,000 people (2022).

Addis Ababa is home to the largest Merkato (market) in the world and practically anything can be found there, although Europeans tend to be charged over the odds as their haggling skills are not worthy of Ethiopian standards! There are many historical sites in Addis Ababa including the statue of its founder Emperor Menelik II, the Lion of Judah standing in front of the Ethiopian to Djibouti railway station and the Andinet statue commemorating the troops that were killed during the invasion of Somalia. Archaelogical records have led scientists to believe that Addis Ababa is the early home of all mankind as Homo Sapiens began to migrate across the world from the area of Addis Ababa some 100,000 years ago. So when you look at the video of Addis Ababa (below), that's where your distant ancestors came from!