Dire Dawa in the context of Gurage

Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23,200 km (8,958 sq mi).

In antiquity, the territory, together with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, was part of the Land of Punt. Nearby Zeila, now in Somaliland, was the seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established after the ruling Dir, Somali, and Afar sultans signed treaties with the French, and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted for independence. This officially marked the establishment of the Republic of Djibouti, named after its capital city. The new state joined the United Nations in its first year. In the early 1990s, tensions over government representation led to armed conflict, which ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000 between the ruling party and the opposition.

Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled Ogadēn; Somali: Ogaadeen, Amharic: ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region. It is also natively referred to as Soomaali Galbeed (lit. 'Western Somalia'). The region forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia. It also includes another region to the north known as Haud.

The Ogaden is a vast plateau located to the south and southeast of the Ethiopian Highlands, and is overwhelmingly inhabited by Somali people. It represents the westernmost region inhabited by the Somalis in the Horn of Africa. It is largely a semi-arid region and encompasses the plains between the border of Somalia and Ethiopia, extending towards the southeastern highlands, where larger cities like Harar and Dire Dawa are located near.

Gurage (/ɡʊəˈrɑːɡeɪ/, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mountainous region in Central Ethiopia Regional State, about 125 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa, bordering the Awash River in the north, the Gibe River, a tributary of the Omo River, to the southwest, and Hora-Dambal in the east.

According to the 2007 Ethiopian national census, the Gurage can also be found in substantial numbers in Addis Ababa, Oromia Region, Harari Region and Dire Dawa.

The Dir (Somali: Dir) is one of the largest and most prominent Somali clans in the Horn of Africa. They are also considered to be the oldest Somali stock to have inhabited the region. Its members inhabit Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia (Somali, Harar, Dire Dawa, Oromia and Afar regions), and northeastern Kenya (North Eastern Province).

The Ethio-Djibouti Railway (French: Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien, C.D.E.; Amharic: የኢትዮ-ጅቡቲ ባቡር መስመር) is a metre gauge railway in the Horn of Africa that once connected Addis Ababa to the port city of Djibouti. The operating company was also known as the Ethio-Djibouti Railways. The railway was built in 1897–1917 to connect the Ethiopian capital city to French Somaliland. During early operations, it provided landlocked Ethiopia with its only access to the sea. After World War II, the railway progressively fell into a state of disrepair due to competition from road transport.

The railway has been mostly superseded by the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, an electrified standard gauge railway that was completed in 2017. The metre gauge railway has been abandoned in central Ethiopia and Djibouti. However, a rehabilitated section is still in operation near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. As of February 2018, a combined passenger and freight service runs two times a week between the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa and the Djibouti border, stopping at Dewele (passengers) and Guelile (freight). Plans were announced in 2018 to rehabilitate track from Dire Dawa to Mieso.

Oromia (Oromo: Oromiyaa, Amharic: ኦሮሚያ) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The provision of the article maintains special interest of Oromia by utilizing social services and natural resources of Addis Ababa.

It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benishangul-Gumuz Region to the north; Dire Dawa to the northeast; the South Sudanese state of Upper Nile, Gambela Region, South West Ethiopia Region, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region and Sidama Region to the west; the Eastern Province of Kenya to the south; as well as Addis Ababa as an enclave surrounded by a Special Zone in its centre and the Harari Region as an enclave surrounded by East Hararghe in its east.

Harar Governorate was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

The capital of governorate was Harar, but Dire Dawa was the most important city. In the territories around these two cities more than 10,000 Italian colonists went to live since 1937 creating some manufacturing industries (after the area was pacified from the Arbegnoch guerrilla). In November 1938 some territory of Harar in the Scioa region was given to the neighboring Addis Abeba Governorate, enlarging it to the Scioa Governorate.

