Dire Dawa
Encyclopedia
Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities
(astedader akabibi) in Ethiopia
(the other being the capital, Addis Ababa
). This chartered city is divided administratively into two woreda
s, 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 that has been described as "somewhat like a cluster of tea-leaves in the bottom of a slop-basin." With a latitude and longitude of 9°36′N 41°52′E, this city is the second largest in Ethiopia.
The city is an industrial centre, home to several market
s and the Aba Tenna Dejazmach Yilma International Airport
. Haramaya University
is 40 kilometers away from the city.
at its higher elevation, so Dire Dawa was built nearby. This led to Dire Dawa becoming an important center of trade between the port of Djibouti
and the capital city, Addis Ababa. (Dire Dawa is home to several market centers; the biggest being Taiwan along with Qefira which is located on the flood plain. Near Dire Dawa and what is now Kebele 01, trading happened in the town called Melka Jebdu and in fact, it has been the gateway for most of the goods sold in places such as Taiwan.). Dire Dawa's first governor was Ato Mersha Nahu Senay who also represented Emperor Menilek at the inauguration ceremony of the Djibouti-Ethiopia railway as it reached the area, according to Dr. Richard Pankhurst and historian Shiferaw Bekele. Ato Mersha was instrumental in the founding and early development of the city, including the establishment of the Djibouti-Dire Dawa railway that began in 1897 and ended in 1902.
Soon afterwards, Ras Makonnen
, the governor of Harar, ordered the construction of a road from Dire Dawa to Harar, one of the first in this part of the country. This road was substantially improved in 1928, improving travel times between the two cities from two days to only a few hours. A generation later, the writer C.F. Rey described the city as the most "advanced" urban center in the area, with good roads, electric lights and piped water.
In 1931, the Bank of Ethiopia opened its first branch in Dire Dawa.
During the Italian invasion
, Mussolini
ordered that both Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa would be spared air attacks as a response of demands of the United States
and certain European countries for the safety of their citizens. On 6 May 1936 Graziani
's units, advancing from Harar, reached the barbed-wire fence at Dire Dawa where they met two French armed cars; the railway was under French administration, and with the departure of Emperor Haile Selassie two days earlier, they remained to protect French interests. The next day, the first train under Italian control left Addis Ababa carrying the 46th Infantry Regiment. The two Italian forces met in Dire Dawa, and the occupation of the town was more or less a formality.
Following the return of Emperor Haile Selassie, Dire Dawa was among the early provincial towns to have its own football
league. Around 1947, their Taffari team participated in the Ethiopian Championship series
. That same year, the Railroad Workers Syndicate of Dire Dawa, a labor union
was formed for welfare purposes. Although its leadership co-operated with the Government, it attempted to strike in 1949 which was brutally suppressed by government troops in 1949; at the time, all strikes were seen by government officials as a form of insurrection.
In 1955 a public address system was installed in the central square, for receiving radio transmissions from the state radio and re-broadcasting them.
The Ethiopian revolution affected the city in many ways. Starting March 1974, there was some unrest of workers; six people were wounded when police opened fire on demonstrating railwaymen and students on 17 April. Many Europeans, Yemeni Arabs and Indians left Dire Dawa; the Greek and Armenian churches were eventually closed due to dwindling membership. On 3 February 1975 the Derg
announced that the Cotton Company of Ethiopia was among 14 textile enterprises to be fully nationalized
. The cement
factory was also later nationalized. In August 1976, the entire leadership of the local branch of the teachers' union
was sacked for alleged anti-revolutionary activities. Ten new officials were appointed pending fresh elections.
According to Gebru Tareke, the success of the Ethiopian Army in holding Dire Dawa (17-18 August 1977) against the Somali Army was decisive in winning the Ogaden War
.
