Diche Oto is a town in northeastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, located in Administrative Zone 1

Administrative Zone 1 (Afar)

Administrative Zone 1 is one of five Zones of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. This zone is bordered on the south by Administrative Zone 3, on the southwest by Administrative Zone 5, on the west by the Amhara Region, on the northwest by Administrative Zones 4 and 2, on the north by Eritrea, and on the...

 of the Afar Region

Afar Region

Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, and is the homeland of the Afar people. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Asseb highway is under construction....

. During the Italian occupation

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...

, the settlement was known as Diciotto, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 for "eighteen."

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency

Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)

The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...

 in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 1,998 of whom 1,131 were males and 867 were females. It is one of four towns in Elidar

Elidar (woreda)

Elidar is one of the 29 woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Administrative Zone 1, Elidar is bordered on the south by the Awash River which separates it from Asayita, on the west by Dubti, on the northwest by the Administrative Zone 2, on the northeast by Eritrea, and on the east...

 woreda

Woreda

Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...

.

Philip Briggs has described Diche Oto as "a rather odd settlement of brightly painted corrogated iron buildings with large balconies. As the last Ethiopian town before the Djibouti

Djibouti

Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

border, it is a popular stopover with truck drivers, and has consequently acquired an unexpectedly shifty, seedy atmosphere."