HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Samara ( aa, Samara; amh, ሰመራ) is the capital of
Afar Region The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...
,
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. It is a town on the Awash
Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beache ...
highway in north-east Ethiopia, having been planned and built to replace
Asaita Asaita ( am, አሳይታ, Asayəta, aa, Aysaqiita), also known as Aussa (Awsa), is a town in northeastern Ethiopia, and until 2007 served as the capital of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Afambo woreda, part of the region's Awsi Ras ...
. Located in Administrative Zone 1, Semara has a latitude and longitude of . One of the completed buildings i
Semera University
which began holding classes in 2007. The 2006
Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embark ...
guide to Ethiopia had this description of Samara: : With its quirky mix of barracks, modern apartment blocks, and soulless administrative buildings, it looks like a microscopic version of Brasilia emerging incongruously in the middle of the desert – except that it's a completely botched attempt at creating a new town. The 2009 Lonely Planet guide omitted the final phrase following the dash. The 2002 edition of ''Ethiopia: the Bradt travel guide'' described Semara as consisting of "one active filling station (complete with fridge) and a cluster of modern offices and tall apartment blocks in various states of construction – all in mad isolation from any existing settlement!" The area is served by Samara Airport, which has scheduled service to
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
.


History

Radio Ethiopia reported that the inaugural meeting of the Afar Regional Council was held in Semara on 20 July 1995. Six days later, the Council decided to make Semara its capital city and
Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
its temporary working language. The three top officials would be President
Alimirah Hanfare '' Bitwoded'' Sultan Alimirah Hanfare ( aa, Amyota Qali Mirac Canfaxe; 1919 - 25 April 2011) was Sultan of Aussa from 1944 until his death in 2011. He ascended to the throne after his predecessor and uncle, Mohammad Yayyo. Loyal to his suzera ...
, Vice-president Osman Ainet and Secretary Mohammed Seid; the Regional president at the time, Habib Alimirah, was not present. The Eighth meeting of the Afar Regional Council was held in Semara 4–5 March 2009, and items scheduled to be discussed included a bill to eliminate
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
in the Region.


Demographics

The town had a population of 2,625 in 2007.Statistical Tables for the 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia
. It is one of five towns in Dubti
woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''. These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...
.


Climate

Semera has a
hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
in Köppen-Geiger system.


Notes

{{reflist Populated places in the Afar Region Cities and towns in Ethiopia