Garbahaarreey
| Garbaharrey | |
|---|---|
 Garbaharrey
|
|
| Coordinates: 3°21′N 42°16′E / 3.350°N 42.267°E | |
| Country |
 Somalia
|
| Region | Gedo |
| Government | |
| Population | |
| • Total | 50,000 est. |
| Time zone | East Africa Time (UTC+3) |
| Area code(s) | +252 |
Garbarhare (also spelt Garbaharrey, Garbahaarrey or Garbahaareey) (Arabic: جربهاري) is the capital of Gedo, the second largest and sixth most populous region (gobolka) of Somalia. Maj General Mohamed Siyad Barre, Somalia's longest-serving president, claimed Garbahaarrey as his birthplace in order to get a job in the Italian colonial police force. The city is surrounded by the Gogol Mountain Range.
The population of Garbaharrey is estimated to be around 50,000. There are high levels of transmigration between Garbaharrey and surrounding towns and villages, such as Tuulo Barwaaqo, especially when there is a conflict or natural disaster which affects the city.
At the height of the civil war from 1991 to 1994, the population dispersed to many of the two dozen or so villages surrounding the city. Garbaharrey is about 130 km from the Kenyan border in the Northern Frontier District (NFD).
Garbaharrey's population growth is at a slower pace compared to many other districts in Somalia, due to the size of the population and lack of agricultural activities. Since the breakout of the civil war in Somalia in early 1991, the city’s population has doubled. Many Garbaharrey residents make second home in Beled Haawo. In Beled Haawo, many families take advantage of the open-border policy with Kenya and send their children to school in Mandera, Kenya. Likewise, business activities are much broader in Beled Haawo than in Garbaharrey. Trucks full of goods to and from many parts of Somalia go through Beled Haawo-Mandera border every day. Garbhaarrey has another business route from Bardera district. Mostly produce from the fertile Jubba River farms in Bardera, Buurdhuubo and Luuq districts.
Much of the 1990s, the city of Garbaharrey was the seat of the Somali National Front militia in the early days of the civil war. But then people lost interest in being in a war that only killed more young people, and pressured the militia to evacuate the town; by early 2001 it had come under the control of the Transitional National Government. All activities shifted to Luuq and Beled Haawo. Now Garbaharrey has a new role to play in the region. Neighboring regions such as NFD has welcomed the new leadership. A safe Gedo is also good for the neighboring regions in Kenya and Ethiopia. This is the new political reality in this age of insecurity in the Horn as a whole.
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Wikipedia