Harer (Harrar) and Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia

Harer or Harrar is the capital of the Harar region, about 160 km to the east of Addis Ababa and situated at an altitude of around 1800 m. It is the trade centre for a coffee, fruit, cereals, and cotton growing region and has around 100 000 inhabitants. There is a military academy, a teacher training institute and an agricultural school.

Harer was probably founded in the 7th century by Arabs. After 1520 the Somali conqueror Ahmad Gran made it the capital of Adal, a considerable Muslim state, but an invasion by Oromo tribesmen in 1577 brought it to an end. The city remained more or less independent until it was occupied by Egypt in 1875. The occupation lasted until 1885 an in 1887 it was incorporated into Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II. A walled city, Harer was long a center of Islamic learning. The Harari inhabitants of the city are a distinctive Ethiopian group who speak a Semitic language, but whose written literature is Arabic. There are different tribal groups, living in separate quarters, and can be recognised by their distinctive dress.

Dire Dawa, or Diredawa, is a city of around 170 000 inhabitants, 55 km north west of Harer. It is a commercial and industrial centre located on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti railroad: there are railroad workshops in the city, a meat processing factory, and vegetable oil, textiles, and cement are also produced here. Dire Dawa was founded in 1902 when the railroad from Djibouti reached the area, and its growth has resulted largely from trade brought by the railroad.

	Camels outside Harer	Somali with camel	Village near Harer	Just outside Harer
	Feeding hyenas	Hyena show	Loaded camel	Street, Dire Dawa
	View, Dire Dawa"	Dire Dawa	Camels, river bed	Camel

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