Berbera

The name Berbera comes from the Somali phrase beri-beri, meaning occasionally. Before it became a major port city, Berbera was a seasonal settlement, only inhabited during cooler months.{{Cite book |last=Xaange |first=Axmed Cartan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3axOwAACAAJ |title=Dalkii udgoonaa |date=1984 |publisher=Jamhuuriyadda Dimoqraadiga Soomaaliya, Akadeemiyada Cilmiga iyo Fanka |language=so}} Residents still head for milder weather in the summer, a vacation tradition called xagaa-bax, which is also common in other coastal cities (e.g. Djibouti, Bosaso).

According to the Royal Asiatic Society, the name could be derived from the Arabic word barbarah, meaning "talking much, shouting".{{Cite book |last=Ireland |first=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FleYN-x6lR4C&dq=berbera+etymology&pg=RA2-PA371 |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |date=1898 |publisher=Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society |language=en}}

{{main|Maritime history of Somalia|Malao}}

Berbera was part of the classical Somali city-states that engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting Somali merchants with Phoenicia, Ptolemic Egypt, Ancient Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea and the Roman Empire. Somali sailors used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the beden to transport their cargo.Journal of African History pg.50 by John Donnelly Fage and Roland Anthony Oliver

Berbera preserves the ancient name of the coast along the southern shore of the Gulf of Aden. It is believed to be the ancient port of Malao ({{langx|grc|Μαλαὼ}}) 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: {{blockquote|"After Avalites there is another market-town, better than this, called Malao, distant a sail of about eight hundred stadia. The anchorage is an open roadstead, sheltered by a spit running out from the east. Here the natives are more peaceable. There are imported into this place the things already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking-cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity, iron, and gold and silver coin, but not much. There are exported from these places myrrh, a little frankincense, (that known as far-side), the harder cinnamon, duaca, Indian copal and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely."|Chap.8.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Schoff's 1912 translation]}}

File:Al-Idrisi's world map.JPG's world map from 'Alî ibn Hasan al-Hûfî al-Qâsimî's 1456 copy. Berbera 'بربرة' can be clearly seen in this later edition of the Tabula Rogeriana]]

Duan Chengshi, a Chinese Tang dynasty scholar, described in his written work of AD 863 the slave trade, ivory trade, and ambergris trade of Bobali, which is thought to be Berbera. The great city was also later mentioned by the Islamic traveller Ibn Sa'id as well as Ibn Battuta in the thirteenth century.I.M. Lewis, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/180241 "The Somali Conquest of the Horn of Africa", Journal of African History], 1 (1960), p. 217

In Abu'l-Fida's, A Sketch of the Countries ({{langx|ar|تقويم البلدان}}), the present-day Gulf of Aden was called the Gulf of Berbera, which shows how important Berbera was in both regional and international trade during the medieval period.[http://www.idref.fr/026676869 Identifiants et Référentiels Sudoc Pour L'Enseignement Supérieur et la Recherche - Abū al-Fidā (1273-1331)] {{in lang|fr}}{{cite book|last1=Lewicki|first1=Tadeusz|title=Arabic External Sources for the History of Africa to the South of Sahara|date=1974|pages=33|publisher=Curzon Press|language=en}}

File:Ibn Majid Berbera, Ceel Sheikh, Siyara.png's notes on Berbera, El-Sheikh and Siyara]]

File:Ibn Majid Gulf of Berbera.png as the Gulf of Berbera]]

Legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of Berbera and a few other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast and referred to what is now the Gulf of Aden as the Gulf of Berbera. He also included Zeila and its archipelago, Siyara, Heis, Alula, Ruguda, Maydh, El-Sheikh and El-Darad.{{Cite book|title=Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-45932-1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77y2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA252|chapter=Ibn Majid}}

Berbera was an important and well built settlement that served as a major harbor port for several successive Somali Kingdoms in the Middle Ages like the early Adal Kingdom, Ifat Sultanate and Adal Sultanate.I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 21

Berbera, along with Zeila, were the two most important ports situated inside the Adal Sultanate, and they provided vital political and commercial links with the wider Islamic World:

{{Verse translation

|To Adea belongs a very good Port, call’d Barraboa, whoſe chief City is Arat, obeys a King, who is an enemy to the Abiſſines. Barraboa and Zeila are places of great Trade, by reaſon of the conveniency of their Ports, towards the entry into the Red-Sea.Geography Rectified: or, a Description of the World in all its Kingdoms, Provinces, Countries, …, 1688, p. 528|To Adel belongs a very good port, called Barbara, whose chief city is Harar, obeys a King, who is an enemy to the Abyssinians. Barbara and Zeila are places of great trade, by reason of the conveniency of their ports, towards the entry into the Red Sea.}}

Along with other ports and settlements in East Africa, explorers Ludovico di Varthema, Duarte Barbosa and Leo Africanus wrote brief accounts of the port town of Berbera in the early sixteenth century, mainly detailing her historic trading links with Aden and Khambat (Cambay).{{cite book|last1=di Vartherma|first1=Ludicovo|title=The Travels of Ludovico Di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia, A.D. 1503 to 1508 (translated)|date=1863|pages=88–90|publisher=Hakluyt Society}}{{cite book|last1=Leo|first1=Africanus|title=The history and description of Africa and of the notable things therein contained (translated)|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

