Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa
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From top: Dire Dawa Train Station; Dire Dawa Downtown; Street view of Dire Dawa; Kafira Market; Skyline view in afternoon; Bete Mikael Church | |
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Flag Seal | |
Dire Dawa Location within Ethiopia Dire Dawa Location within the Horn of Africa Dire Dawa Location within Africa | |
| Coordinates: 9°36′N 41°52′E / 9.600°N 41.867°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Founded | 24 December 1902 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Chartered city |
| • Mayor | Kedir Juhar |
| Area | |
| 1,213 km2 (468 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 1,276 m (4,186 ft) |
| Population (2025) | |
| 582,000 | |
| • Density | 480/km2 (1,240/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 277,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
| Area code | (+251) 25 |
| HDI (2019) | 0.570 medium · 2nd of 11 |
| Website | www.dire-dawa.gov.et |
Dire Dawa (Oromo: Dirree Dhawaa, lit. 'Place of Remedy'; Somali: Diridhaba, meaning "where the Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", Amharic: ድሬዳዋ, Harari: ዲርሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine") is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia 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.
It is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woredas 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. 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 second largest city in Ethiopia.