Addis Ababa, the Capital of modern Ethiopia, and gateway for most tourists. Now a city of 4 million people, it was founded by Emperor Menelik in 1887. Addis Ababa is the country's commercial, manufacturing, and cultural center. You can view Lucy (Dinknesh) 3.2 million years old, the most famous hominid skeleton, discovered in 1974 by American Paleontologist Donald C.Jonson.

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 MerKato

It is the largest open-air market in Africa. Here you will be presented with confusing, but fascinating, glimpse of the vast range of goods and artifacts available from all parts of the country and you will enjoy the Ethiopian trade exchange tradition in the open air, you can purchase anything you desire here.