Dire Dawa was occupied by the EPRDF 31 May 1991. There were reports of about 100 people killed resisting the EPRDF. In 1991, when the Somali National Movement
took control of northern Somalia
, they dismantled and sold the only publicly owned industry in the whole Somali northern region, a cement factory located near Berbera, which was shipped off to help expand the cement factory in Dire Dawa. Both the Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front
and the Oromo Liberation Front
claimed the city; as a result, there were numerous clashes between the two groups from 1991 until 1993. This ongoing violence and the fear of protracted ethnic conflict caused the city to be designated federally administered city. Dire Dawa was separated from the Oromia Region
around 1998 to become a chartered city.
On June 24, 2002, a small explosive was detonated at the headquarters of the Ethiopian Railway Commission in Dire Dawa. The Oromo Liberation Front
(OLF) afterwards claimed responsibility for this attack in retaliation "for the continuing harassment of Oromo students, merchants, and farmers by the Ethiopian government." Although blamed for other isolated incidents, this was the latest bombing inside Ethiopia for which the OLF claimed responsibility.
The city was flood
ed in August 2006 when the Dechatu River
overflowed its banks. About 200 people were reported dead, thousands were displaced and there was extensive damage to homes and markets. Floods are fairly common during the June-September rainy season
; over 200 people in the region had been killed by flooding in 2005 that also did millions of dollars in damage.
An overturned truck, heading from Dengego to Dire Dawa, killed a total of 41 people 4 March 2009. The truck was carrying an unknown number of day laborers when the accident happened, and 38 were immediately killed and as many as 50 were injured in the accident. Both dead and injured were taken to Dil-chora Hospital in Dire Dawa. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
of Ethiopia (CSA), Dire Dawa has a total population of 341,834, of whom 171,461 are men and 170,461 women; 233,224 or 68.23% of the population are urban inhabitants. For all of Dire Dawa 76,815 households were counted living in 72,937 housing units, which results in an average of 4.5 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 4.2 and rural households 4.9 people. Ethnic groups in the region include the Oromo
(45.9%), Somali
(24.3%), Amhara (20.17%), Gurage
(4.55%), Tigray
(1.23%), and Harari
(1.09%). Languages spoke include Oromiffa
(47.95%), Amharic
(26.46%), Somali
(19.7%), Gurage (2.78%), and Harari (1.04%). The religion with the most believers in Dire Dawa is Muslim
with 70.8%, 25.71% are Ethiopian Orthodox, 2.81% Protestant
, and 0.43% Catholic
.
In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the city's population was reported to be 251,864, of whom 127,286 were men and 124,578 were women. The percentage of males and females is about 50.5 and 49.5 percent, respectively. The urban residents numbered at the time 173,188 while its rural residents were 78,676. For the entire administrative council there were 52,245 households in Dire Dawa administrative council with an average of 4.7 persons per household. The major ethnic groups included the Oromo (48%), Amhara (27.7%), Somali (13.9%), Gurage (4.5%; 2.3% Sebat Bet
, 0.8% Sodo
and 1.4% Silt'e
); the remaining 5.9% of the population consists of all other ethnic groups.63.2% of the inhabitants are Muslim, 34.5% Orthodox Christian, 1.5% Protestant, 0.7% Catholic, and 0.1% followers of other religions.
According to the CSA, , 90.76% of the total population had access to safe drinking water
: 69.61% of rural and 99.48% of urban inhabitants having access. Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living
for Dire Dawa include the following: 11.4% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 76.6% and for women 53%; and the civic infant mortality rate is 71 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is less than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants’ first month of life.
and Harar
. Telephone service was available by 1954; by 1967, Dire Dawa had almost 500 telephone numbers, more than almost all other towns including Gondar
, Harar, and Jimma
. The CSA estimated in 2005 that farmers in Dire Dawa had a total 40,400 head of cattle (representing 0.1% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 46,280 sheep (0.27%), 118,770 goats (0.92%), 8,820 asses (0.35%), 5,070 camels (1.11%), 44,740 poultry of all species (0.14%), and 840 beehives (less than 0.1%).
The invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus
(or Congress weed) was first observed in Ethiopia near Dire Dawa in 1980. Experts speculate that it entered the country either through the Djibouti - Addis Ababa railway line or the International Airport, carried by one of the various food aid programs.
About 2007, a Concrete sleeper
factory was established, sited near the cement factory.
Intercity bus service is provided by the Selam Bus Line Share Company
.
(This list is based on information from Worldstatesman.org.)
Administrative divisions of Ethiopia
Ethiopia has the following administrative divisions:-Regions and chartered cities:The 9 regions or killoch are based on ethnic territoriality:*Afar*Amhara*Benishangul-Gumuz*Gambela*Harari*Oromia*Somali...
(astedader akabibi) in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
(the other being the capital, Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
). This chartered city is divided administratively into two woreda
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
s, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura
Gurgura
Gurgura is one of the four woredas in the chartered city of Dire Dawa in Ethiopia. It is named for an ethnic group which lives in the area, the Gurgura; because there are records of a subgroup of the Nole Oromo with that name, as well as a sub-clan of the Somali Dir clan, it is unclear which one of...
.
Dire Dawa lies in the eastern part of the nation, on the Dechatu River
Dechatu River
The Dechatu River is a river of eastern Ethiopia. It rises in the Ahmar Mountains to flow north through the second largest city in the country, Dire Dawa towards the Awash River, entering the city at . It is unclear if either its flow or river bed eventually reach the Awash...
, at the foot of a ring of cliffs that has been described as "somewhat like a cluster of tea-leaves in the bottom of a slop-basin." With a latitude and longitude of 9°36′N 41°52′E, this city is the second largest in Ethiopia.
The city is an industrial centre, home to several market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
s and the Aba Tenna Dejazmach Yilma International Airport
Aba Tenna Dejazmach Yilma International Airport
Aba Tenna Dejazmach Yilma International Airport is an airport in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia...
. Haramaya University
Haramaya University
Haramaya University is one of the oldest universities in Ethiopia. It is located in Alemaya, a town in the Misraq Hararghe Zone, about 20 kilometers from the city of Harar and 40 kilometers from Dire Dawa....
is 40 kilometers away from the city.
History
Dire Dawa was founded in 1902 after the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway reached the area. The railroad could not reach the city of HararHarar
Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...
at its higher elevation, so Dire Dawa was built nearby. This led to Dire Dawa becoming an important center of trade between the port of Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
and the capital city, Addis Ababa. (Dire Dawa is home to several market centers; the biggest being Taiwan along with Qefira which is located on the flood plain. Near Dire Dawa and what is now Kebele 01, trading happened in the town called Melka Jebdu and in fact, it has been the gateway for most of the goods sold in places such as Taiwan.). Dire Dawa's first governor was Ato Mersha Nahu Senay who also represented Emperor Menilek at the inauguration ceremony of the Djibouti-Ethiopia railway as it reached the area, according to Dr. Richard Pankhurst and historian Shiferaw Bekele. Ato Mersha was instrumental in the founding and early development of the city, including the establishment of the Djibouti-Dire Dawa railway that began in 1897 and ended in 1902.
Soon afterwards, Ras Makonnen
Ras Makonnen
Ras Mäkonnen Wäldä-Mika'él Guddisa, also Makonnen Wolde Mikael Gudessa or simply as Ras Makonnen, was a general and the governor of Harar province in Ethiopia, and the father of Tafari Mäkonnen, later known as the Emperor Haile Selassie I. His father was Fitawrari Woldemikael Guddessa of a noble...
, the governor of Harar, ordered the construction of a road from Dire Dawa to Harar, one of the first in this part of the country. This road was substantially improved in 1928, improving travel times between the two cities from two days to only a few hours. A generation later, the writer C.F. Rey described the city as the most "advanced" urban center in the area, with good roads, electric lights and piped water.
In 1931, the Bank of Ethiopia opened its first branch in Dire Dawa.
