Dire Dawa is a chartered city located in eastern Ethiopia, situated near the border of the Oromia Region. It holds the distinction of being one of only two chartered cities within the country.
Historically, Dire Dawa and the present-day Sitti Zone were components of the Dire Dawa autonomous region within the Somali Region as defined by the 1987 Ethiopian Constitution. In 1993, the federal government split these areas to establish Dire Dawa as a separately administered chartered city.