Mount Entoto () is the highest peak on the Entoto Mountains, which overlooks the city of

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, the capital of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. It reaches 3,200 meters above sea level.

Overview

It is a historical place where Emperor

Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

resided and built his palace, when he came from Ankober and founded Addis Ababa. It is considered a sacred mountain and has many monasteries. Mount Entoto is also the location of a number of celebrated churches, including Saint Raguel and Saint Mary. The mountain is densely covered by

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

trees that were imported from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

during the reign of Menelik II, and mostly planted during Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

's reign. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as the "lung of Addis Ababa". The forest on the mountain is an important source of firewood for the city. It was also a source of building material in earlier times. The Ethiopian Heritage Trust, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, is working actively to change part of the mountain to its old state, a natural park. Entoto Natural Park is the northeastern rim of Addis Abeba, on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Entoto, covering an area of 1,300 hectares. It is situated at an altitude of between 2,600 and 3,100 meters. Its annual average rainfall and temperature are 1200 mm and 14°C, respectively. The northern rim of the park serves as a watershed between the Abay (

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

) and Awash rivers. The Ethiopian Space Science Society has an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

on the 3,200 m summit.

References

Entoto Mount Entoto () is the highest peak on the Entoto Mountains, which overlooks the city of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It reaches 3,200 meters above sea level. Overview It is a historical place where Emperor Menelik II resided and built ...

Geography of Addis Ababa Ethiopian Highlands

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