During the Italian invasion
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
, Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
ordered that both Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa would be spared air attacks as a response of demands of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and certain European countries for the safety of their citizens. On 6 May 1936 Graziani
Graziani
Graziani is an Italian family name, and may refer to:* Ariel Graziani, South American footballer* Augusto Graziani, Circuitist economist* Ercole Graziani the Younger, painter* Francesco Graziani * Francesco Graziani, Italian footballer...
's units, advancing from Harar, reached the barbed-wire fence at Dire Dawa where they met two French armed cars; the railway was under French administration, and with the departure of Emperor Haile Selassie two days earlier, they remained to protect French interests. The next day, the first train under Italian control left Addis Ababa carrying the 46th Infantry Regiment. The two Italian forces met in Dire Dawa, and the occupation of the town was more or less a formality.
Following the return of Emperor Haile Selassie, Dire Dawa was among the early provincial towns to have its own football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
league. Around 1947, their Taffari team participated in the Ethiopian Championship series
Ethiopian Football Federation
The Ethiopian Football Federation is the governing body of football in Ethiopia. It was founded in 1943, affiliated to FIFA in 1953 and to CAF in 1957. It organizes the national football league and the national team....
. That same year, the Railroad Workers Syndicate of Dire Dawa, a labor union
Trade unions in Ethiopia
The trade unions of Ethiopia have a total membership of approximately 300,000. Over 203,000 are members of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions ....
was formed for welfare purposes. Although its leadership co-operated with the Government, it attempted to strike in 1949 which was brutally suppressed by government troops in 1949; at the time, all strikes were seen by government officials as a form of insurrection.
In 1955 a public address system was installed in the central square, for receiving radio transmissions from the state radio and re-broadcasting them.
The Ethiopian revolution affected the city in many ways. Starting March 1974, there was some unrest of workers; six people were wounded when police opened fire on demonstrating railwaymen and students on 17 April. Many Europeans, Yemeni Arabs and Indians left Dire Dawa; the Greek and Armenian churches were eventually closed due to dwindling membership. On 3 February 1975 the Derg
Derg
The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
announced that the Cotton Company of Ethiopia was among 14 textile enterprises to be fully nationalized
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
. The cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
factory was also later nationalized. In August 1976, the entire leadership of the local branch of the teachers' union
Ethiopian Teachers' Association
-External links:* with Taye Woldesemayat...
was sacked for alleged anti-revolutionary activities. Ten new officials were appointed pending fresh elections.
According to Gebru Tareke, the success of the Ethiopian Army in holding Dire Dawa (17-18 August 1977) against the Somali Army was decisive in winning the Ogaden War
Ogaden War
The Ogaden War was a conventional conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1977 and 1978 over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. In a notable illustration of the nature of Cold War alliances, the Soviet Union switched from supplying aid to Somalia to supporting Ethiopia, which had previously been...
.
Dire Dawa was occupied by the EPRDF 31 May 1991. There were reports of about 100 people killed resisting the EPRDF. In 1991, when the Somali National Movement
Somali National Movement
The Somali National Movement was a 1980s-1990s Somali rebel group. Founded and led by Isaaq members to protect the clan's interests, it was key in the formation of Somaliland, a self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia.-Formation:In April...
took control of northern Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, they dismantled and sold the only publicly owned industry in the whole Somali northern region, a cement factory located near Berbera, which was shipped off to help expand the cement factory in Dire Dawa. Both the Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front
Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front
Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front was a political faction in eastern Ethiopia, led by Riyaale Ahmed. IGLF, which is based amongst the Issa and Gurgura clans in northern Hararghe, evolved out of the Iil Tire division of the Western Somali Liberation Front...
and the Oromo Liberation Front
Oromo Liberation Front
The Oromo Liberation Front , or OLF, is an organization established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to promote self-determination for the Oromo people against what they call "Abyssinian colonial rule". It has been outlawed and labeled as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government...
claimed the city; as a result, there were numerous clashes between the two groups from 1991 until 1993. This ongoing violence and the fear of protracted ethnic conflict caused the city to be designated federally administered city. Dire Dawa was separated from the Oromia Region
Oromia Region
Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
around 1998 to become a chartered city.
