Dire Dawa, a special administrative city in Ethiopia, Africa, is a transportation hub and commercial center in the east. It is located in the northeastern foothills of the Ahmail Mountains in the east, at an altitude of 1260 meters, and is bordered by the Great Plain of the Afar Lowlands to the north. Population 281,800 (2006). The Decata River runs northeast and southwest through the city, dividing the city in half.
In 1902, the Djibouti-Addis Ababa Railway was completed to this time, and the construction of the city began; After the railway was completed and opened to traffic in 1917, it quickly developed into a transportation hub and industrial and commercial center in the east. The old town "Kefira" on the right bank of the river is a distribution center for agricultural and livestock products and an important coffee market, and the fur trade is also prosperous; The market is surrounded by Arabesque architectural districts with curved and narrow streets. The new town on the left bank of the river has modern neighborhoods and railway yards. There are textile, cement, metal processing, vehicle repair and other factories. The road leads to Harar and Hargeisa in northern Somalia. There is an international airport. A limestone cave was found on the outskirts containing petroglyphs from prehistoric times. It is presumed that humans settled here 20,000 years ago. 60 km southeast of the city is the Church of St. Gabriel in Kurubi, an Ethiopian Orthodox shrine.
Derewa was built in 1902 as part of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway. Because the railway could not reach the higher altitude city of Harar, it was chosen to build a supply depot at De Dava along the railway.
Soon after, the governor of Harar, Lars Maconan, developed and built a road from Dereva to Harar, and in 1928 with the help of foreign engineers and equipment improved the quality of the road, reducing the original two-day journey to just a few hours.
Historical photograph of the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway at the end of Derewa (around 1902-1906)
In 1998 Derewa was separated from Oromia Region to become the second special city in Ethiopia.
On 24 June 2002, a minor bombing occurred at the headquarters of the Ethiopian Railways Commission in Derewa. The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) claimed responsibility for the incident as retaliatory retaliation against Oromo students, businessmen, and farmers under Ethiopian government administration. Although there were other isolated incidents, this was the last bombing claimed responsibility by the Oromo Liberation Front in Ethiopia.
In August 2006, the city flooded due to the flooding of the Dichatu River that broke its dikes. Reports have led to more than 350 deaths, the displacement of nearly 20,000 people, and extensive destruction of homes and markets, hundreds of homes washed away, telephone lines and telephone poles washed down, railway embankments washed down and bridges broken. Afterwards, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan commended the Ethiopian government for its swift relief operations, which averted further suffering and loss for tens of thousands of people. Flooding was common during the June-September rainy season, killing more than 200 people in the area in 2005 and causing millions of dollars in economic damage.