Establishment History of Addis Ababa and the Displacement of Oromo Communities from Finfinne
Introduction
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s political and diplomatic capital, is today one of Africa’s most important cities. It hosts the headquarters of the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and numerous international organizations. Yet behind the modern capital lies a complex history involving imperial expansion, urbanization, land redistribution and the displacement of communities that had lived in the area before the establishment of the modern city.
For many Oromo people, Addis Ababa is historically known as Finfinne, a name associated with the area’s hot springs. Oromo historical traditions and a growing body of scholarship identify the surrounding area as a homeland of several Tulama Oromo clans, including the Gulallee, Galaan, Eekka and Abichu. Academic research published by Oxford University Press describes the indigenous Oromo population as having been removed during the establishment and expansion of Menilek II’s capital, while other scholars have documented how land redistribution and urban development transformed the social and political landscape of Finfinne.
The history, however, should not be reduced to a simple ethnic confrontation. Addis Ababa developed through the interaction of imperial state-building, military settlement, trade, migration, foreign commerce and modernization. The city subsequently became home to people from virtually every major Ethiopian community. Understanding its origins therefore requires examining both the creation of the imperial capital and what happened to the Oromo communities whose lands became the foundation of the expanding city.
1. Finfinne Before Addis Ababa
Before the emergence of Addis Ababa as a permanent imperial capital, the area was known among Oromo communities as Finfinne. The name is associated with the area’s hot mineral springs, particularly the springs later known in Amharic as Filwoha.
The historical presence of Oromo communities in the area is supported by both Oromo oral traditions and scholarly studies. Research on the history of Finfinne identifies several Oromo groups—including the Gulallee, Galaan, Eekka and Abichu—as communities associated with the area before Menilek’s establishment of the capital. A University of Jimma historical study, for example, records traditions associating the Finfinne area with the Galaan and describes the Gulallee as having become strongly established around Finfinne before Menilek’s conquest.
The Oromo presence was not simply residential. Historical studies describe the surrounding landscape as an area where Oromo social, economic and cultural institutions operated. Oromo historical accounts associate locations around present-day Addis Ababa with gadaa assemblies, customary institutions, agricultural activities, grazing areas and religious practices.
This background is important because the establishment of Addis Ababa did not occur on an unoccupied frontier. Rather, the new imperial capital developed in a landscape already inhabited and utilized by established communities.
2. Menilek II and the Expansion of Shewan Power
The establishment of Addis Ababa must be understood within the broader expansion of the Shewan kingdom under Menilek II during the late nineteenth century.
Menilek, who ruled Shewa before becoming Emperor of Ethiopia in 1889, expanded his political and military control southward. The expansion brought numerous territories and communities under the authority of the Shewan monarchy.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia describes Addis Ababa’s foundation as part of a longer historical process in which the Ethiopian state expanded southward during the late nineteenth century. It identifies the city’s original establishment in 1887 as a military garrison under Menilek II and connects the city’s emergence to the larger territorial expansion of the Ethiopian Empire.
This historical context matters because Finfinne was located at a strategically important position. It offered fertile highland surroundings, access to water and hot springs, favorable conditions compared with the colder Entoto highlands, and proximity to important routes connecting central Ethiopia with southern and eastern territories.
The establishment of the city was consequently both an urban and political project.
3. From Entoto to Finfinne
Before Addis Ababa was established on the plains, Menilek had established his political and military base on Mount Entoto, overlooking the area.
Entoto, however, presented significant practical difficulties. The high altitude produced a colder climate, while obtaining adequate firewood and other resources became increasingly difficult as the settlement grew.
Menilek and Empress Taytu Betul subsequently became attracted to the warmer plains around Finfinne and its hot springs.
Historical research by Richard Pankhurst, published in the Journal of African History, identifies Menilek as the founder of Addis Ababa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and describes the foundation as an important event in the modernization and reorganization of the Ethiopian state.
The traditional account holds that Taytu was particularly attracted to the hot springs and established a residence in the area. By the mid-1880s, the imperial court increasingly shifted toward Finfinne.
In 1886–1887, the settlement that would become Addis Ababa began taking shape.
4. The Establishment of Addis Ababa in 1887
Oxford’s Research Encyclopedia of African History identifies 1887 as the year Addis Ababa was founded as a military garrison by Menilek II.
