Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia.http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/ The city has a population density of over 13,000 people per every square mile.http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_prelimineray.pdf Addis Ababa is located in the very center of Ethiopia, and lies at the foot of Mount Entoto, one of the largest mountains in Africa's Entoto Mountain Range.http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_prelimineray.pdf Founded in 1886 by the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, Addis Ababa was established at the base of Mount Entoto because of its strategic location in the near-exact center of Ethiopia's northern and southern population centers, as well as because of its symbolic importance as the capital site of numerous ancient Ethiopian kingdoms.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/development.html These qualities, combined with the location's geographic proximity to water and overland commerce routes, convinced Emperor Menelik II to make Addis Ababa the permanent capital of his Ethiopian Empire in 1892.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/development.htmlSince this time, Addis Ababa has consistently experienced growth in its population and prestige, becoming the headquarters of numerous important continental and international organizations, including the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.http://www.uneca.org

In the 21st century, Ethiopia has evolved from an economy based on agriculture, to one which is competitive in the globalized market.http://sustainus.org/docs/citsci/winners/2009/Mara%20Gittleman.pdf However, despite Addis Ababa's economic centrality to Ethiopia, much of the city's population is still dependent on government welfare based on foreign aid.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/socioeconomics.html Addis Ababa's modern economy is in the midst of a shift from a "classic" urban expansion to a market of "urban agriculture,"http://sustainus.org/docs/citsci/winners/2009/Mara%20Gittleman.pdf

Ethiopian Folklore places Addis Ababa as the capital of numerous tribal Ethiopian kingdoms of antiquity.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/development.html In 1881, Emperor Menelik II relocated his tribe to a defensive settlement in the hills of Mount Entoto. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Menelik's wife Taytu moved the settlement down to the foot of the mountain, where Emperor Menelik made the decision to permanently establish his capital at this site of convenient land and water based trade routes.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/development.html Into the early twentieth century, Addis Ababa was an economically stagnant town, with the major exception of the Addis Merkato, Addis Ababa's first indigenous market center, and the largest market center in Ethiopia today.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/merkato.html

Addis Ababa's settlement patterns were based on a semi-feudal system in which the emperor granted fiefs to his supporters in the noble class. These fiefs, combined with separate settlements based on non-nobles' occupations, evolved in the culturally and economically heterogeneous neighborhoods of modern day Addis Ababa.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/development.html From 1936 to 1941, Addis Ababa was occupied by Italy.

Looking to reestablish a fascist version of the ancient Roman Empire, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sent his armies to conquer Ethiopia and begin Italian colonization of Addis Ababa and its surrounding areas. http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/ital.html Mussolini made Addis Ababa Italy's "African Capital" and immediately began systematically improving the city's roads, economy, and infrastructure, all the while oppressing the indigenous population with a system of racial segregation. http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/ital.html

After the end of Italy's occupation of Addis Ababa, the city's population utilized the improved building and infrastructure of the city to their advantage, quickly turning Ethiopia into a modern-day metropolitan area. Beginning in 1975, the population of Addis Ababa grew exponentially from natural causes until 1988, when thousands of residents from surrounding villages began fleeing into the city in order to escape the Eritrean-Ethiopian war taking place in the rural areas.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/ital.html At the beginning of the 21st century, Addis Ababa began completing its shift from an agricultural economy to a commercial and industry based economy. Modern Addis Ababa, while growing economically and demographically, is still recovering from years of war and the poverty common to most large African cities.http://sustainus.org/docs/citsci/winners/2009/Mara%20Gittleman.pdf

Addis Ababa lies on two plateaus, the the Amhara in the north, and the Somali in the east. The city contains a metropolitan statistical area of 204.7 square miles that is located 8,000 feet above sea level on the western ridge of the Great Rift Valley.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/locate.html The city's average daily temperatures range between 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/locate.html The nearest international waterway to Addis Ababa is the Gulf of Aden.

Addis Ababa lies at the foot of Mount Entoto, one of the largest mountains in the Entoto Mountain Chain.http://www.whatsoutaddis.com/archive/june_10/around_addis.html The Entoto Mountain Chain stretches through the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, and is home to a large Eucalyptus forest covering the hills surrounding Addis Ababa.http://books.google.com/books?id=QFb6pacaczsC&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=entoto+eucalyptus&source=bl&ots=AlwxHmd263&sig=NvBJst68-9tAb4qrIc0LwKpUy0o&hl=en&ei=oc4gTZGQCoOClAfMr6ziCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=entoto%20eucalyptus&f=false

• Headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africahttp://www.uneca.org/index.htm
• Headquarters of the African Unionhttp://www.africa-union.org/
• Sylvia Pankhurst's Tombhttp://www.sylviapankhurst.com/
• Burial Place of Emperor Haile-Selassie
• Ethiopian National Palace: The former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie and the Ethiopian imperial familyhttp://www.unicef.org/ethiopia/ET_PR_07_Speakafrica_Film.pdf
• Holy Trinity Cathedral: Ethiopian Orthodox cathedral commemorating Ethiopia's freedom from Italian occupation during World War IIhttp://books.google.com/books?id=-U7aydmefrgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+history+of+ethiopia+by+saheed+a+adejumobi&hl=en&ei=TBciTemGIoet8Abnx6nbDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

• Liya Kebede: Ethiopian supermodelhttp://www.liyakebede.com/
• Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie: President of the Crown Council of Ethiopiahttp://www.ethiopiancrown.org/emperors.htm#HIHSahleSelassieHaileSelassie
• Noah A. Samara: CEO of WorldSpacehttp://www.uneca.org/adf99/1025address_noah_samara.htm
• Taytu Betal: Empress of Ethiopiahttp://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/etiopia/women3.html
• Menelik II: Emperor of Ethiopiahttp://blackhistorypages.net/pages/menelikii.php