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Ethiopia Map – Cities & Towns [ET]

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    Country Map Reference

    Ethiopia Map – Cities & Towns [ET]

    Ethiopia’s urban map is shaped by a highland core, the Great Rift Valley, eastern lowland routes and a wide set of regional government centers. Addis Ababa anchors the national network, while Dire Dawa forms a separate city administration in the east. The map also places Mekelle, Bahir Dar, Gondar, Adama, Hawassa, Jimma, Harar, Jigjiga, Hosaena, Wolaita Sodo and other selected cities within Ethiopia’s current first-level administrative structure. Population figures are identified as official projections rather than new census counts, and alternate spellings are retained where English-language maps commonly differ.

    Capital Addis Ababa
    Country Code ET · ETH · 231
    First-Level Administration 12 regions and 2 city administrations
    Map Focus 30 selected cities, towns and regional centers

    Interactive Map of Ethiopia’s Cities and Towns

    The map uses approximate city-center coordinates rather than municipal boundary centroids. Marker size reflects map role and the availability of a comparable July 2023 Ethiopian Statistics Service urban administrative-unit projection; it does not define a legal city boundary.

    National capital City administration Regional center Major city Town
    Ethiopia Cities and Towns Map

    Where Ethiopia’s Main Urban Corridors Appear on the Map

    Addis Ababa and the Central Highland Core

    Addis Ababa sits inside the central highlands and is surrounded by Oromia. Bishoftu, Adama, Sebeta, Burayu and other cities form a wider metropolitan and transport zone around the capital. A point map should keep the Addis Ababa city administration separate from the surrounding Oromia boundary.

    Northern Highland Network

    Bahir Dar and Gondar form a major northwestern pair, while Dessie and Kombolcha sit on the northeastern route toward Tigray. Mekelle, Adigrat and Axum occupy a separate northern highland cluster. Mountain terrain means road distance can be much longer than straight-line separation.

    Eastern Route to Dire Dawa and the Somali Region

    The Addis Ababa–Adama–Awash–Dire Dawa axis crosses from the highlands toward drier eastern terrain. Harar lies close to Dire Dawa but belongs to Harari Region, while Dire Dawa is its own city administration. Jigjiga and Gode extend the mapped network farther into the Somali Region.

    Rift Valley and Southern City Chain

    Batu, Shashamane and Hawassa follow the Rift Valley and lake corridor. Farther south, Dilla, Wolaita Sodo, Arba Minch and Jinka connect higher ground, lake basins and South Omo routes. These places should not all be described as valley-floor settlements because several occupy nearby uplands.

    Western and Southwestern Centers

    Nekemte, Jimma, Bonga, Mizan Aman, Asosa and Gambela provide the western balance often missing from simplified Ethiopia maps. Their spacing reflects broad highland-to-lowland transitions and a less dense national road pattern than the central corridor.

    Lowland Label Density

    Afar and Somali cover wide areas with fewer large mapped settlements. Large blank spaces on a national map do not imply missing territory. They reflect lower urban density, long travel corridors and the decision to show smaller towns only at closer zoom levels.

    Ethiopia’s Administrative Hierarchy and City Labels

    The 2024–25 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey describes the country as 12 regions and 2 city administrations. It also lists 127 zones, 1,101 woredas and 19,460 kebeles. Counts below the first level can change as local units are reorganized, so city tables should preserve the data year and the administrative level used by each source.

    Federal Level Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
    First Level Regions and city administrations
    Second Level Zones and equivalent units
    Local Level Woredas and kebeles

    Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa

    Both are first-level city administrations. Addis Ababa is the national capital. Dire Dawa is not part of Harari or Somali Region even though it is geographically close to both.

    Regional Centers

    A regional center may be a capital, a government office center or one part of a distributed administrative arrangement. The map uses “regional center” where a single-capital label would be too narrow.

    City, Town and Woreda Boundaries

    Official population tables often report a town woreda, special zone or city administration rather than a harmonized built-up area. Two places with similar mapped size may therefore use different statistical boundaries.

    Map Labels Are Functional

    “Major city” and “town” are display classes for this national map. They help control label density and do not replace legal classifications used by regional or municipal authorities.

    Recent Administrative Changes That Affect Ethiopia Maps

    South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region — 2021

    The region was officially formed on November 23, 2021, after a referendum. Bonga is one of its government centers, while other major mapped places include Mizan Aman and towns across Kaffa, Sheka, Bench Sheko, Dawro, West Omo and Konta areas.

    Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia — 2023

    The two regional states were established on August 19, 2023. Their creation ended the use of the former Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region as a current first-level unit.