This is an important distinction. Addis Ababa did not initially emerge as a conventional modern city. It developed from a royal military camp, around which administrative institutions, residences, markets, religious establishments and later commercial districts developed.
The early city was organized around the imperial court and military hierarchy. Different commanders and members of the ruling elite received areas of land where they established settlements for themselves, their followers and dependents.
These settlements were commonly referred to as sefers, a term that remains embedded in Addis Ababa’s urban geography.
Thus, the city expanded through a combination of:
- the imperial palace and royal court;
- military camps;
- aristocratic land grants;
- churches and religious institutions;
- markets and commercial areas;
- settlements of soldiers and their families;
- migration from other parts of Ethiopia; and
- later foreign commercial and diplomatic communities.
5. What Happened to the Oromo Population?
The most controversial and politically significant part of Addis Ababa’s establishment concerns the fate of the Oromo communities living in Finfinne.
Multiple scholarly works describe the removal or displacement of Oromo farmers during the creation and expansion of the imperial capital.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia states that Menilek’s administration removed indigenous Oromo people and allocated their land to followers of the imperial regime, contributing to the creation of segregated settlements.
Similarly, a 2023 study by Asebe Regassa Debelo and Teshome Emana Soboka, published in the Journal of Ethiopian Studies, examines the relationship between urban development and the displacement of Oromo farmers around Addis Ababa/Finfinne. The researchers argue that forceful displacement and subsequent land redistribution were central to the formation of new urban frontiers.
A separate study specifically examining the transformation of Finfinne into Addis Ababa concludes that the establishment of the city was accompanied by the eviction of Oromo inhabitants and subsequent settlement by other groups. The research used both documentary sources and oral interviews.
For Oromo historical scholarship, this displacement represents a fundamental historical injustice because land that had been used and occupied by Oromo communities was incorporated into an imperial capital without the consent of the existing inhabitants.
6. The Tulama Oromo Clans of Finfinne
It is important to avoid describing the pre-Addis Ababa population simply as a single “Oromo tribe.” Oromo society historically consisted of numerous clans and sub-clans with distinct territories and political relationships.
Among the groups associated with the Finfinne area were:
Gulallee
The Gulallee became particularly associated with the Finfinne area. Historical research records their settlement around the western foothills of Entoto and across parts of the Finfinne plain.
Galaan
The Galaan are another Tulama Oromo group associated with Finfinne. Oromo historical traditions connect the Galaan with the hot springs of Finfinne and the surrounding territory.
Eekka
The Eekka are also identified in scholarship concerning the indigenous Oromo communities of the Finfinne region.
Abichu
The Abichu were another important Oromo group in the broader central Shewa region and are frequently mentioned in historical discussions concerning the political transformation of Finfinne and surrounding territories.
These groups should not necessarily be understood as having occupied precisely the same areas or possessing identical political relationships. Their territories and social organization changed over time.
7. From Displacement to Land Redistribution
Displacement alone did not determine the city’s future. An equally important process was the redistribution and formalization of urban land.
Research on Addis Ababa’s urban development indicates that Menilek distributed substantial areas of land to military and political elites during the early years of the city.
Debelo and Soboka note that Menilek distributed land in 1891, concentrating substantial holdings in the hands of a relatively small number of proprietors. Their study cites earlier research indicating that approximately half of Addis Ababa’s total area was held by 1,768 proprietors, with an average holding of approximately 71,000 square metres.
This land-distribution system helped create the spatial structure of the early city.
Military leaders and aristocrats controlled large areas, while soldiers, servants, dependents and other migrants settled around them. The resulting neighborhoods frequently acquired the names of the people who controlled the land.
Consequently, some of Addis Ababa’s historic sefer names preserve traces of the political and military organization of the imperial city.
8. The 1907 Urban Land Regulation
The process of transforming land ownership continued during Menilek’s reign.
A major development came with the 1907 urban land regulation, which formalized aspects of land registration, ownership and transactions in Addis Ababa.
Recent scholarship on urban land systems describes the 1907 decree as an important milestone in the development of Ethiopia’s urban land regime. It institutionalized forms of private urban ownership and allowed land to be bought, sold, inherited and leased, while the state retained significant powers over land.
