Berbera

Berbera (Somali: Barbara, Arabic: بربرة‎) is a city in the northwestern Berbera District of Somaliland, a self-declared republic internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia. It is situated in the Woqooyi Galbeed province.

In antiquity, Berbera was part of a chain of commercial port cities along the Somali seaboard. It later served as the capital of the British Somaliland protectorate from 1884 to 1941, when it was replaced by Hargeisa. In 1960, the British Somaliland protectorate gained independence as the State of Somaliland and united as scheduled five days later with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic (Somalia). Located strategically on the oil route, the city has a deep seaport, which serves as the region's main commercial harbor.

History

Antiquity

Berbera preserves the ancient name of the coast along the southern shore of the Gulf of Aden. It is thought to be the city Malao described as 800 stadia beyond the city of the Avalites, described in the eighth chapter of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which was written by a Greek merchant in the first century AD. In the Periplus it is described as