Duarte Barbosa's brief account of Berbera:

Further on, on the same coast, is a town of the Moors [Muslims] called Barbara; it has a port, at which many ships of Adeni and Cambay touch with their merchandise, and from there those of Cambay carry away much gold, and ivory, and other things, and those of Aden take many provisions, meat, honey, and wax, because, as they say, it is a very abundant country.{{cite book|last=Stanley|first=Henry Edward John|title=A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century by Duarte Barbosa|date=1866|pages=17|publisher=The Hakluyt Society|language=en|quote=Note: The use of “Moor” in this context bares no relevance to the Moors of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Rather, this naming is used to describe the local Muslim inhabitants of the settlement.}}

Not long after their departure from Zeila and Berbera, the Portuguese fleet under Lopo Soares de Albergaria and António de Saldanha sacked both port towns between 1516 and 1518.{{cite book|last1=Trimingham|first1=J. Spencer|title=Islam in Ethiopia|date=1976|location=London|pages=77}}

According to Selman Reis, an ambitious Ottoman Red Sea admiral, Berbera was rich with pearls, and the amount of merchandise and trade consisting of "gold, musk and ivory" present at Berbera, on the Somali coast, was described by Selman as "limitless".{{cite book|last1=Özbaran|first1=Salih|title=The Ottoman response to European expansion: studies on Ottoman-Portuguese relations in the Indian Ocean and Ottoman administration in the Arab lands during the sixteenth century|date=1994|publisher=Isis Press |location=Istanbul|pages=108–109}}

File:Berbera Towers.jpg detailing Berbera's 5-6 towers and armed guards]]

File:Berbera Somali Exclusivity.png

File:Somali Musketeers.jpgs, possession of a large cavalry and archery skills noted]]

One of the earliest precolonial accounts comes from Ibrahim Punkar, who wrote a memoir in 1801 and letter in 1809 to the Governor of Bombay John Duncan. Noting that Berbera had 5-6 towers with armed guards, he would go to describe the trade and general outlook of the city. Further noting the Somali inhabitants adhering to the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam significant trade came from Harar in the interior alongside Gondar and Shewa. Cloth, rice and tobacco came from Kutch in Gujarat and Muscat with Mocha, Jeddah and Al Mukalla being the source of dates and tin. Punkar stated that the Somalis of the area were skilled musketeers and possessed powerful cavalry and knowledge of archery, but were often internally divided except for when united against common enemies. All foreigners including Arabs and Indians who often frequented Berbera were prohibited from venturing further inland, lest they access the lucrative trade of Harar directly and bypass the Somalis.{{cite book|title=Survey of the East Coast of Africa British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers|year=1811|publisher=National Archives|pages=40–50|author=British East India Company}}

One certainty about Berbera over the following centuries was that it was the site of an annual fair, held between October and April, which Mordechai Abir describes as "among the most important commercial events of the east coast of Africa."{{cite book |last= w. Abir|first= Mordechai |title= Ethiopia: The Era of the Princes; The Challenge of Islam and the Re-unification of the Christian Empire (1769-1855)|year= 1968|publisher= Longmans|location= London|page = 16}} The major Somali sub-clans of the Isaaq in Somaliland, caravans from Harar and the interior, and Banyan merchants from Porbandar, Mangalore and Mumbai gathered to trade. All of this was kept secret from European merchants.Abir, Era of the Princes, p. 17 Lieutenant C. J. Cruttenden, who wrote a memoir describing this portion of the Somali coast dated 12 May 1848, provided an account of the Berbera fair and an account of the historic environs of the town: "an aqueduct of stone and chunam, some nine miles [15 km] in length", which had once emptied into a presently dry reservoir adjacent to the ruins of a mosque. He explored part of its course from the reservoir past a number of tombs built of stones taken from the aqueduct to reach a spring, above which lay "the remains of a small fort or tower of chunam and stone ... on the hill-side immediately over the spring." Cruttenden noted that in "style it was different to any houses now found on the Somali coast", and concluded with noting the presence in "the neighbourhood of the fort above mentioned [an] abundance of broken glass and pottery ... from which I infer that it was a place of considerable antiquity; but, though diligent search was made, no traces of inscriptions could be discovered."C. J. Cruttenden, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1798086 "Memoir on the Western or Edoor Tribes, Inhabiting the Somali Coast of N.-E. Africa, with the Southern Branches of the Family of Darrood, Resident on the Banks of the Webbe Shebeyli, Commonly Called the River Webbe," Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London], 19 (1849), pp. 54, 56