Research specifically examining Addis Ababa/Finfinne argues that the regulation also reinforced the earlier redistribution of land and affected Oromo farmers who had been displaced or whose customary landholding arrangements were not recognized within the new urban property system.
This distinction is important: the 1907 regulation should not be treated as the moment when Oromo displacement began. Displacement and land redistribution had already occurred during the establishment and consolidation of the city. Rather, the regulation helped formalize and institutionalize a changing urban land system.
9. Creation of the Sefer System
One of the most visible consequences of the transformation was the development of Addis Ababa’s sefer neighborhoods.
The early city was effectively organized around military and aristocratic settlements. Land was allocated to nobles, commanders, churches and other important figures.
The result was a highly fragmented urban structure in which neighborhoods were associated with particular patrons, military commanders or social groups.
The sefer system therefore reflected the political structure of the imperial state.
As Addis Ababa grew, these early settlements became integrated into a much larger metropolitan system. Markets, roads, religious institutions and residential districts connected the original military settlements into a city.
10. Oromo Displacement Was Not Simply a Single Event
It is important to emphasize that Oromo displacement did not occur through one single expulsion on one particular date.
Rather, it was a process.
The process included:
- military conquest and incorporation of the Finfinne area;
- establishment of the imperial military camp;
- seizure and redistribution of land;
- settlement of soldiers, nobles and followers;
- transformation of customary land relations;
- migration of people from other parts of Ethiopia;
- incorporation of surrounding rural areas into the growing city; and
- later urban expansion into areas inhabited by Oromo farmers.
A 2022 study on Finfinne and the Oromo describes the displacement as involving clans including Gulallee, Galaan and Eekka and argues that Oromo migration away from the city continued after the initial establishment of Addis Ababa.
This interpretation is also consistent with more recent research on Addis Ababa’s peri-urban areas, which documents continuing land-related conflicts involving indigenous Oromo farmers as the metropolitan area expands.
11. Addis Ababa Became a Multicultural City
Although its establishment involved the displacement and marginalization of Oromo communities, Addis Ababa subsequently became one of Ethiopia’s most ethnically diverse cities.
People from across Ethiopia moved to the capital seeking:
- employment;
- education;
- trade;
- government positions;
- military service;
- religious opportunities;
- diplomatic and commercial connections; and
- access to expanding urban markets.
The city therefore cannot accurately be described today as belonging exclusively to a single ethnic community.
Oxford’s historical account emphasizes that Addis Ababa eventually brought together people from many ethnic backgrounds and became the country’s principal economic, administrative, educational and diplomatic center.
This creates an important distinction between historical ownership and contemporary urban belonging.
The fact that Oromo communities inhabited Finfinne before the establishment of the modern city does not mean that everyone living in Addis Ababa today is an outsider. Conversely, the city’s modern multicultural character does not erase the history of communities displaced during its establishment.
Both realities can exist simultaneously.
12. The Italian Occupation and Urban Transformation
The next major transformation occurred during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941.
The Italian administration introduced new forms of urban planning and attempted to redesign Addis Ababa as a colonial capital.
Oxford’s historical research states that the Italians undertook the first major modern urban-planning project in the city, constructing roads and buildings and creating separate urban quarters.
This period fundamentally altered the city’s physical appearance.
Road networks expanded, new administrative buildings were constructed and the city’s population became increasingly diverse.
The Italian occupation therefore added another layer to the city’s history: Addis Ababa evolved from an imperial military settlement into a more complex modern capital.
13. Addis Ababa After 1941
Following the restoration of Ethiopian sovereignty in 1941, Addis Ababa continued its rapid expansion.
Under Emperor Haile Selassie, the city developed into Ethiopia’s central administrative and diplomatic capital.
Government institutions, schools, hospitals, financial institutions and modern infrastructure expanded.
The establishment of major international organizations further elevated the city’s global importance.
The arrival of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the later establishment of the African Union’s predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, reinforced Addis Ababa’s position as a diplomatic center for Africa.
Oxford’s research notes that international organizations and agencies eventually made Addis Ababa their headquarters, strengthening its position as a continental capital.
14. The Expansion of Addis Ababa and Continued Oromo Land Loss
The historical issue of Oromo displacement did not end with Menilek.
As the city expanded outward, surrounding agricultural land was increasingly incorporated into the metropolitan area.
