Semera
Semera (Semera; ) is the capital of Afar Region, Ethiopia. It is a town on the Awash–Assab highway in north-east Ethiopia, having been planned and built to replace Asaita. Located in Administrative Zone 1, Semera has a latitude and longitude of 11.79222°N, 41.00861°W. One of the completed buildings is Semera University, which began holding classes in 2007.
The 2006 Lonely Planet guide to Ethiopia had this description of Semera:
* 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 Semera 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 Semera Airport, which has scheduled service to Addis Ababa.
Radio Ethiopia reported that the inaugural meeting of the Afar Regional Council was held in Semera on 20 July 1995. Six days later, the Council decided to make Semera its capital city and Amharic its temporary working language. The three top officials would be President Alimirah Hanfare, 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 Semera 4–5 March 2009, and items scheduled to be discussed included a bill to eliminate female genital mutilation in the Region.
The 2006 Lonely Planet guide to Ethiopia had this description of Semera:
* 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 Semera 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 Semera Airport, which has scheduled service to Addis Ababa.
Radio Ethiopia reported that the inaugural meeting of the Afar Regional Council was held in Semera on 20 July 1995. Six days later, the Council decided to make Semera its capital city and Amharic its temporary working language. The three top officials would be President Alimirah Hanfare, 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 Semera 4–5 March 2009, and items scheduled to be discussed included a bill to eliminate female genital mutilation in the Region.
Map - Semera
Map
Country - Ethiopia
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| Flag of Ethiopia | |
Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out to the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. In 980 BCE, the Kingdom of D'mt extended its realm over Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia, while the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330, and Islam arrived by the first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, a variety of kingdoms, largely tribal confederations, existed in the land of Ethiopia. The Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts until being overthrown by Yekuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the Ethiopian Empire and the Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical Solomon and Queen of Sheba under their son Menelik I. By the 14th century, the empire grew in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories; most notably, the Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century. Emperor Tewodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETB | Ethiopian birr | Br | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AM | Amharic language |
| EN | English language |
| OM | Oromo language |
| SO | Somali language |
| TI | Tigrinya language |