    Current National Reference

    Official 2024–25 survey documentation uses 12 regions and 2 city administrations. Older boundary files may still preserve former regional names or split dates, so their metadata should be checked against the map’s stated data year and administrative structure.

    Older map warning: A map that still shows SNNPR as one current region is outdated. Current mapping should distinguish Sidama, South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region, Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia.

    Central Ethiopia

    The regional presidency site lists seven zones—Hadiya, Gurage, Siltie, East Gurage, Kembata, Halaba and Yem—and three special districts: Tembaro, Mareko and Qebena. Hosaena is used as the regional office location and is mapped as a regional administrative center.

    South Ethiopia

    The regional government identifies Wolaita Sodo as the political and administrative center. Regional bureaus are distributed across six centers: Wolaita Sodo, Dilla, Arba Minch, Jinka, Sawla and Karat. A single-capital marker would hide this multi-center arrangement.

    Large Urban Administrative Units in the July 2023 ESS Projection

    The chart compares named city, town or special-zone units in one Ethiopian Statistics Service release. The values should not be read as harmonized metropolitan populations because the administrative boundaries differ by place.

    Selected Large Urban Administrative Units
    Official July 2023 ESS projections; people. Addis Ababa is shown on the same scale, so the remaining bars appear much shorter.
    The chart does not include Jigjiga or Harar because the same ESS release reports administrative units that are not directly comparable with the named town or city units used for the chart. Omitting a figure is preferable to treating unlike boundaries as one ranking.

    Searchable Ethiopia Cities and Towns Table

    The table assigns places to the current first-level structure while preserving July 2023 ESS population projections where the source identifies a comparable town, city or special-zone unit. Coordinates are rounded city-center points for national map use.

    Place Map Type Current Administrative Unit Geographic Setting ESS July 2023 Projection Latitude Longitude Map Role or Naming Note
    Addis Ababa National capital Addis Ababa City Administration Central highlands 3,945,000 8.9806 38.7578 Separate first-level city administration
    Dire Dawa City administration Dire Dawa City Administration Eastern foothills and lowland corridor 551,000 9.6009 41.8501 Not part of Harari or Somali Region
    Mekelle Regional center Tigray Northern highlands 480,198 13.4967 39.4753 Mekele and Mek’ele are alternate forms
    Adigrat Town Tigray Northern highlands 127,701 14.2770 39.4620 Northern route center
    Axum Town Tigray Northern highlands 99,114 14.1211 38.7234 Aksum is an alternate spelling
    Bahir Dar Regional center Amhara Lake Tana shore 474,743 11.5742 37.3614 Northwestern lake and road hub
    Gondar Major city Amhara Northwestern highlands 487,224 12.6030 37.4521 Gonder appears in some datasets
    Dessie Major city Amhara Northeastern highlands 320,220 11.1333 39.6333 Addis Ababa–Mekelle route center
    Kombolcha Major town Amhara Northeastern highland corridor 170,381 11.0816 39.7434 Closely linked with Dessie
    Debre Birhan Major town Amhara Central-northern highlands 153,619 9.6795 39.5326 High-elevation industrial and route center
    Semera Regional center Afar Awash–Afar lowlands Not shown 11.7950 41.0080 Often mapped with nearby Logiya
    Adama Major city Oromia Rift escarpment and transport corridor 480,175 8.5400 39.2700 Nazret or Nazareth are former map names
    Bishoftu Major city Oromia Central Rift lake district 217,964 8.7500 38.9833 Debre Zeit is a former map name
    Batu Town Oromia Lake Ziway area 95,140 7.9333 38.7167 Ziway is an alternate name
    Shashamane Major city Oromia Southern Rift corridor 218,997 7.2000 38.6000 Shashemene is an alternate spelling
    Jimma Major city Oromia Southwestern highlands 263,709 7.6734 36.8344 Western service and road hub
    Nekemte Major city Oromia Western highlands 163,962 9.0895 36.5468 Nekemt is an alternate spelling
    Hawassa Regional center Sidama Lake Hawassa and Rift Valley 577,075 7.0504 38.4955 Awasa appears in older English maps
    Jigjiga Regional center Somali Eastern plateau Not shown 9.3500 42.8000 Jijiga is an alternate spelling; available unit is not town-comparable
    Harar Regional center Harari Eastern highlands Not shown 9.3126 42.1227 Regional total is not used as a city figure
    Asosa Regional center Benishangul-Gumuz Western lowlands and uplands Not shown 10.0667 34.5333 Assosa is an alternate spelling
    Gambela Regional center Gambela Western lowlands 103,139 8.2500 34.5833 Gambella is a common alternate spelling
    Hosaena Regional office center Central Ethiopia South-central highlands 196,809 7.5500 37.8500 Hosanna and Hossana are alternate forms
    Wolaita Sodo Political and administrative center South Ethiopia Southern highlands 213,467 6.8550 37.7614 Often shortened to Sodo
    Arba Minch Bureau center South Ethiopia Rift lakes and escarpment 210,255 6.0333 37.5500 One of six distributed regional centers
    Dilla Bureau center South Ethiopia Southern highlands 166,067 6.4100 38.3100 Dila appears in the ESS table
    Bonga Regional center South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region Kaffa highlands 58,612 7.2670 36.2330 One of the region’s government centers
    Mizan Aman Major town South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region Southwestern uplands 95,625 7.0000 35.5833 Mizan Teferi and Mizan-Aman are alternate forms
    Jinka Bureau center South Ethiopia South Omo highland margin Not shown 5.7833 36.5667 One of six distributed regional centers
    Gode Major city Somali Shebelle River lowlands Not shown 5.9527 43.5516 Available woreda figure is not treated as city-comparable
    Sawla Bureau center South Ethiopia Southwestern highlands 63,833 6.3000 36.8800 Sawula is another official English rendering
    Karat Bureau center South Ethiopia Konso highlands Not shown 5.2500 37.4800 Also mapped as Karat-Konso or Konso
    “Not shown” means the source did not provide a town-specific unit suitable for direct comparison in this table. It does not mean the place lacks population data in all local records.