This has been especially significant in the city’s peri-urban zones.
A recent study published through Addis Ababa University’s Journal of Indigenous Knowledge and Development Studies examines land-related conflicts in Addis Ababa’s peri-urban areas and specifically focuses on indigenous farmers and the Oromo relationship with land. It argues that land should be understood not merely as an economic commodity but also in social, cultural, political and religious terms.
This provides an important bridge between nineteenth-century history and contemporary debates.
For many Oromo communities surrounding the capital, the question is therefore not only about what happened in 1887. It also concerns the continued conversion of agricultural land into urban developments and the social consequences of relocation.
15. Why Finfinne Remains Historically Important to the Oromo
For many Oromo, Finfinne is more than an alternative name for Addis Ababa.
It represents a historical memory of land, community and cultural institutions that existed before the imperial capital.
The name Finfinne remains particularly important because it connects the modern metropolis to an Oromo historical landscape.
The issue therefore has three interconnected dimensions:
Historical dimension
Oromo communities lived in the area before the establishment of the imperial capital.
Political dimension
The establishment of Addis Ababa occurred during a period of imperial territorial expansion and political centralization.
Cultural dimension
The transformation of Finfinne into Addis Ababa involved changes to place names, land ownership, political authority and cultural visibility.
These factors explain why the city’s history remains politically sensitive in contemporary Ethiopia.
16. Competing Historical Narratives
The history of Addis Ababa is interpreted differently by different communities and scholars.
One narrative emphasizes Menilek II’s state-building and modernization. From this perspective, the establishment of Addis Ababa created a permanent capital that became the administrative and diplomatic center of a modernizing Ethiopian state. Richard Pankhurst’s classic study emphasizes precisely this dimension of the city’s foundation.
Another narrative emphasizes imperial conquest, dispossession and Oromo displacement. Scholarship in this tradition argues that the capital was constructed through the removal of indigenous Oromo communities and redistribution of their land. Oxford’s 2024 historical overview explicitly recognizes this dimension of the city’s foundation.
These narratives do not have to be mutually exclusive.
The establishment of Addis Ababa can simultaneously be understood as:
- a major achievement of Ethiopian state formation;
- the foundation of a modern capital;
- an imperial military project;
- an urbanization process;
- a site of land redistribution; and
- a historical episode involving the displacement of Oromo communities.
A serious historical account should acknowledge all of these dimensions.
17. The Meaning of Addis Ababa and Finfinne Today
Today, Addis Ababa is home to millions of people from different Ethiopian ethnic groups and countries around the world.
For Ethiopia, it is the national political center.
For Africa, it is one of the continent’s principal diplomatic capitals.
For many Oromo, however, the city’s history is inseparable from Finfinne and the memory of land lost during the imperial expansion of the late nineteenth century.
This historical tension continues to influence debates over:
- the name Addis Ababa versus Finfinne;
- the city’s relationship with Oromia;
- land ownership;
- metropolitan expansion;
- cultural and linguistic rights;
- political representation;
- compensation and restitution;
- historical memory; and
- the constitutional “special interest” of Oromia in Addis Ababa.
These debates cannot be fully understood without recognizing the historical transformation that occurred between the 1880s and the early twentieth century.
18. What the Historical Evidence Establishes
Several points are relatively well established in the historical literature.
First, Addis Ababa emerged in the late nineteenth century under Menilek II, with 1887 commonly identified as the year of its establishment as a military garrison.
Second, the area was not an empty wilderness before the city’s foundation. Oromo communities, particularly Tulama Oromo groups, inhabited and used the Finfinne area.
Third, the creation and expansion of the city involved the displacement or marginalization of Oromo inhabitants and the redistribution of land to members and supporters of the imperial political order.
Fourth, land redistribution and formalization continued after the initial foundation, including through the development of urban land regulations in the early twentieth century.
Fifth, Addis Ababa subsequently became a highly diverse city whose population can no longer be described in terms of its nineteenth-century ethnic composition.
Conclusion
The establishment history of Addis Ababa is therefore much more complicated than the simple story of a ruler choosing a location for a new capital.