On June 24, 2002, a small explosive was detonated at the headquarters of the Ethiopian Railway Commission in Dire Dawa. The Oromo Liberation Front
Oromo Liberation Front
The Oromo Liberation Front , or OLF, is an organization established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to promote self-determination for the Oromo people against what they call "Abyssinian colonial rule". It has been outlawed and labeled as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government...
(OLF) afterwards claimed responsibility for this attack in retaliation "for the continuing harassment of Oromo students, merchants, and farmers by the Ethiopian government." Although blamed for other isolated incidents, this was the latest bombing inside Ethiopia for which the OLF claimed responsibility.
The city was flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ed in August 2006 when the Dechatu River
Dechatu River
The Dechatu River is a river of eastern Ethiopia. It rises in the Ahmar Mountains to flow north through the second largest city in the country, Dire Dawa towards the Awash River, entering the city at . It is unclear if either its flow or river bed eventually reach the Awash...
overflowed its banks. About 200 people were reported dead, thousands were displaced and there was extensive damage to homes and markets. Floods are fairly common during the June-September rainy season
Wet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...
; over 200 people in the region had been killed by flooding in 2005 that also did millions of dollars in damage.
An overturned truck, heading from Dengego to Dire Dawa, killed a total of 41 people 4 March 2009. The truck was carrying an unknown number of day laborers when the accident happened, and 38 were immediately killed and as many as 50 were injured in the accident. Both dead and injured were taken to Dil-chora Hospital in Dire Dawa. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical AgencyCentral Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...
of Ethiopia (CSA), Dire Dawa has a total population of 341,834, of whom 171,461 are men and 170,461 women; 233,224 or 68.23% of the population are urban inhabitants. For all of Dire Dawa 76,815 households were counted living in 72,937 housing units, which results in an average of 4.5 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 4.2 and rural households 4.9 people. Ethnic groups in the region include the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
(45.9%), Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
(24.3%), Amhara (20.17%), Gurage
Gurage
Gurage is an ethnic group in Ethiopia. According to the 2007 national census, its population is 1,867,377 people , of whom 792,659 are urban dwellers. This is 2.53% of the total population of Ethiopia, or 7.52% of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region...
(4.55%), Tigray
Tigray-Tigrinya people
Tigray-Tigrinya are an ethnic group who live in the southern, central and northern parts of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia's Tigray province. They also live in Ethiopia's former provinces of Begemder and Wollo, which are today mostly part of Amhara Region, though a few regions...
(1.23%), and Harari
Harari people
The Harari people, also called geyusu , are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group originating from the Harari Region located in the eastern Ethiopia.- Harari Language :...
(1.09%). Languages spoke include Oromiffa
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
(47.95%), Amharic
Amharic language
Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
(26.46%), Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
(19.7%), Gurage (2.78%), and Harari (1.04%). The religion with the most believers in Dire Dawa is Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
with 70.8%, 25.71% are Ethiopian Orthodox, 2.81% Protestant
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
, and 0.43% Catholic
Roman Catholicism in Ethiopia
The Catholic Church in Ethiopia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.The Ethiopian Catholic Church, the primary organization of Catholicism in the country, is especially close to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose doctrine and...
.
In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the city's population was reported to be 251,864, of whom 127,286 were men and 124,578 were women. The percentage of males and females is about 50.5 and 49.5 percent, respectively. The urban residents numbered at the time 173,188 while its rural residents were 78,676. For the entire administrative council there were 52,245 households in Dire Dawa administrative council with an average of 4.7 persons per household. The major ethnic groups included the Oromo (48%), Amhara (27.7%), Somali (13.9%), Gurage (4.5%; 2.3% Sebat Bet
Sebat Bet Gurage language
Sebat Bet is a Gurage language, spoken in several dialects found in the western Gurage Zone:*Chaha is spoken in Cheha woreda, and is the best studied of these dialects;*Ezha is spoken in Ezhana Wolene woreda,...
