Jowhar
|
Jowhar Giohar |
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Jowhar
|
|
| Coordinates: 2°47′N 45°30′E / 2.783°N 45.500°E | |
| Country |
 Somalia
|
| Region | Middle Shabelle |
| District | Jowhar |
| Elevation | 300 ft (100 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 62,000 |
| Time zone | East Africa Time (UTC+3) |
Jowhar (Somali: Jowhaar, Arabic: جوهر, Italian: Giohar, formerly Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi) is the capital town of the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia. Along with Baidoa, it used to form the joint administrative capital of the Transitional Federal Government, which it captured from the Islamic Courts Union.
The town lies 90 km (50 mi) along a major road north of the national capital of Mogadishu.
The Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi was founded by a senior member of the Italian Royal Family, H.R.H. Principe Luigi Amedeo, Duca degli Abruzzi in 1920, who first came to the African continent in 1905 and liked the place. The Duke raised funds to build dams, roads, a railway, schools, hospitals, a church and a mosque. He eventually married a Somali woman and died in his village.
The village was founded as an agricultural settlement in Italian Somalia experimenting with new cultivation techniques. In 1926, the colony comprised 16 villages, with some 3,000 Somali and 200 Italian inhabitants. It was commonly known as Villabruzzi.
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Wikipedia