The Soddo or Kistane (Gurage: ክስታኔ; endonym: Aymellel, Gordena) are a subgroup of the Gurage who inhabit the south-central part of Ethiopia, considered the northern geographic and linguistic subset of the Gurage and speak the Soddo Gurage language or Kistanigna (ክስታንኛ). They primarily inhabit the Soddo (woreda) in the Gurage Zone, but large amounts also live in various parts of Ethiopia, particularly in Addis Abeba, Nazret, Butajira, and Dire Dawa. They are related to the Sebat Bet Gurage and other Gurage sub-groups, however, in contrast to the Sebat Bet Gurage and Silte, they are exclusively and almost entirely Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. The Soddo Gurage are known for and pride themselves on their Orthodox Christian identity, which they have historically practiced since ancient times, and from which their name Kistane (lit. Christian) derives its name, as it is the traditional and preferred name by locals for the people, although Soddo is still popularly used.

The Soddo or Kistane Gurage are related to their fellow Gurages. Geographically, they almost entirely border the Oromo to the North, West, and East. To the south, they border the Dobi-Gogot to the south, the Meskan and Mareqo to the southeast, and to a small degree with the Wolane or Gedebano to the southwest. They historically shared considerable geographic and linguistic polity with the Gafat, now an extinct group, and once encompassed territory that stretched widely to Gojjam and Kingdom of Damot in the west before the incursions of the Oromo migrations.

Ethiopia is a federation subdivided into ethno-linguistically based regional states (Amharic: plural: ክልሎች kililoch; singular: ክልል kilil; Oromo: singular: Naannoo; plural: Naannolee) and chartered cities (Amharic: plural: አስተዳደር አካባቢዎች astedader akababiwoch; singular: አስተዳደር አካባቢ astedader akabibi). This system of administrative regions replaced the provinces of Ethiopia in 1992.

As of 2025, there are twelve regional states and two chartered cities (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa). Being based on ethnicity and language, rather than physical geography or history, the regions vary enormously in area and population; the most notable example is the Harari Region, which has a smaller area and population than either of the chartered cities.

Dewele (French Douanlé or Daouenlé) is a town in Ethiopia, near to the Ethiopia and Djibouti border. Located in the Sitti Zone in the Somali Region the town has a longitude and latitude of 11°2′N 42°37′E / 11.033°N 42.617°E / 11.033; 42.617 with an elevation of 898 meters above sea level.

Dewele is served by a station on the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway as well as on the Ethio-Djibouti Railways. It serves as an official crossing point between Djibouti and Ethiopia, with a customs post. In the mid-1960s, gypsum was excavated near the town, then transported to a factory in Dire Dawa to be used in the manufacture cement and plaster of Paris.

Sitti Zone (Somali: Gobolka Sitti), formerly known as Shinile, is a zone in Somali Region of Ethiopia.

Located at the northwestern point of the Somali Region and stretching across the savanna north of the Ahmar Mountains, Sitti is bordered on the south by Dire Dawa and the Oromia Region, on the west by the Afar Region, on the north by Djibouti, on the east by Somaliland, and on the southeast by Fafan Zone. Other towns and cities in this zone include Aysha, Shinile, Dewele, Harewa, Adigale, Erer, Bike and Āfdem. Part of the northwestern corner is occupied by the Yangudi Rassa National Park, which is a notable local landmark.

The government of Amhara Region is composed of the executive branch, led by the President; the legislative branch, which comprises the Regional Council; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Regional Supreme Court. The Amhara Region alongside almost all other regions are based on a singular ethnicity excluding Chartered Cities -Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa- and the former Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.

East Hararghe (Oromo: Harargee Bahaa) is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Hararghe Zone is bordered on the southwest by Bale, on the west by West Hararghe Zone, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somali Region. The Harari Region is an enclave inside this zone

Towns and cities in East Harerge include Deder, Haramaya, Aweday, Babille, Chinaksen and Funyan Bira. Its highest point is Gara Muleta. Local landmarks include the Babille Elephant Sanctuary and Haramaya University.

The Somali invasion of Ogaden took place in July 1977, when Somalia attacked Ethiopia in two formations. The main force had the aim of seizing Jijiga, Harar and Dire Dawa while a secondary force assaulted Dolo, Gode and Imi.The Somali National Army (SNA) committed to invade the Ogaden on 12 July 1977, according to Ethiopian Ministry of National Defense documents (some other sources state 13 July or 23 July).