Bahir Dar - WikiHQ

Bahir Dar () is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The city is known for its wide avenues lined with palm trees and a variety of colorful flowers. In 2002, it was awarded the UNESCO Cities for Peace Prize for addressing the challenges of rapid urbanization.

History

Origins

Originally the settlement was called Bahir Giyorgis. Between 1810 and 1900, Bahir Dar had 1,200 to 2,000 inhabitants. It was developed in situ as a monastery and function of trading hub. In the 19th century, Bahir Dar was visited by Belgian, French, British and Italian travelers, who described it alternatively as a village or a town.

20th century

During the early 20th century, the British, desiring to construct a barrage at the outlet of Lake Tana, dispatched several study teams, such as those of Dupis (1902), Grabham and Black (1920–21) and Cheesman (1926–34). In 1930 the Ethiopian Government sent to Bahir Dar its own team of experts, who described Bahir Dar as a village with considerable trading activity, with a population from the interior as well as from Lake Tana ports such as Zege. At this time Bahir Dar was characterized by various traditional settlement areas, each of which was distinguished by the social position its members occupied. The kahenat (clergy) and balabbat (landowner) communities were the most prestigious. In addition, three groups of tenant-craftsman communities, tanners, Muslims weavers and the Weyto stone-mill grinders, lived on balabbat lands. Although all were economically interdependent, there was no intermarriage between the tenant communities or between them and the balabbat and kahenat. The physical and social appearance of Bahir Dar was considerably changed. New settlement patterns emerged: an Italian camp, a Muslim community and a Weyto quarter, while the tanners' quarter remained unaffected. Bahir Dar became a melting-pot of different people and cultures. In the commercial zone, different types of shops, tea-rooms, tailor shops, bars and restaurants run by foreigners made their first appearance. Ethiopian influence on this reorganization was insignificant.

The Italians gave Bahir Dar political importance by making it the administrative center of the Lake Tana southern territories. They were also interested in the agricultural development of Lake Tana and the Blue Nile and in exploiting their waters for hydroelectric power. The EPRDF gained permanent control of the city at around 18:10 hours on 23 February 1991, as one of the objectives of Operation Tewodros. In the 1990s Bahir Dar experienced remarkable growth and expansion. It has become the capital of the Amhara National State. The country's free-market economic policy has encouraged investment and other market potentialities. Today Bahir Dar is not only a center of administration but also a nucleus of commerce, industry, transport, communication, health, education and tourism.

21st century

The city, in honor of the Millennium celebrations, hosted a National Investment Bazaar and Trade Fair on 6–9 January 2007. Mulat Gezahegn, head of the Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion Coordination Office, told journalists that more than 150 local and foreign companies participated.

On 22 June 2019, during the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt, there were coordinated assassinations of Amhara Region government officials in Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa. Assassination victims included General Se'are Mekonnen (along with his aide General Gizae Aberra), President of Amhara Region Ambachew Mekonnen (along with advisor Ezez Wassie) and Amhara Region Attorney General Megbaru Kebede. On 24 June, state media announced that General Asaminew Tsige had been shot dead in Bahir Dar.

Geography

Bahir Dar is located at the exit of the Abbay from Lake Tana at an altitude of above sea level. The city is located approximately 578 km north-northwest of Addis Ababa. The Lake Tana region is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2015.

Climate

Bahir Dar has a borderline tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), very close to a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). Afternoon temperatures are very warm to hot year-round, and morning temperatures cool; however, the diurnal range is much larger in the largely cloudless dry season.

Demographics

thumb|A street in Bahir Dar

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), Bahir Dar Special Zone had a total population of 221,991, of whom 108,456 were male and 113,535 female; 180,174 or 81.16% were urban inhabitants, the rest of population were living in rural kebeles around Bahir Dar. As Philip Briggs notes, Bahir Dar "is not only one of the largest towns in Ethiopia, but also one of the fastest growing – the western outskirts have visibly expanded since...1994." In fact, Bahir Dar City had an average annual population growth of 5.31% from 2007 to 2023, while Bahir Dar Special Zone had an annual growth rate of 4.75%.

Ethnic and linguistic composition

As of 2007, the three largest ethnic groups reported in Bahir Dar Special Zone were the Amhara (96.23%), the Tigrayan (1.11%), and the Oromo (1.10%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.56% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 96.77%, Oromiffa by 1.03%, and Tigrinya by 0.98%; the remaining 1.22% spoke all other primary languages reported.