Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is located on a well-watered plateau surrounded by hills and mountains in the geographic centre of the country.

Only since the late 19th century has Addis Ababa been the capital of the Ethiopian state. Its immediate predecessor, Entoto, was situated on a high tableland and was found to be unsatisfactory because of extreme cold and an acute shortage of firewood. The empress Taitu, wife of Emperor Menilek II (reigned 1889–1913), persuaded the emperor to build a house near the hot springs at the foot of the tableland and to grant land in the area to members of the nobility. The city was thus founded in 1887 and was named Addis Ababa (“New Flower”) by the empress.