Berbera was the most important port in the Somali Peninsula between the 18th–19th centuries. For centuries, Berbera had extensive trade relations with several historic ports in Arabia and the Indian subcontinent. Additionally, the Somali and Ethiopian interiors were very dependent on Berbera for trade, where most of the goods for export arrived from.{{cite book|title= Researches Into the Physical History of Mankind: Ethnography of the African races|last1=Prichard|first1=J. C.|url=https://archive.org/details/researchesintoph02pric|date=1837|publisher= Sherwood, Gilbert & Piper|pages=[https://archive.org/details/researchesintoph02pric/page/160 160]|language=english}} During the 1833 trading season, the port town swelled up to 70,000 people, and upwards of 6,000 camels laden with goods arrived from the interior within a single day. Berbera was the main marketplace in the entire Somali seaboard for various goods procured from the interior, such as livestock, coffee, frankincense, myrrh, acacia gum, saffron, feathers, wax, ghee, hide (skin), gold and ivory.{{cite book|title=The Colonial Magazine and Commercial-maritime Journal, Volume 2|date=1840|pages=22|language=en}} In the trading season of 1840, French explorer Charles-Xavier Rochet d'Héricourt visited Berbera and estimated the total exports of the season to be around thirteen times greater than that of Massawa.{{cite book|last1=Pankhurst|first1=R.|title=Journal of Ethiopian Studies Vol. 3, No. 1|date=1965|pages=51|publisher=Institute of Ethiopian Studies|language=en}}

According to a trade journal published in 1856, Berbera was described as “the freest port in the world, and the most important trading place on the whole Arabian Gulf.”:

“The only seaports of importance on this coast are Feyla [Zeila] and Berbera; the former is an Arabian colony, dependent of Mocha, but Berbera is independent of any foreign power. It is, without having the name, the freest port in the world, and the most important trading place on the whole Arabian Gulf. From the beginning of November to the end of April, a large fair assembles in Berbera, and caravans of 6,000 camels at a time come from the interior loaded with coffee, (considered superior to Mocha in Bombay), gum, ivory, hides, skins, grain, cattle, and sour milk, the substitute of fermented drinks in these regions; also much cattle is brought there for the Aden market.”{{cite book|last1=Hunt|first1=Freeman|title=The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 34|date=1856|pages=694|language=en}}

File:Berbera, 1884.png

Historically, the port of Berbera was controlled indigenously between the mercantile Reer Ahmed Nur (Ayyal Ahmed) and Reer Yunis Nuh (Ayyal Yunis) sub-clans of the Sa'ad Musa, Habr Awal. These two sub-clans effectively administered the trade of the town, especially in the dealings of all transactions and brokerage between various parties to issuing protection agreements towards the foreign Arab and Indian traders. In the year 1845, the two sub-clans had a dissension over the control of the trade of Berbera, which lead to a wider altercation where each side sought outside support.{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=I.M.|title= The Modern History of Somaliland: from Nation to State |date=1965|publisher=Praeger|pages=35|language=en}} With the backing of Haji Sharmarke Ali Saleh, the Reer Ahmed Nuh drove out their kinsmen and declared themselves the sole commercial masters of Berbera.{{cite book|title= Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, 1849, Volume 8, p. 185}} The defeated Reer Yunis Nuh moved westwards and established the port of Bulhar which later, for a brief period, became a trading rival to nearby Berbera.{{cite book|last1=Z. H.|first1=Kour|title=The History of Aden, 1839-72|date=1981|publisher=Cass|pages=72|language=en}} Sharmarke Ali Saleh's actions were a political ruse to control Berbera for himself, which he achieved for several years.{{cite book|title=Africa in the Nineteenth Century Until the 1880s|url=https://archive.org/details/generalhistoryaf00ajay|url-access=limited|date=1989|publisher=Unesco|pages=[https://archive.org/details/generalhistoryaf00ajay/page/n412 386]|language=en}}

File:Sketch Map of Northern Somali Land.png

Berbera commanded most of the trade traffic with the Somali and Ethiopian interiors. The two main caravan trade routes from Berbera extended to Harar and Shewa in the west, and to the Shebelle basin in the south (although some caravans traveled to/from as far as the Jubba River).{{cite book|last1=Christie (M.D.)|first1=James|title= Cholera Epidemics in East Africa|date=1876|pages=133, 137|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|language=en}} Moreover, the inland caravan trade routes were also concurrently used as pilgrim routes during the trading season by Somali Hajj pilgrims who resided in the deep interior.Christie (M.D.), Cholera Epidemics, p. 145

File:Admiralty Chart No 675 Port Burburra, Published 1828.png of Berbera drawn by Lieutenant John Septimus Roe]]

In addition, Mocha, Aden, Jeddah and several other ports in Arabia had constant contact with Berbera in regard to general trade and commerce.Pankhurst, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, p. 44 In the early years of the nineteenth century, the local Somalis of Berbera (Habr Awal clan) had a navigation act where they excluded Arab vessels and brought the goods and produce of the interior in their own ships to the Arabian ports:

Berbera held an annual fair during the cool rain-free months between October and April. This long drawn out market handled immense quantities of coffee, gum Arabic, myrrh and other commodities. These goods in the early nineteenth century were almost exclusively handled by Somalis who, Salt says, had "a kind of navigation act by which they exclude the Arab vessels from their ports and bring the produce of their country either to Aden or Mocha in their own dows."Pankhurst, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, p.45

