Adama

Adama is a busy transportation center. The city is situated along the road that connects Addis Ababa with Dire Dawa. A large number of trucks use this same route to travel to and from the seaports of Djibouti and Asseb (though the latter is not currently used by Ethiopia, following the Eritrean-Ethiopian War). Additionally, the new Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway runs through Adama.{{cite map |publisher=Microsoft |title=bing Maps |url=http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=8.549999999999997~39.266667&lvl=12&dir=0&sty=r&sp=Point.jdrgzzm85000_Adama____ |year=2011 |access-date=2011-05-05}}{{Cite web|last=Lindahl |first=Bernhard |url=http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/d/ORTDIL05.pdf |title=Dil Amba - Djibiet |work=Local History in Ethiopia |publisher=The Nordic Africa Institute |year=2005 |access-date=2011-09-20 |quote=The Franco-Ethiopian railway company in 1960-1963 carried out surveys for extending the railway with a 310 km line from Nazret to Dilla. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703044906/http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/d/ORTDIL05.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-03 }}

Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU) (formerly Nazareth Technique College) is located in Adama. Adama Stadium is the home of Adama City FC, a member of the Ethiopian Football Federation league.

The city name Adama may have been derived from the Oromo word {{lang|om|adaamii}}, which means a cactus or a cactus-like tree.{{cite web

|title=Origin and Development of Adama City

|url=http://www.adamacity.gov.et/origin.htm

|publisher=Adama City Administration

|access-date=November 3, 2012

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311113824/http://www.adamacity.gov.et/origin.htm

|archive-date=March 11, 2012

|url-status=dead

}} More specifically, {{lang|om|adaamii}} means Euphorbia candelabrum,

{{cite journal

|author=Workineh Kelbessa

|title=Traditional Oromo Attitudes towards the Environment: An Argument for Environmentally Sound Development

|journal=Social Science Research Report Series

|issue=19

|year=2001

|page=44

|url=http://www.publications.ossrea.net/images/stories/ossrea/ssrr-19-p-5.pdf

|access-date=4 February 2014

}} a tree of the spurge family, while {{lang|om|hadaamii}} would mean Indian fig.

{{cite web

|first=Azimitachew

|last=Ayele

|year=2010

|title=Chromosome Study of Local Farmers' Varieties of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (Cactaceae) from Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.

|page=1

|url=http://etd.aau.edu.et/dspace/bitstream/123456789/3228/1/AZIMITACHEW%20%20AYELE%20%20%20BIOLOGY.pdf

}}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Following World War II, Emperor Haile Selassie renamed the town after Biblical Nazareth, and this name was used for the remainder of the twentieth century.{{Cite web|last=Lindahl |first=Bernhard |title=Naader - Neguz |url=http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/n/ORTNA05.pdf |publisher=Nordic Africa Institute |year=2005 |pages=8–13 |access-date=2011-09-20 |quote=The name was changed from Adama (Hadama) to Nazret (Nazareth) a little before 1948. This belonged to a general pattern of introducing Christian names instead of traditional Oromo names. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703050218/http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/n/ORTNA05.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-03 }} In 2000, the city officially reverted to its original Oromo name, Adama,{{Cite web|title=Aadu - Alyume|work=Local History in Ethiopia|url=http://www.nai.uu.se/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/A/ORTAA.pdf|publisher=Nordic Africa Institute|year=2008|page=28|access-date=2010-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305215601/http://www.nai.uu.se/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/A/ORTAA.pdf|archive-date=2012-03-05|url-status=dead}} though Nazareth is still widely used.{{cite web | date = July 13, 2000 |url=http://www.telecom.net.et/~walta/ennews/html/jul/ed130700/html/newsitem_3.html | title = Nazareth Selected as Oromiya's Capital | publisher = Walta Information Center | access-date = February 25, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303092319/http://www.telecom.net.et/~walta/ennews/html/jul/ed130700/html/newsitem_3.html | archive-date = 3 March 2006 | url-status = dead }}

In 2000, the government moved the regional capital of Oromia from Addis Ababa to Adama, sparking considerable controversy. Critics of the move believed that the Ethiopian government wished to deemphasize Addis Ababa's location within Oromia.{{cite web | author = Hameso, Seyoum and Tilahun Ayanou Nebo | year = 2000 |url=http://www.sidamaconcern.com/books/ethiopia_a_new_start.html | title = Ethiopia: A New Start? | work = The Sidama Concern | access-date = February 25, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223080700/http://www.sidamaconcern.com/books/ethiopia_a_new_start.html| archive-date= 23 February 2006 }}{{cite web|author=Mosisa, Abraham T. |date=January 13, 2004 |url=http://oromostudies.org/lettertoUNSecretaryGeneral.htm |title=Letter to U.N. Secretary-General |publisher=Oromo Studies Association |access-date=February 25, 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222235224/http://oromostudies.org/lettertoUNSecretaryGeneral.htm |archive-date=February 22, 2006 }} On the other hand, the government maintained that Addis Ababa "has been found inconvenient from the point of view of developing the language, culture and history of the Oromo people".

