Addis Ababa

About Addis Ababa

Despite its proximity to the Equator, its lofty altitude – it is the third – highest capital in the world – means that it enjoys a mild, Afro-alpine climate. Addis Ababa was in effect ‘founded in 1886’, when Emperor Menelik II’s consort, Queen Taitu, asked her husband for a piece of land on which to build a house at the foothills of the Entoto mountains, where Menelik had his camp. Menelik agreed. In the same year, 1886, Queen Taitu gave the settlement its name: Addis Ababa, literally meaning “New Flower” in Amharic. For several years Menelik and his countries divided their time between the two settlements but by around 1891 Addis Ababa definitely replaced Entoto as the more important of the two and thus emerged as the unquestioned capital of the realm. By the late 1950s Addis Ababa was recognized as the unofficial capital of Africa, and thus was made the Head Quarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in 1958 and later in 1963, chosen as the Head Quarters of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) which is now transformed into African Unity. By the late 1950s Addis Ababa was recognized as the unofficial capital of Africa, and thus was made the Head Quarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in 1958 and later in 1963, chosen as the Head Quarters of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) which is now transformed into African Unity. Today Addis Ababa, which bears the imprint of many of these part developments, is a major metropolis, a seat of many international organizations, non-governmental organizations, with an estimated population approaching three million. Addis Ababa is also Africa’s unchallenged diplomatic capital, with more than seventy embassies and consular representatives clustered in the mountains city.