Dire Dawa is the second populous and of the first modern well planned city of Ethiopia can offered the visitor with variety of tourism attraction and activities . General information
Location:-
Absolute between 9º27N and 9 º49 S longitude and Between49 38 E and 42 19 W latitude
Relatives the plain Dire Dawa is surrounded by hill 100 to 250 meters high stretching mostly from east to west
Di
stance; the town found at 515 km from Addis Ababa 313km from Djibouti 55km from Harar
Time; EAT [UTC+3] CODE [251-25]
Land size the total land size of the administration is 1288 km, of which nearly 97.73% accounts for the land size of the rural areas, while the remaining 2.27% covers the land size of the urban areas of the administration. Boundaries:-
The administration shares boundaries with the Oromia national regional state in the south and southeast and the Somali national regional state in the north, east, and west. Entry point; the administration has one international entry point at dawale
Topography:-
The altitude of the land in Dire Dawa administration is b/n 960-2,500meters. Climate
The climate of the administration is basically warm, and dry with low level of precipitation. Rain fall
The administration has bimodal rain season, and the average annual rainfall is 604 millimeters. Temperature
The annual maximum and minimum air temperature of the administration are 31.4 c and 18.2 c respectively. Population size
The total population of the administration at present is estimated to be 342, 827, out of which the size of the population residing in the urban areas of the administration is said to be 232,854 (67.5%) of the
total population while the number of the rural population of the administration is estimated to be about 109,973(32.5%) of the total
Administration; Dire Dawa Administration is composed of 9 urban and 38 rural Kebeles and headed by elected mayor. Dire Dawa is the seat of the administration. Economy; Trade, industry &service are the main economic activities of a town while agriculture take the iron share in rural part of the administration
Food and clothing
Injrera wich made from teff, grain and sorghum presented along fasting and non-fasting wot/source is the stable food of the administration both in the town and rural part. Tourist can easily find variety of international/foreign dishes from some star category hotel/specialty restaurant found in the town,however dire dawa is the only city of Ethiopia in which tourist can enjoy unique sweet food such as Musheback ,Baklawa,Halawa and so on. Traditional dress is seen in the rural parts where western style of wearing is common in the town especially for the Christian society. What to wear
Dire Dawa has semi dessert climate so tourist should wear light clothes both in the town and rural part of the administration. Business hours
Banks, post office, tele communication office is open from
Admission fee
Infrastructure
Road; the administration is good in road network from total of 622 km Asphalt 42.5 Gravel 228.2 paved 34.2 coble stone 20.547 rural road 296.6
Communication;
Digital, semi-automatic and wireless telephone, internet and postal service is available in the administration
Electronic; there is an FM and TV station that broad cast in Amharic, Oromiffa and Somali language
Print media; Melikta dire and dire magazine are some of permanent print media
Transportation; visitor can travelled to the region by vehicle, rail and airplane
Ethnic composition of the population:-
The present residents of Dire Dawa city consist of descendents of people who came not only from nearly all the nationalities, and peoples in Ethiopia, but also from a number of European, Asian, Mid-eastern, and African countries. While the population of the rural areas of the administration, is predominantly composed of Oromo and Somalis. Language:-
Amharic is the official working language of the administration. Oromiffa and Somali languages are widely spoken local languages. English, French, and Arabic languages are widely used foreign language
The Birth of Dire Dawa
Until the late 19th century, Dire Dawa was just a vast plain inhabited by pastoralist. People from the plateaus of Harar used to come to graze their cattle. Some small villages existed on the hills around the plain. The idea of constructing a railway to link the Ethiopian capital with the coast appears to have been first conceived by Menelik's Swiss adviser, Alfred Ilg, who had first arrived in Ethiopia in 1877. The plain was covered with mimosa trees and the forest was full of wild animals. Jean Duchesne, a French traveler, went through the region in January, 1902. He wrote that wild animals were so numerous that they were around him like farm animal. The French surveyors had to find a convenient place for locating their new station. To build a railway station and repair shops they would need:
1. Enough water for the steam engines, workshops and workers' houses.
2. A large track of flat space for the repair shops.
3. A location approximately half-way between Djibouti and Addis Ababa.
4. Land easily available. Dire Dawa fulfilled these conditions. It offered a large, flat area centrally located between Addis Ababa and Djibouti with plenty of water. Menelik gave Strip of land 1000 meters wide from the frontier of French Somaliland to Dire Dawa. Thus, there was enough space on which to build the important station. On Dec 23 1902 the first train reached Addis Harar .For a very short time there was an attempt to name the new settlement Addis Harar, but did not last long. Thus Dire Dawa was born; environmental condition as well as the choice of French engineers explained the location of the town. Its growth would depend on economic, commercial and political factors. Right after its establishment Dire Dawa rapidly grew into a thriving small town. An American diplomat named R.P. Skinner, who passed through the city in 1903 (soon after its establishment) at the head of an American delegation, called it “the Queen of the Desert”! The station that intended to serve as a railway terminal over a century ago has now become the second most populated urban center in the country. And it is to mention as well, that Dire Dawa from its very establishment has been home not only for a number of Ethiopians from the different nations and nationalities in the country but also for people from various other countries like Greek, Armenia, India, Yemen, France, Egypt, Somalia, and even Israel. It is a city that has been a melting pot of indigenous and foreign cultures since its birth. It is a city that has evolved and developed a new culture of tolerance and respect that transcends culture, creed, ethnic, colour, or national barriers. It is a city where most people speak fluently more than three languages, while some others could speak even more. It is a city where even strangers never feel home sick. In fact, it is a city where arriving is less difficult than departing for the simple reason that the people are friendly, frank, easy-going, and peaceful. The city of Dire Dawa located in the eastern parts of the Ethiopia, is a strategic trade centres, both for import and export trade. Its close proximity to the Middle East and Djibouti makes Dire Dawa an important tourist destination. Because of its warm weather condition, the streets are full of life in the night time. One cafe to the next, people sit and chat, have some tips (national dish) and have some cool drinks. Furthermore, Dire Dawa has got various tourist-standard hotels. Most of them can provide an excellent lodging opportunity to any visitor, who wishes to tour the town and the surrounding countryside, and to experience the fascinating contrasts of the highlands and the lowland plains of the region. Its numerous and precious natural and cultural heritages like caves with stalactite & stalagmite formations & pre-historic paintings and divers culture are among the immense tourist potentials of the town. There are road, air and railway connections between Addis Ababa-Dire Dawa-Djibouti; and the one hour drive to the historic town of Harar over the Dengego Mountains is quite an experience by itself. A second Ethiopian city that host foreign refuge 7000 Greeks during Second World War at today’s Greek camp village and welcomed the first American diplomatic mission to Ethiopia under R.Skinner
It was also the second Ethiopian town to have a cinema. Is birth place of[riding of automobile, flight of plane, transportation by ox drawn cart ,peace full demonstration ,social segregation between whites and locals lower jaw of homo sapiens various foreign architecture ,French as lingua franca ]. It is possible to visit more than 80 nation and nationalities of the country, in dire dawa;that why the town called Ethiopia in small setting[small Ethiopia]
Moreover up to 1940s’ one can call the town small world.foriegn national from different part of the world [Asia Europe Africa America and Australia] used to live in the town even todays in varies foreign national live in the town but in small number
The only Ethiopian city which exhibited the characteristics of a colonial city; divided in to two parts gezira "
attraction City tour
Places Location(Kebeles) When to go (date, Month, Year) Distance from center (Km) Transportation
The railway station Kazira 03 At work time Found at the center Vehicle
Bali an crematorium Laga hare 08 At work time Asphalt road 1 to 2km Vehicle +8min
Bololakos graveyard Kazira 03 At work time < 1km Vehicle +3min
African cemetery No one, 03 Daily(work time) As phalt rood < 1km foot +5min
Millennium park No one, 03 Daily at work time < 1km Vehicle +3min
Laga-oda cave painting Rural kebeles Daily at work time Asphalt&gravel road 38Km Vehicle 1:20min + foot 4min
Porc-epic cave painting Rural kebeles Daily at work time Asphalt&gravel road 3Km Vehicle 15min + foot 20min
God-Ajawa cave painting Biyo awale Daily at work t
