Awasa (also spelled Awassa or Hawassa) is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Awasa in the Great Rift Valley. It is located 270 km south of Addis Ababa via Debre Zeit, 130 km east of Sodo, and 75 km north of Dilla. The town serves as the capital of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, and is a special zone of this region. It lies on the Trans-African Highway 4 Cairo-Cape Town, and has a latitude and longitude of 7°3′N 38°28′E / 7.050°N 38.467°E / 7.050; 38.467 and an elevation of 1708 meters.