Berbera
|
Berbera Barbara بربرة |
|
|---|---|
| City | |
 |
|
 Berbera
|
|
| Coordinates: 10°26′08″N 045°00′59″E / 10.43556°N 45.01639°ECoordinates: 10°26′08″N 045°00′59″E / 10.43556°N 45.01639°E | |
| Country |
 Somaliland
|
| Region | Woqooyi Galbeed |
| District | Berbera District |
| Elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 232,500 |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Berbera (Somali: Berbera, Arabic: بربرة) is a city in the Saahil province of the self-declared state of Republic of Somaliland.
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.
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
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, 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.
...
Wikipedia