Mogadishu << `maw` gah DEE shoo >> is the capital and largest city of Somalia. It is also the country’s chief port. Population estimates for the city vary widely, from about 1 million to 3 million people. Mogadishu, also spelled Muqdisho or Mogadiscio, stands on the southeast coast of Somalia, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) north of the equator. It borders the Indian Ocean.
Mogadishu has buildings in both Arab and European styles of architecture. Its modern harbor handles many of Somalia’s exports, including bananas, cattle, and hides. The city’s chief industry is food processing.
Historians believe that Arabs founded Mogadishu in the 900’s. Arab rulers called sultans controlled the city for centuries. Italy gained control of the city in 1889 and later made it the capital of the colony of Italian Somaliland. The Italians built the city’s central section. In 1960, Italian Somaliland and neighboring British Somaliland became the independent state of Somalia, with Mogadishu as its capital.
In 1991, fighting took place between government forces and rebels in Mogadishu, and the city suffered heavy damage. The city remained divided between rival political factions into the early 2000’s, and periodic violence continued. The violence increased in 2007 and 2008, as various Somali groups fought against each other, as well as against Ethiopian forces and international peacekeeping troops. Hundreds of thousands of Mogadishu’s people fled the fighting.
