Autonomous city in eastern Ethiopia
About Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia Region and Oromo border and one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia. 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.
History
The region was already inhabited in Mesolithic times, as revealed by rock paintings and Middle Stone Age artifacts in the cave of Porc-Épic and Laga-Oda only a few kilometers from Dire Dawa. The area surrounding Dire Dawa is believed to have been a settlement of the extinct Harla people. Historically, the area used to be part of Adal Sultanate during the medieval times. During the 17th century onwards, the region was considered the domain of the Emirate of Harar until Menelik's conquest of the kingdom in 1887 and consequently became incorporated into modern Ethiopia from thereon. The present-day town of Dire Dawa (327 km by rail from Djibouti), however, is of very recent origin. …
Climate
Dire Dawa has a borderline tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw/As) just above a hot semi-arid climate (BSh). The mean annual temperature of Dire Dawa is about 25.9 °C or 78.6 °F. The average maximum temperature of Dire Dawa is 32.8 °C or 91.0 °F, while its average minimum temperature is about 19.0 °C or 66.2 °F. The region has two rain seasons; that is, a small rain season from March to April, and a more pronounced rain season that extends from July to August. The aggregate average annual rainfall that the region gets from these two seasons is about 670 millimetres or 26 inches.
Transportation
Dire Dawa is served by a station on the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, which is located 10 km northwest of the city centre close to the town of Melka Jebdu. In addition, the city is served by the Ethio-Djibouti Railways with its western terminus located in the city centre. The Dire Dawa Airport offers flights to and from the city. Additionally, the Selam Bus Line Share Company provides inter-city bus service. The taxicabs are often called Bajaj in Dire Dawa.
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