Addis Ababa, the capital of modern Ethiopia, and gateway for most tourists, is the political and commercial heart
of the Country.

Addis Ababa is the country's commercial, manufacturing, and cultural center.It is the focus of a highway network, the site of an international airport, and the terminus of a railroad to the Gulf of Aden port of Djibouti.

In the city there are printing industries, and manufactures include footwear, clothing,asbestos and metal products, processed foods, cement, and plywood. Flourishing handicraft industries produce leather, metal, and textile goods, which are traded along with the regional agricultural produce, such as coffee, tobacco, and dairy items, in the vast open-air market known as the Mercato, on the W side of the city.