    Place Names and Transliteration on Ethiopia Maps

    English map labels vary because names are transliterated from Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Tigrigna, Af-Soomaali and other Ethiopian languages. Historical names also remain in road signs, older atlases and international databases. Search tools should connect alternate names to one point instead of creating duplicate cities.

    Primary Map Label Alternate or Former Label Use on the Map
    Mekelle Mekele; Mek’ele One city point with alternate-name search
    Gondar Gonder Retain Gondar as the main English label
    Jigjiga Jijiga Index both spellings
    Asosa Assosa Index both spellings
    Hosaena Hosanna; Hossana Use one coordinate and multiple search terms
    Wolaita Sodo Sodo; Wolayta Sodo Preserve the full regional-center label
    Bishoftu Debre Zeit Use Bishoftu as the main label and retain the former name
    Adama Nazret; Nazareth Use Adama as the main label and retain former names
    Batu Ziway Index both names because both remain common
    Gambela Gambella Allow both spellings in map search

    Map Data and Source Notes

    What Is Well Supported

    • Addis Ababa as the capital and ET as the ISO alpha-2 code.
    • The 12-region and 2-city-administration structure stated in the 2024–25 EDHS.
    • July 2023 ESS projection values reproduced for named town, city and special-zone units.
    • The 2021 and 2023 creation dates used for newer southern regional states.

    What Can Vary

    • English transliteration and the preferred spelling of place names.
    • The boundary used for a city, town woreda, special zone or wider municipal area.
    • Lower-level administrative counts after local reorganizations.
    • Operational boundary files that encode units differently from constitutional first-level counts.

    Population Method

    Ethiopia’s latest completed national population census is from 2007. The ESS therefore publishes projections. Values on this page are labeled by release and administrative unit rather than presented as fresh census counts.

    Coordinate Method

    Coordinates are approximate settlement-center points checked against OpenStreetMap and GeoNames-style gazetteer records. They are rounded for national orientation and should not be used for parcel, municipal boundary or navigation decisions.

    Best use of the map: locating cities and towns, comparing regional placement, recognizing major corridors and resolving alternate place names.

    Sources

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is the capital of Ethiopia?

    Addis Ababa is the national capital. It is also a separate first-level city administration surrounded by Oromia.

    How many first-level administrative units does Ethiopia have?

    The 2024–25 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey describes 12 regions and 2 city administrations: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

    Why do some Ethiopia maps still show SNNPR?

    Those maps use an older administrative structure. Current maps should separate Sidama, South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region, Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia.

    Are the city population numbers new census counts?

    No. The figures shown are official ESS projections for July 2023 administrative units. Ethiopia’s latest completed national population census is from 2007.

    Why does one Ethiopian city have several English spellings?

    Names are transliterated from several Ethiopian languages, and former English names remain in older maps and databases. Examples include Jigjiga/Jijiga, Gondar/Gonder, Asosa/Assosa and Hosaena/Hosanna.

    Does South Ethiopia have one administrative center?

    Wolaita Sodo is identified by the regional government as the political and administrative center, while regional bureaus are distributed across Wolaita Sodo, Dilla, Arba Minch, Jinka, Sawla and Karat.