In much of the 19th century, the trade between Berbera and Aden was so important to the later that when disturbances effected the Berbera trading season, Aden too suffered as a result. According to Captain Haines, who was then the colonial administrator of Aden (1839-1854), 80% of Aden's revenue in 1848 was derived from duties charged on imported goods from Berbera. Additionally, most of the coffee imported by Mocha (centre of the coffee trade in early modern times) arrived via Somali merchants from Berbera, who procured the coffee beans from the environs of Harar.{{cite book|last1=R. J.|first1=Gavin|title=Aden Under British Rule, 1839-1967|date=1975|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|pages=53|language=en}} Although the coffee beans were grown in Harar (present-day Ethiopia), the coffee was named Berbera Coffee in the international market, and the beans were considered superior to the locally grown varieties in Yemen.

File:Approaching Berbera on the Tuna (3948071623).jpg

The British explorer Richard Burton made two visits to this port, and his second visit was marred by an attack on his camp by a group of local Somali warriors, and although Burton was able to escape to Aden, one of his companions was killed.Lewis, A Modern History, p. 36 Burton, recognizing the importance of the port city wrote:

{{Blockquote |In the first place, Berberah is the true key of the Red Sea, the centre of East African traffic, and the only safe place for shipping upon the western Erythraean shore, from Suez to Guardafui. Backed by lands capable of cultivation, and by hills covered with pine and other valuable trees, enjoying a comparatively temperate climate, with a regular although thin monsoon, this harbour has been coveted by many a foreign conqueror. Circumstances have thrown it as it were into our arms, and, if we refuse the chance, another and a rival nation will not be so blind.Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, Preface}}

By 1869, a sub-clan of the Reer Ahmed Nur (Ayyal Ahmed, Habr Awal) were operating a fort in the port town and it was manned by several hired guards armed with muskets and fiercely loyal to them. A British officer visiting the city from Aden noted the guards would not betray the Reer Ahmed Nur save death.Precis of Papers Regarding Aden, 1838-1872, India. Foreign and Political Department, pg. 165-165

{{Main|Battle of Berbera 1827}}

When a British vessel named the Mary Anne attempted to dock in Berbera's port in 1825 it was attacked and multiple members of the crew were massacred by the Habr Awal. In response the Royal Navy enforced a blockade and some accounts narrate a bombardment of the city.{{cite book|title=Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience|year=1977|page=70|isbn=9780226467917|publisher=9780226467917|first=David D.|last=Laitin}} In 1827 two years later the British arrived and extended an offer to relieve the blockade which had halted Berbera's lucrative trade in exchange for indemnity. Following this offer the Battle of Berbera 1827 broke out. After the Habr Awal defeat, 15,000 Spanish dollars was to be paid by the Habr Awal leaders for the destruction of the ship and loss of life.

In the 1830s, the Isaaq Sultan Farah Guled and Haji Ali penned a letter to Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Ras Al Khaimah requesting military assistance and joint religious war against the British.{{cite book|title=رسالة زعماء الصومال إلى الشيخ سلطان بن صقر القاسمي|language=ar|page=١٧|year=1996|first=Sultan bin Muhammad|last=Al Qasimi}} This would not materialize as Sultan Saqr was incapacitated by prior Persian Gulf campaign of 1819 and was unable to send aid to Berbera. Alongside their stronghold in the Persian Gulf & Gulf of Oman the Qasimi were very active both militarily and economically in the Gulf of Aden and were given to plunder and attack ships as far west as the Mocha on the Red Sea.{{cite book|title=The Blood-red Arab Flag: An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy, 1797-1820|first=Charles E.|last=Davies|publisher=University of Exeter Press|year=1997|page=167|isbn=9780859895095}} They had numerous commercial ties with the Somalis, leading vessels from Ras Al Khaimah and the Persian Gulf to regularly attend trade fairs in the large ports of Berbera and Zeila and were very familiar with the Isaaq.{{cite journal|title=The Trade of the Gulf of Aden Ports of Africa in the Early Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965718|year=1965|first=Richard|last=Pankhurst|issue= 1|volume= 3|journal=Journal of Ethiopian Studies|pages=36–81|jstor=41965718}}{{cite book|title=رسالة زعماء الصومال إلى الشيخ سلطان بن صقر القاسمي|language=ar|page=١٢|year=1996|first=Sultan bin Muhammad|last=Al Qasimi}}

{{main|British Somaliland}}

File:Somalia1911.png and British Somaliland, including Berbera]]

After signing successive treaties with the various clans of the northern Somali coast between 1884 and 1886, the British established a protectorate in the region referred to as British Somaliland.Hugh Chisholm (ed.), The encyclopædia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 25, (At the University press: 1911), p.383. The British garrisoned the protectorate from Aden and administered it from their British India colony until 1898. British Somaliland was then administered by the Foreign Office until 1905 and afterwards by the Colonial Office.