On 10 June 2005, the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO), part of the ruling EPRDF coalition, officially announced plans to move the regional capital back to Addis Ababa.{{cite web|date=2005-06-11 |url=http://www.waltainfo.com/EnNews/2005/Jun/11Jun05/Jun11e11.htm |title=Chief Administrator of Oromia says decision to move capital city based on study |publisher=Walta Information Center |access-date=February 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050613234040/http://www.waltainfo.com/EnNews/2005/Jun/11Jun05/Jun11e11.htm |archive-date=June 13, 2005 |url-status=dead }}

{{Pie chart

| thumb = right

| caption= Ethnic groups of Adama {{As of|2007|lc=y}}Central Statistical Agency. 2010. Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National. [ONLINE] Available at: http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086. [Accessed 10 January 2017].{{Failed verification|date=January 2025}}

| other = yes

| label1 = Oromo

| value1 = 39.02 | color1 = Green

| label2 = Amhara

| value2 = 34.53 | color2 = Yellow

| label3 = Gurage

| value3 = 11.98 | color3 = Red

| label4 = Siltʼe

| value4 = 5.02| color4 = Purple

}}

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this city has a total population of 220,212, an increase of 72.25% over the population recorded in the 1994 census, of whom 108,872 are men and 111,340 women. With an area of 29.86 square kilometers, Adama has a population density of 7,374.82; all are urban inhabitants. A total of 60,174 households were counted in this city, which results in an average of 3.66 persons to a household, and 59,431 housing units. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Adama were the Oromo (39.02%), the Amhara (34.53%), the Gurage (11.98%) and the Silte (5.02%); all other ethnic groups made up 9.45% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 59.25%, 26.25% spoke Oromo and 6.28% spoke Guragiegna; the remaining 8.22% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 63.62% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 24.7% of the population were Muslim, and 10.57% were Protestant.

The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 127,842 of whom 61,965 were males and 65,877 were females.

Adama is a busy transportation center. The city is situated along the road that connects Addis Ababa with Dire Dawa. A large number of trucks use this same route to travel to and from the seaports of Djibouti and Asseb (though the latter is not currently used by Ethiopia, following the Eritrean-Ethiopian War). Additionally, the new Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway runs through Adama.

The Adama University was founded in 1993.

Among the places of worship, they are predominantly found Christian churches and temples (Oriental Orthodox: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Muslim mosques and madresas; Protestant: Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Evangelical Christian: Kale Heywet Word of Life Church, Full Gospel Believers Church, Catholic: Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba).J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1004-1007

Adama Stadium is the home of Adama City FC, a member of the Ethiopian Football Federation league.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw).

{{Weather box|width=auto

|metric first=y

|single line=y

|collapsed = Y

|location = Wenji Gefersa/Adama, elevation {{convert|1540|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1971–2000)

|Jan high C = 26.3

|Feb high C = 27.3

|Mar high C = 28.9

|Apr high C = 29.0

|May high C = 30.0

|Jun high C = 29.2

|Jul high C = 26.1

|Aug high C = 25.6

|Sep high C = 26.8

|Oct high C = 27.2

|Nov high C = 26.2

|Dec high C = 25.6

| year high C =

|Jan low C = 11.5

|Feb low C = 13.1

|Mar low C = 14.8

|Apr low C = 15.3

|May low C = 15.5

|Jun low C = 16.7

|Jul low C = 16.3

|Aug low C = 16.1

|Sep low C = 15.4

|Oct low C = 12.0

|Nov low C = 11.0

|Dec low C = 10.8

| year low C =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 11.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 20.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 43.0

|Apr precipitation mm = 52.0

|May precipitation mm = 62.0

|Jun precipitation mm = 67.0

|Jul precipitation mm = 189.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 196.0

|Sep precipitation mm = 96.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 24.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 13.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 5.0

|year precipitation mm =

| Jan humidity = 55

| Feb humidity = 54

| Mar humidity = 51

| Apr humidity = 56

| May humidity = 54

| Jun humidity = 55

| Jul humidity = 70

| Aug humidity = 70

| Sep humidity = 68

| Oct humidity = 56

| Nov humidity = 55

| Dec humidity = 56

| year humidity =

| source 1 = FAO{{cite web

| url = https://www.fao.org/land-water/databases-and-software/climwat-for-cropwat/en/

| title = CLIMWAT climatic database

| publisher= Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations

| access-date = 24 June 2024}}

}}

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Africa#Ethiopia|l1=List of twin towns and sister cities in Ethiopia}}

Adama is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|USA}} Aurora, United States{{cite web |title=Our Sister Cities|date=20 January 2019 |url=https://aurorasistercities.org/sister-cities/|publisher=Aurora Sister Cities International|access-date=2020-11-01}}
• {{flagicon|TUR}} Sivas, Turkey{{Cite web|url=http://www.yeniulke.net/3044/uzaklar_yakinlasti|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227151859/http://www.yeniulke.net/3044/uzaklar_yakinlasti|url-status=dead|title=Uzaklar Yakinlaşti - Sivas Twin Towns|archivedate=December 27, 2013}}

{{portal|Africa}}

{{Reflist}}

• Briggs, Philip. Guide to Ethiopia. Old Saybrook, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press, 1995. {{ISBN|1-56440-814-0}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125231301/http://www.adamachamber.com/ Adama Chamber of Commerce]
• {{Commons category-inline}}
• {{Wikivoyage inline|Adama}}

{{Districts of the Oromia Region}}

{{Cities of Ethiopia}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Oromia

Category:Cities and towns in Ethiopia