, 0.8% Sodo
Sodo
Sodo or Wolaita Sodo is a town in south-central Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Wolaita Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, Sodo has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1600 and 2100 meters above sea level...
and 1.4% Silt'e
Silt'e people
The Silt'e people are an ethnic group in southern Ethiopia. They inhabit today's Silt'e Zone which is part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. A considerable number of Silt'e live in Addis Ababa, Adama and other cities and smaller urban centres of southern Ethiopia where...
); the remaining 5.9% of the population consists of all other ethnic groups.63.2% of the inhabitants are Muslim, 34.5% Orthodox Christian, 1.5% Protestant, 0.7% Catholic, and 0.1% followers of other religions.
According to the CSA, , 90.76% of the total population had access to safe drinking water
Water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia
Access to water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia is amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and the entire world. While access has increased substantially with funding from external aid, much still remains to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the share of people...
: 69.61% of rural and 99.48% of urban inhabitants having access. Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
for Dire Dawa include the following: 11.4% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 76.6% and for women 53%; and the civic infant mortality rate is 71 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is less than the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants’ first month of life.
Economy
Dire Dawa received postal service in August 1906, becoming the third location after Addis AbabaAddis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
and Harar
Harar
Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...
. Telephone service was available by 1954; by 1967, Dire Dawa had almost 500 telephone numbers, more than almost all other towns including Gondar
Gondar
Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar...
, Harar, and Jimma
Jimma
Jimma, also Jima, is the largest city in southwestern Ethiopia. Located in the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of . The town was the capital of Kaffa Province until the province was dissolved. Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administratively as a...
. The CSA estimated in 2005 that farmers in Dire Dawa had a total 40,400 head of cattle (representing 0.1% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 46,280 sheep (0.27%), 118,770 goats (0.92%), 8,820 asses (0.35%), 5,070 camels (1.11%), 44,740 poultry of all species (0.14%), and 840 beehives (less than 0.1%).
The invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus
Parthenium hysterophorus
Parthenium hysterophorus is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae, that is native to the American tropics. Common names include Santa Maria Feverfew and Whitetop Weed. It is a common invasive species in India, Australia, and parts of Africa. P. hysterophorus invades all...
(or Congress weed) was first observed in Ethiopia near Dire Dawa in 1980. Experts speculate that it entered the country either through the Djibouti - Addis Ababa railway line or the International Airport, carried by one of the various food aid programs.
About 2007, a Concrete sleeper
Concrete sleeper
A concrete sleeper is a railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete.-History:Concrete sleepers were first made in Germany in 1906 for use between Nuremberg and Bamberg.-Types:...
factory was established, sited near the cement factory.
Intercity bus service is provided by the Selam Bus Line Share Company
Selam Bus Line Share Company
Selam Bus Line S.C. is one of Ethiopia's largest long distance bus companies. It was founded in 1996 by the Tigray Development Association to address the nation-wide need for public transportation, and commenced operations 9 April, 1996 with a fleet of 25 IVECO buses...
.
Chairmen of the Administrative Council
- Dametew Demissie 1990s
- Solomon Hailu 1990s - 2003
- Fisseha Zerihun 2003 - 2006
- Abdulaziz Mohammed 7 August 2006 - 2008
- Adem Farah June 2008 - 2010
- Asad Ziad June 2010 - present
(This list is based on information from Worldstatesman.org.)
External links
- Cities of Ethiopia: Dire Dawa, part I by John Graham (Addis Tribune, 23 November 2001)
- Cities of Ethiopia: Dire Dawa, part II by John Graham (Addis Tribune, 30 November 2001)
- FDRE States: Basic Information - Dire Dawa
- Investment Opportunities: Dire Dawa (Embassy of Ethiopia to the United States website)
- Dire Dawa Administration website
- Dire Dawa Civil Service Bureau website(Dire Dawa, Silversun, Liltide, diredawa)