Despite Berbera's strategic location, being the only port with a sheltered harbor on the southern side of the Gulf of Aden (the gateway to the Suez Canal), the British later came to regret their nominal control of the region. In fact, Winston Churchill once visited Berbera in 1907 when he was Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and he noted the protectorate be abandoned, since it was "unproductive, inhospitable, and the people are very hostile to occupation."Samatar, Abdi Ismail The state and rural transformation in Northern Somalia, 1884–1986, Madison: 1989, University of Wisconsin Press, p. 31 The stated purposes of the establishment of the protectorate were to "secure a supply market and to exclude the interference of foreign powers."Samatar p. 31 The British principally viewed the protectorate as a source for supplies of meat for their British Indian outpost in Aden through the maintenance of order in the coastal areas and protection of the caravan routes from the interior.Samatar, p. 32Samatar, Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa, Somalia Online [http://www.somaliaonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=003299;p=0] retrieved 10-03-27 Colonial administration during this period did not extend infrastructure beyond the coast (which left the Somali clans within the protectorate with greater autonomy),Samatar, The state and rural transformation in Northern Somalia, p. 42 and contrasted with the more interventionist colonial experience of Italian Somalia.{{cite news|first=Tristan|last=McConnell |title=The Invisible Country |work=Virginia Quarterly Review |date=15 January 2009 |url=http://www.pulitzercenter.org/openitem.cfm?id=2146 |access-date=27 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613171106/http://www.pulitzercenter.org/openitem.cfm?id=2146 |archive-date=13 June 2010 }} In the early days of the protectorate, some planned to invest in major infrastructure projects such as the abandoned Berbera-Harar Railway initiative; this was vetoed by parliament because it would harm the cordial agreement (entente cordiale) between France and Britain.{{cite web|url= http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1915675|title=Berbera-Harrar Railway Survey Vol. 1}}The Navy Everywhere, 1919. p. 244

File:Berbera town.png

File:Bebrera native town.png

In August 1940, during the East African Campaign, British Somaliland was briefly occupied by Italy after a large invasion force defeated British colonial troops at the Battle of Tug Argan. During this period, the British rounded up soldiers and governmental officials to evacuate them from the territory through Berbera. In total, 7,000 people, including civilians, were evacuated.Playfair (1954), p. 178 The Somalis serving in the Somaliland Camel Corps were given the choice of evacuation or disbandment; the majority chose to remain and were allowed to retain their arms.Wavell, [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37594/pages/2724 p. 2724] In March 1941, the British forces recaptured the protectorate during Operation Appearance after a six-month occupation. The first WW2 Australian POWs were taken hostage here in 1940.

The British Somaliland protectorate gained its independence on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland,{{Cite news |title=Somaliland Marks Independence After 73 Years of British Rule |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/06/26/archives/somaliland-marks-independence-after-73-years-of-british-rule.html |format=fee required |work=The New York Times |page=6 |date=1960-06-26 |access-date=2008-06-20}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10740852 |work=BBC News |title=How Britain said farewell to its Empire |date=2010-07-23}} before uniting as planned five days later with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic.

File:Berbera Port in 1983.jpg

In the post-independence period, Berbera was administered as the part of the North-Western province of the Somali Republic. It served as the main livestock port of the republic and in the 1970s and 1980s, nearly all of the livestock exports went out through the port of Berbera via Isaaq livestock traders. The entire livestock exports accounted to upwards of 90% of the Somali Republic's entire export figures in a given year, and Berbera's exports alone provided over 75% of the nation's recorded foreign currency income at the time.{{cite web|last1=de Waal|first1=Alex|title=CLASS AND POWER IN A STATELESS SOMALIA|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238101910 |website=ResearchGate}}{{Cite book|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/africa_watch_somalia_a_government_at_war_with_ibook4you.pdf|title=Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People|publisher=Human Rights Watch|pages=213|year=1990|access-date=25 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217070406/http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/africa_watch_somalia_a_government_at_war_with_ibook4you.pdf|archive-date=17 February 2017|url-status=live}} The main consumers were the wealthy gulf states and Saudi Arabia in particular.

As early as 1962, The Soviet Union agreed to assist the nascent Somali Republic towards the construction of modern port facilities and a military base, which was completed in 1969 and was called on by sixteen Soviet Ships in 1971.{{cite book|last1=Yordanov|first1=Radoslav A.|title=The Soviet Union and the Horn of Africa during the Cold War: Between Ideology and Pragmatism|date=2016|isbn=978-1498529105|page=103|publisher=Lexington Books }} Coinciding with the Ogaden War between The Somali Republic and Ethiopia in 1977, the Soviets left Berbera and the nation as a whole due to a disagreement, leaving the United States to arrive with a $40 million investment and new health facilities in 1980. By 1985, the city had an estimated population of 70,000, with the outbreak of the Somali National Movement (SNM) ousted government troops from the city following aerial bombardments and extrajudicial killings inflicted on the population by the government. With the downfall of General Siad Barre in 1991, the Northern region of the Somali Republic, declared the state of Somaliland, of Somalia. A slow process of infrastructural reconstruction subsequently began in Berbera and other towns in the region.Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia edited by Michael Dumper, Bruce E. Stanley Page 93

File:New DP World Berbera Container Terminal Port.jpg Container Terminal Expansion as of June 2020.]]

