Dewele is a town in Ethiopia located near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border, within the Sitti Zone of the Somali Region. It sits at an elevation of 898 meters above sea level and had an estimated population of 3,357 in 2005. The town serves as an important official crossing point between Ethiopia and Djibouti, featuring a customs post and a railway station on the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway. Historically, Dewele was the first Ethiopian town to receive train service from the Ethio-Djibouti Railways in 1901. The town's population is ethnically diverse, with Somali, Oromo, Amhara, and Gurage groups, predominantly Afro-Asiatic-speaking peoples. Dewele experiences a hot desert climate, characterized by high temperatures and low rainfall.

The town of Dewele lies along the historic Ethio-Djibouti Railways, a metre-gauge line constructed between 1897 and 1917 to connect Addis Ababa to Djibouti’s port, providing landlocked Ethiopia with critical sea access1. The railway’s first commercial service began in 1901, reaching Dire Dawa before extending to Addis Ababa by 1917, transforming trade and urbanization along its route1. Initially French-dominated, the line became a symbol of Ethiopian sovereignty after nationalization efforts in 1909 and played a central role in the country’s economy until road transport emerged in the 1950s1. Although largely replaced by the electrified standard-gauge Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway (operational since 2017), a rehabilitated section of the original line still operates near Dewele, serving weekly passenger and freight trains between Dire Dawa and the Djibouti border.

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