Addis Ababa is both acity and astate. The city has people living in it from as many as 40 differentcountries speaking 80 differentlanguages. There are many differentcommunities in the city includingChristian,Muslim, andJewish communities. Addis Ababa is about 2,500m abovesea level. It has about five million people.
The site was chosen byEmpress Taytu Betul. The city wasfounded in 1886 by her husband,EmperorMenelik II. The city is at the foot ofMount Entoto. In 1935 the city (renamedAddis Abeba) was conquered by the Italians and was made the capital of their empire in eastern Africa until 1941. Italians made huge improvements and modern projects to the city.
The city has grown sinceWorld War II and is now a huge metropolis that has nearly 9.98 million people living there as of 2019.
Addis Ababa University is in the city. Addis Ababa University was formerly known as Haile Selassie I University. It was named after the former Emperor of Ethiopia, who gave hispalace to be used the maincampus of theuniversity in 1961.