The city remains a competitive regional port and in 2016 a US$442 million agreement was reached between DP World and the government of Somaliland.{{Cite news|url=https://asokoinsight.com/news/somaliland-and-dp-world-celebrate-30-year-concession-for-442-million-port-of-berbera-somaliland|title=Somaliland and DP World celebrate 30-year concession for $442 million Port of Berbera (Somaliland) – Asoko Insight|work=Asoko Insight|access-date=2017-06-19|language=en-US}} The deal involves enhancing and operating the regional trade and logistics hub at the Port of Berbera.{{cite news|title=Somalia project opens up Africa for DP World|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/dubais-dp-world-agrees-to-manage-port-in-somaliland-for-30-years-1464549937|access-date=30 May 2016|newspaper=thenational.ae|date=30 May 2016}} The project, which will be phased in, will also involve the setting up of a free zone.

On 1 March 2018, Ethiopia became a major shareholder following an agreement with DP World and the Somaliland Port Authority. DP World holds a 51% stake in the project, Somaliland 30% and Ethiopia the remaining 19%. As part of the agreement, the government of Ethiopia will invest in infrastructure to develop the Berbera Corridor as a trade gateway for the inland country, which is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. There are also plans to construct an additional berth at the Port of Berbera, in line with the Berbera master plan, which DP World has started implementing, while adding new equipment to further improve efficiencies and productivity of the port.{{cite web|title=Ethiopia acquires 19% stake in DP World Berbera Port|url=http://web.dpworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018_03_01-Ethiopia-acquires-stake-in-DP-World-Berbera.pdf|access-date=21 May 2018|archive-date=22 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522041419/http://web.dpworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018_03_01-Ethiopia-acquires-stake-in-DP-World-Berbera.pdf|url-status=dead}}

On 24 June 2021, The CEO of DP World officially announced the second phase of the Berbera port upgrade during the inauguration ceremony for the completion of the first phase. The second phase includes extending the new quay from 400 to 1,000 metres, and adding seven more ship-to-shore gantry cranes, bringing the total to ten and enabling the expanded port to handle up to two million TEU containers a year.{{cite web |url=https://mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2021/June/24-06/DP-World-and-Somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-Berbera-Port |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624194039/https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2021/June/24-06/DP-World-and-Somaliland-open-new-terminal-at-Berbera-Port |archive-date=2021-06-24 |title=DP World, Somaliland open new terminal at Berbera Port}}

The agreement comes as part of a larger government-to-government memorandum of understanding between Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Somaliland to further strengthen their strategic ties.{{cite news|title=Dubai's DP World Agrees to Manage Port in Somaliland for 30 Years|url=http://www.thenational.ae/business/shipping/20160528/somalia-project-opens-up-africa-for-dp-world|access-date=30 May 2016|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=30 May 2016}} Somalia's attempts to obstruct and block the deal were frustrated and failed to stop the project from commencing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/04/20/business/20reuters-somalia-emirates.html|title=DP World Should Rethink Port Deals in Somalia-Foreign Minister|agency=Reuters|date=2018-04-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-04-22|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

A rail link to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, has remained a point of discussion and may materialize.{{cite news|title=Can Ethiopia's railway bring peace to Somalia?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34871074|work=BBC|language=en-UK|access-date=23 November 2015}} On January 1, 2024, it was announced that Ethiopia signed an agreement with Somaliland to utilize Berbera's sea port.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-01 |title=Ethiopia signs pact to use Somaliland's Red Sea port |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/landlocked-ethiopia-signs-pact-use-somalilands-red-sea-port-2024-01-01/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Reuters}}

File:Somaliland (6936711023) (2).jpg

Berbera is located in coastal region of northern Somalia. An old port city, it has the only sheltered harbour on the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. The landscape around town, along with Somaliland's coastal lowlands, is semi-arid land.

Popular local beaches, such as Bathela and Batalale, have earned the city the nickname Beach City.

Berbera features a hot arid climate (Köppen BWh). It has long, sweltering summers and short, hot winters, as well as very little rainfall. Average high temperatures consistently exceed {{convert|40|°C|F|disp=or}} during nearly four months of summertime (June, July, August and September). Daytime heat on summer nights is high, with average low temperatures of around {{convert|30|°C|°F|disp=or}}. During the coolest months of the year, average high temperatures remain above {{convert|29|°C|°F|1|disp=or}} and average low temperatures also surpass {{convert|20|°C|°F|disp=or}}. Although rainfall is low, the relative humidity is very high throughout the year and the atmosphere is simultaneously moist. The combination of the desert heat and the excessive moisture make apparent temperatures reach extremely high levels. Annual average rainfall is minimal, with only {{convert|52|mm|abbr=off}} of precipitation. There are between 5 and 8 rainy days on average annually. Bright sunshine likely occur during about 84% of the total daytime hours and average annual cloudiness is very low.

