Harar

Harar or Harrar (both: hä`rər), city (1994 pop. 76,378), capital of Harar region, E central Ethiopia, at an altitude of c.6,000 ft (1,830 m). It is the trade center for a region where coffee, cereals, and cotton are produced. Harar was probably founded in the 7th cent. After 1520 the Somali conqueror Ahmad Gran made it the capital of a considerable Muslim state, but an Oromo invasion brought an end (1577) to its political power. The city maintained a precarious independence until its occupation (1875–85) by Egypt. In 1887 it was incorporated into Ethiopia by Menelik II. The Harari inhabitants of the city are a distinctive Ethiopian group who speak a Semitic language, but whose written literature is Arabic. A walled city, Harar was long a center of Islamic learning. Today it is the site of a military academy and of teacher-training and agricultural schools. It is also spelled Harer.

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Harar, Harrer

a city in E Ethiopia: former capital of the Muslim state of Adal. Pop.: 96 000 (2005 est.)

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Harar 

(also Harer), a city in eastern Ethiopia; capital of Harar Province. Population, 51,000 (1975). Harar is connected by highway with the cities of Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa. It is a center for trade in coffee and coffee processing and for trade in grain, fruit, and cattle. Cottage industries specialize in the production of metal ware, pottery, and tanned hides.