Bahir Dar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bahir Dar is a city in north western Ethiopia and the capital of the Amhara Administrative Region (kilil). The city is situated on the southern shore of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile (or Abay), in what was previously the Gojjam province. As of 1994, its population was 96,140. It lies at 1700m above sea level.

The city is located approximately 310 km north-northwest of Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Airlines operates scheduled flights between the two cities. The Blue Nile Falls (Tis Abay) are located about 30 km to the south.

History

Bahir Dar grew around a Jesuit settlement, founded in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, from which time the Pedro Páez building dates. One of Emperor Haile Selassie's palaces is located near the city, and the Emperor considered moving the national capital to the town.

As part of Operation Tewodros near the end of the Ethiopian Civil War, Bahir Dar was catured by the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front in March 1991.

Reference

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