{{Weather box|location = Berbera

|width = auto

| metric first = Y

| single line = Y

| temperature colour =

|Jan record high C = 35.3

|Feb record high C = 35.0

|Mar record high C = 35.0

|Apr record high C = 42.2

|May record high C = 47.3

|Jun record high C = 49.1

|Jul record high C = 47.7

|Aug record high C = 46.7

|Sep record high C = 46.0

|Oct record high C = 41.7

|Nov record high C = 36.7

|Dec record high C = 36.1

|year record high C = 49.1

| Jan high C = 27.9

| Feb high C = 29.2

| Mar high C = 30.7

| Apr high C = 31.0

| May high C = 35.7

| Jun high C = 42.8

| Jul high C = 42.9

| Aug high C = 41.9

| Sep high C = 39.7

| Oct high C = 33.1

| Nov high C = 30.0

| Dec high C = 28.6

| year high C = 34.5

| Jan mean C = 25.0

| Feb mean C = 25.0

| Mar mean C = 26.1

| Apr mean C = 28.3

| May mean C = 31.1

| Jun mean C = 33.5

| Jul mean C = 36.1

| Aug mean C = 35.6

| Sep mean C = 33.3

| Oct mean C = 28.8

| Nov mean C = 26.7

| Dec mean C = 26.7

|year mean C = 30.0

| Jan low C = 21.3

| Feb low C = 21.6

| Mar low C = 23.3

| Apr low C = 25.2

| May low C = 27.7

| Jun low C = 31.0

| Jul low C = 31.8

| Aug low C = 31.1

| Sep low C = 29.3

| Oct low C = 24.0

| Nov low C = 22.2

| Dec low C = 21.6

| year low C = 25.8

|Jan record low C = 14.4

|Feb record low C = 15.6

|Mar record low C = 16.7

|Apr record low C = 18.9

|May record low C = 20.6

|Jun record low C = 22.2

|Jul record low C = 20.6

|Aug record low C = 20.0

|Sep record low C = 17.8

|Oct record low C = 16.7

|Nov record low C = 16.1

|Dec record low C = 15.0

|year record low C = 14.4

|rain colour = green

| Jan rain mm = 8

| Feb rain mm = 2

| Mar rain mm = 5

| Apr rain mm = 12

| May rain mm = 8

| Jun rain mm = 1

| Jul rain mm = 1

| Aug rain mm = 2

| Sep rain mm = 1

| Oct rain mm = 2

| Nov rain mm = 5

| Dec rain mm = 5

|year rain mm = 52

|unit rain days = 1.0 mm

|Jan rain days = 0.6

|Feb rain days = 0.6

|Mar rain days = 0.5

|Apr rain days = 0.7

|May rain days = 0.8

|Jun rain days = 0.1

|Jul rain days = 0.3

|Aug rain days = 0.5

|Sep rain days = 0.4

|Oct rain days = 0.2

|Nov rain days = 0.3

|Dec rain days = 0.4

|year rain days = 5.2

| Jan humidity = 78

| Feb humidity = 79

| Mar humidity = 79

| Apr humidity = 81

| May humidity = 73

| Jun humidity = 49

| Jul humidity = 44

| Aug humidity = 45

| Sep humidity = 51

| Oct humidity = 72

| Nov humidity = 74

| Dec humidity = 76

|year humidity = 67

| Jan percentsun = 80

| Feb percentsun = 80

| Mar percentsun = 80

| Apr percentsun = 83

| May percentsun = 83

| Jun percentsun = 87

| Jul percentsun = 80

| Aug percentsun = 87

| Sep percentsun = 87

| Oct percentsun = 87

| Nov percentsun = 87

| Dec percentsun = 80

| year percentsun =

|source 1 = Arab Meteorology Book (average temperatures, humidity and precipitation),{{cite web| url = http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf| title = Appendix I: Meteorological Data| publisher = Springer| access-date = 22 October 2016| archive-date = 4 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf| url-status = dead}} Deutscher Wetterdienst (precipitation days, 1908–1950 and extremes)

{{cite web| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_631600_kt.pdf| title = Klimatafel von Berbera / Somalia| work = Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst| language = de| access-date = 22 October 2016}}| source 2 = Food and Agriculture Organization: Somalia Water and Land Management (percent sunshine){{cite web|url = http://sddr.faoswalim.org/downloads/Long%20Term%20Mean_Monthly__sunshine%20fraction.xls|title = Long term mean monthly sunshine fraction in Somalia|publisher = Food and Agriculture Organization|access-date = 4 November 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161005063105/http://sddr.faoswalim.org/downloads/Long%20Term%20Mean_Monthly__sunshine%20fraction.xls|archive-date = 2016-10-05|url-status = dead}}