The modern city emerged from Finfinne, a landscape historically inhabited by Oromo communities and associated with groups such as the Gulallee, Galaan, Eekka and Abichu. During the expansion of Menilek II’s Shewan state in the late nineteenth century, the area was incorporated into the imperial political system. The establishment of the royal camp and subsequent capital in 1887 transformed the landscape.
That transformation brought major consequences for the Oromo population. Land was redistributed, communities were displaced or marginalized, and new military and aristocratic settlements were established. Subsequent land regulations helped consolidate the new urban property system.
At the same time, Addis Ababa evolved far beyond its origins as an imperial garrison. It became a multicultural Ethiopian metropolis and eventually one of Africa’s most important diplomatic capitals.
The central historical lesson is therefore not that Addis Ababa belongs exclusively to one contemporary ethnic group, but that the modern city was built through a historical transformation of a landscape that already had inhabitants, institutions, communities and cultural meaning.
Recognizing the Oromo history of Finfinne does not require denying the contributions of the many peoples who subsequently built Addis Ababa. Likewise, celebrating Addis Ababa’s role as Ethiopia’s capital should not require erasing the history of the Oromo communities who experienced displacement during its establishment.
A fuller historical understanding requires acknowledging both.
Key Historical Timeline
| Period | Development |
|---|---|
| Before the 1880s | Finfinne and surrounding areas were inhabited and utilized by Oromo communities, including Tulama groups. |
| 1870s–1880s | Menilek’s Shewan state expanded its political and military control in central and southern Ethiopia. |
| 1880s | Menilek established his base at Entoto before shifting toward the warmer Finfinne plain. |
| 1886 | Taytu and the royal court became increasingly established around the Finfinne hot springs. |
| 1887 | Addis Ababa was established as Menilek’s military/royal settlement and began developing as a permanent capital. |
| 1890s | Land redistribution and settlement accelerated as the capital expanded. |
| 1891 | Research identifies major land allocations that concentrated substantial urban holdings among a relatively small group of proprietors. |
| 1907 | Urban land regulation formalized important aspects of property ownership and land transactions. |
| 1917 | The Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway reached the capital, greatly strengthening its commercial importance. |
| 1936–1941 | Italian occupation introduced major new urban-planning and architectural projects. |
| After 1941 | Addis Ababa expanded rapidly as Ethiopia’s political, economic and diplomatic center. |
| Post-1991 | Oromo claims concerning Finfinne, land, political representation and the city’s relationship with Oromia became increasingly prominent. |
| Today | Addis Ababa is a highly diverse metropolis, while the history of Finfinne and Oromo displacement remains an important subject of political and historical debate. |
References and Further Reading
- Getahun Benti, “Addis Ababa,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, Oxford University Press, 2024.
- Richard Pankhurst, “Menelik and the Foundation of Addis Ababa,” The Journal of African History, Vol. 2, No. 1, Cambridge University Press.
- Asebe Regassa Debelo and Teshome Emana Soboka, “Urban Development and the Making of Frontiers in/from Addis Ababa/Finfinne, Ethiopia,” The Journal of Modern African Studies.
- Endalew Djirata Fayisa, “Foundation of Addis Ababa and the Emergence of Safars,” Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 2020.
- Wakgari Dulume, “Finfinnee and the Oromoo: The Need to Redeem Historical Injustice Done to the Oromoo in the Course of Addis Ababa Establishment and Beyond,” Asian Journal of Sociological Research, 2022.
- Berhanu Alemu, “Beyond Capital and Commodity: Exploring the Notion of Land among Indigenous Farmers and Land-related Conflicts in Addis Ababa Peri-urban Areas,” Addis Ababa University.
- The Journal of Oromo Studies, historical discussion of Oromo land, urban centers and Addis Ababa/Finfinne.
A Note on Historical Interpretation
Some terminology and claims in the literature are politically contested. In particular, descriptions of Menilek’s expansion as “colonialism,” “settler colonialism,” “genocide,” or “ethnic cleansing” are used by some scholars, activists and political movements but are not universally accepted as equivalent descriptions among historians. The strongest evidence-based formulation is that the establishment and expansion of Addis Ababa occurred alongside imperial conquest, land redistribution, displacement and marginalization of Oromo communities. The extent, mechanisms and characterization of those processes remain subjects of historical debate.
For a website publication, this distinction is important because it allows the article to document the history firmly while separating documented events from interpretive or politically contested terminology.
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