ADDIS ABABA (the new flower), capital of Abyssinia since 1896, about 8,000ft. above sea level on the southern slopes of the Entoto Mts. in 9° I' N., 38° E. It is linked by a single railway line (486m.) with Jibuti, the principal town of French Somaliland on the Gulf of Aden, and since the comple tion of the line in 1918 Addis Ababa has undergone much change. It is embowered in woods of eucalyptus planted by Emperor Menelek to repair the ravages caused in neighbouring forests by his army and followers; and is watered by small tributaries of the Hawash river, notably the Akaki and the Kabana. The population in normal times consists of some 7o,000 people, but at feast times many thousands of the followers of the chiefs and provincial governors attend the court. The increasing number of foreign legations are quartered in well-built hOuses in large grounds some 4m. out of the town. After the visit of the regent and some of the chiefs to Europe in 1924 many motor cars were imported into the town and roads constructed. Shops, stores and offices have been built around the vast central market place, until recently a bare space dotted with piles of stones used as booths, the daily rendezvous of immense numbers of peasants and traders dealing in local and imported cotton and other goods. The Gebbi or imperial palace is a rambling collection of buildings, but the King's dwelling is modern. Large buildings have recently been erected for government use. In the Italo Abyssinian war of 1935-36 Italian aeroplanes dropped bombs on Addis Ababa, and it was captured by the Italians in May 1936.
No sanitary, water, or lighting arrangements exist, but there is a telephone service and a biweekly postal service to and from the coast. Addis Ababa is the seat of government and the centre of trade, and £1,750,000 worth of goods were transported in and out of the town by rail in a single year.