What is Mogadishu known for?
Mogadiscio, often known locally as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and largest city of Somalia. The city, which has a population of about 2,388,000, has long been a vital port for traders travelling across the Indian Ocean (2021). In contrast to other Somali regions, Mogadishu is situated in the coastal Banadir region of Somalia,…
Mogadiscio, often known locally as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and largest city of Somalia. The city, which has a population of about 2,388,000, has long been a vital port for traders travelling across the Indian Ocean (2021). In contrast to other Somali regions, Mogadishu is situated in the coastal Banadir region of Somalia, which is regarded as a municipality.
What is Mogadishu known for?
Mogadishu has a long history that dates back to the ancient period, serving as the capital of the Sultanate of Mogadishu in the 9th to 13th centuries, which controlled the Indian Ocean gold trade for many centuries before falling under the control of the Ajuran Empire in the 13th century, which was an important player in the medieval Silk Road maritime trade. Throughout the early modern period, Mogadishu was regarded as the wealthiest city on the East African coast, as well as the centre of a thriving textile industry in the 14th and 15th centuries. Mogadishu and a portion of southern Somalia were under the control of the Hiraab Imamate in the 17th century and the Geledi Sultanate in the 19th.
Also, Mogadishu is most known for the civil war that started in 1991 with the deposition of Somali despot Mohamed Siad Barre in a military coup supported by a coalition of opposition warlords. The two most powerful warlords, Cali Mahdi Maxamed (Ali Mahdi Muhammad) and Muhammed Farah Aydid, soon began battling one another.
The Somalia intervention, a military campaign spearheaded by the United States in 1992 and 93 as part of a larger multinational humanitarian and peacekeeping effort in Somalia that began in the summer of 1992 and ended in the spring of 1995, was the result of this civil conflict. The so-called Battle of Mogadishu happened on October 3 and 4, 1993, killing 18 US personnel as well as hundreds of Somali militia fighters and civilians.
