Debre Berhan or Birhan, formerly spelled Debra-Berhan or Bernam, is a city and woreda in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, about 120 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa on the paved highway to Dessie, the town has a latitude and longitude of 9°41′N 39°32′ECoordinates: 9°41′N 39°32′E and an elevation of 2,840 meters. It was an early capital of Ethiopia and afterward, with Ankober and Angolalla, was one of the capitals of the kingdom of Shewa. Today, it is the administrative center of the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region.