Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa ድሬ ዳዋ ديري داوا Dirre Dhawaa
City
Downtown Dire Dawa
Nickname(s): Dirah Dawah
Dire Dawa Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 9°36′N 41°52′E / 9.600°N 41.867°E / 9.600; 41.867
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Dire Dawa
Zone	Dire Dawa
District	Dire Dawa
Founded	1902
Government
• Type	Chartered City
• Mayor	Adam Farah
Area
• City	1,213 km2 (468 sq mi)
Elevation	1,276 m (4,189 ft)
Population (2008)
• City	607,321
• Density	4,530/km2 (11,700/sq mi)
• Metro	1,274,869
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)
Area code(s)	(+251) 25
Website	www.dire-dawa.gov.et

Dire Dawa (Amharic: ድሬ ዳዋ^?, Oromo: Dirre Dhawaa, lit. "Place of Remedy",Somali: Dirre Dhabe, meaning "where Dir hit his spear into the ground", Arabic: ديري داوا‎‎) is one of two chartered cities (astedader akabibi) in Ethiopia (the other being the capital, Addis Ababa). It is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura. According to the "Futuh Al Habasha: Conquest of Abyssinia", the area or settlement was only called Dir after the major Somali clan around 5 centuries ago.

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." At a latitude and longitude of 9°36′N 41°52′E / 9.600°N 41.867°E / 9.600; 41.867Coordinates: 9°36′N 41°52′E / 9.600°N 41.867°E / 9.600; 41.867, it is the second largest city in Ethiopia.