Mogadishu City Profile

Mogadishu is a very ancient city and dates back to at least the ninth century developing as a cultural hybrid between Africa, Persia and the Arab world. Although a prosperous trading city spanning millennia, it probably reached the zenith of its wealth in the fourteenth century. The city was leased to Italy in 1892 who went on to actually buy Mogadishu in its entirety thirteen years later, making it the capital of Italian Somaliland. Following the First World War, thousands of Italians moved to Mogadishu and a modern building program started in the 1930s accompanied by the assimilation of many Somalis into the city culture. By the end of that decade, some 10,000 Italian Somalians were living in Mogadishu and the city continued to thrive under Italian rule until it fell to the British, who were operating out of Kenya, on February 26, 1941 during the Second World War.

Mogadishu became the capital of independent Somalia in 1960 and today has a population of some 2,387,920. The city has been the scene of many battles after rebel forces took the city in 1990 forcing the president of Somalia to flee to Kenya the following year. Despite UN intervention, Mogadishu was then effectively ruled by warlords until 2006 when the Islamic Courts Union took control. Later in 2006 Ethiopian forces swept into the country ousting the ICU and restored the former government which had been in exile in Kenya. Despite this there is little effective government in Somalia and while the city has been the scene of rebuilding since 2011, it has continued to be a battle zone with hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants being displaced. The current travel advice is that, "Mogadishu remains extremely dangerous, with violent crime and terror attacks at dangerous levels."

Should you find yourself in Mogadishu, possibly awaiting a flight home after being kidnapped, a trip to the beach, originally made for Italian colonialists, is a must if only to escape the heat. There you can mingle (and possibly be kidnapped again) by the many thousands who congregate next to the warm Indian waters enjoying its beachfront resorts. Bakara Market is also worth a look and recommended by one traveler if only on the grounds, "I didn't get stabbed" and The Black Hawk Down Crash Site museum is a major attraction for American visitors. Also worth a look are the Governor's House, the Union Mosque, Mogadishu Cathedral (built by the Italians during the colonial period) and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a monument with so many unknowns it's not even known what battle he died in. or she. Or when. Possibly, if at all. Just saying.

Mogadishu Video Profile

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Mogadishu Profile: Volunteer in Somalia Check out all the latest fee paying and free African volunteer work placements and charity work job opportunities abroad with local projects and volunteering organisations in Somalia. More >

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Mogadishu Profile: Mogadishu City Map A satellite map of Mogadishu, capital city of Somalia, which you can use to zoom in to explore each street of the city and its major features. More >

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Mogadishu Profile: Old Mogadishu A video montage of pictures of old Mogadishu in both ancient and colonial times showing the rich past of the old city. More >

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Mogadishu Profile: Mogadishu Airport Make a virtual landing at Mogadishu International Airport next to the blue waters of the Indian Ocean where you are likely to enter the country for your volunteer work. More >

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Mogadishu Profile: Sponsor Children in Somalia Details of how to sponsor a child in Somalia with Somalian child sponsor organisations, charities, programs and projects. More >

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Mogadishu Profile: Somalia Country Profile In another of our African country profiles, find out all about Somalia in a series of information articles, latest daily news, videos, and images together with volunteering and child sponsorship opportunities. More >

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