}}

File:Habr Awal woman.png

Historically, Berbera was inhabited by the Reer Ahmed Nuh and Yunis Nuh lineages of the Sa'ad Musa, Habr Awal.{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=I.M.|title= The Modern History of Somaliland: from Nation to State |url=https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofs0000lewi|url-access=registration|date=1965|publisher=Praeger|pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofs0000lewi/page/35 35]|language=en|quote=Before this, and prior to the British settlement at Aden in 1839, the Ayyal Yunis and Ayyal Ahmed lineages of the Habr Awal clan had held Berbera and jointly managed its trade, sharing in the profits on all commercial transactions as ‘protectors’ (abans) of foreign merchants from Arabia and India.}}

In more recent times, the Issa Musse sub-clan of the Habr Awal have come to make up the majority of the town's inhabitants,{{Citation|author=Center for Creative Solutions|title=Ruin and Renewal: The Story of Somaliland|url=http://www.mbali.info/doc124.htm|date=May 31, 2004|access-date=September 21, 2010|publisher=Center for Creative Solutions|location=Hargeisa|quote=The ‘Iise Muuse clan for whom Berbera and its environs are their traditional area of settlement saw it differently. Retrieved on 2011-12-15.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408210233/http://www.mbali.info/doc124.htm|archive-date=April 8, 2011}} while the Habr Yunis, primarily belonging to the Musa Abdallah branch{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMoNDgAAQBAJ&q=Habr+Yunis+warrior&pg=PT37|title= I.M Lewis : peoples of the Horn of Africa.|isbn= 9781315308173|last1= Lewis|first1= I. M.|date= 3 February 2017|publisher= Routledge}} as well as the Habr Je'lo also being present.{{Cite web|last=Kluijver|first=Robert|title=KYD3 - Politics in Berbera|url=https://robertk.space/somali-studies/kyd3-politics-in-berbera/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-02|website=Politics and Art from the Edge|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102235516/https://robertk.space/somali-studies/kyd3-politics-in-berbera/ |archive-date=2022-01-02 }}

==Education==

There are 30 primary schools operating in Berbera city totaling 63,641 students. The broader Berbera district has 49 schools serving 90,310 students.{{cite web|title=2011/2 Primary School Census Statistics Yearbook|url=https://www.unicef.org/somalia/SOM_resources_primschoolcensus20112.pdf|access-date=2018-02-13|archive-date=2023-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303002340/https://www.unicef.org/somalia/SOM_resources_primschoolcensus20112.pdf|url-status=dead}}

A number of products are exported through the Port of Berbera, including livestock, gum arabic, frankincense, and myrrh. Its seaborne trade is chiefly with Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Aden in Yemen, {{convert|240|km|abbr=off}} to the north.{{cite book | title=Report of the Special Subcommittee to Inspect Facilities at Berbera, Somalia, to the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, first session, July 15, 1975. | publisher=US Government Printing Office | author=United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Special Subcommittee to Inspect Facilities at Berbera, Somalia. | year=1975 | location=Washington, D.C.}} Additionally, goods from Ethiopia are also exported through the facility.[http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2009/Jul/29Jul09/93490.htm "Ethiopia, Somaliland envisage exploiting Barbara port"]{{dead link|date=October 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Ethiopian News Agency, 29 July 2009 (accessed 1 November 2009) The seaside boasts watersport tourist activity such as scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing and coral reefs.[http://www.iexplore.com/travel-guides/africa/somalia/attractions Somalia attractions, Berbera Seaside] retrieved 29 November 2013

File:Berbera Airport.jpg

Berbera is the terminus of roads from Hargeisa and Burco. The city has one of Somaliland's major class seaports, the Port of Berbera.{{cite web|title=Istanbul conference on Somalia 21 – 23 May 2010 - Draft discussion paper for Round Table "Transport infrastructure"|url=http://www.somalitalk.com/2010/may/istambul/transport.pdf|publisher=Government of Somalia|access-date=31 August 2013}} It historically served as a naval and missile base for the Somali government. Following an agreement between the Somali Republic and the USSR in 1962, the port's facilities were patronized by the Soviets and was later significantly upgraded in 1969.{{cite book|last=Hanhimäki|first=Jussi M.|title=The Rise and Fall of Détente: American Foreign Policy and the Transformation of the Cold War|year=2013|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=978-1612345864|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eatUQ0Cxo7UC}} The Berbera seaport was later expanded for U.S. military use, after the Somali authorities strengthened ties with the American government.{{cite book|title=Intercontinental Press Combined with Inprecor, Volume 20, Issues 25-37|year=1982|publisher=Intercontinental Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0zvAAAAMAAJ|page=674}}

For air transportation, the city is served by the Berbera Airport. It has an extensive {{convert|4,140|m|adj=on|abbr=off}} runway.{{Cite journal|last=Schmitz|first=Sebastain|year=2007|title=By Ilyushin 18 to Mogadishu|journal=Airways|volume=14|issue=7|pages=12–17|issn=1074-4320}}

{{Portal|Somaliland}}

{{reflist}}

{{wikivoyage}}

{{Commons category|Berbera}}

• [http://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-4556228&fid=5777&c=somalia Berbera - Coordinates]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Sahil, Somaliland

Category:Gulf of Aden

Category:Port cities in Africa

Category:Cities in Somaliland

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Category:Cities of the Adal Sultanate

Category:British Somaliland in World War II