Addis Ababa, capital and largest city of Ethiopia, is located at the geographic heart of the nation in the mountainous Shawa Province, at the foot of Mount Entoto.
Addis Ababa, which means "New Flower" in Amharic, was founded in 1896 by Emperor Menelik II, and the city is the last in a succession of capitals of the great Abyssinian empire dating back to the pre-Christian Axum.
Today Addis Ababa is a huge metropolis of 4 million people where modern buildings and wide open boulevards stand side by side with historic churches, palaces and monuments, as well as simple country-style huts.
The city is served by the modern Bole International Airport and it has a railway connection with Djibouti.
Modern Addis Ababa also plays host to many international organizations, including the OAU, the Economic Commission for Africa, and other multi-national bodies, who all have their headquarters here.