but also a nucleus of commerce, industry, transport, communication, health, education and tourism. 21st century The city, in honor of the Millennium celebrations, hosted a National Investment Bazaar and Trade Fair on 6–9 January 2007. Mulat Gezahegn, head of the Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion Coordination Office, told journalists that more than 150 local and foreign companies participated. On 22 June 2019, the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt embroiled with coordinated assassinations of Amhara Region government officials in Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa. General Se'are Mekonnen along with his aide General Gizae Aberra, President of Amhara Region Ambachew Mekonnen along with advisor Ezez Wassie and Amhara Region Attorney General Megbaru Kebede were victims of the assassination. On 24 June, state media announced that General Asaminew Tsige was shot dead in Bahir Dar. Geography Bahir Dar is located at the exit of the Abbay from Lake Tana at an altitude of above sea level. The city is located approximately 578 km north-northwest of Addis Ababa. The Lake Tana region is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2015. Climate Bahir Dar has a borderline tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), very close to a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). Afternoon temperatures are very warm to hot year-round, and morning temperatures cool; however, the diurnal range is much larger in the largely cloudless dry season. Demographics Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), Bahir Dar Special Zone had a total population of 221,991, of whom 108,456 were male and 113,535 female; 180,174 or 81.16% are urban inhabitants, the rest of population were living in rural kebeles around Bahir Dar. As Philip Briggs notes, Bahir Dar "is not only one of the largest towns in Ethiopia, but also one of the fastest growing – the western outskirts have visibly expanded since the first edition of this guide was published in 1994." Ethnic and linguistic composition As of 2007, the three largest ethnic groups reported in Bahir Dar Special Zone were the Amhara (96.23%), the Tigrayan (1.11%), and the Oromo (1.10%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.56% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 96.77%, 1.03% spoke Oromiffa, and 0.98% spoke Tigrinya; the remaining 1.22% spoke all other primary languages reported. The 1994 national census reported a total population for Bahir Dar of 96,140 in 20,857 households, of whom 45,436 were men and 50,704 women. The