Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean
Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia.
Located on the coast of the Indian Ocean, Mogadishu serves as an important port and home to more than 2 million people.
Dune fields appear red and orange colors due to natural processes that left behind traces of iron. The dunes contrast with the lightly-colored sands closer to the shore.
The image of Mogadishu was captured by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed over the Horn of Africa.
Mogadishu(muqdisho)has a long history, which ranges from the ancient period up until now, giving birth to the Mogadishu Confederacy and the Mogadishu Sultanate established by Abubakr bin Fakhr al-Din who established the Fakhr al-Din dynasty, eventually to be replaced by the Muzaffar dynasty, who became allies of the Ajuran Sultanate in the late 16th century. In the 17th century, Mogadishu and the Banadir coast came to fall under Omani-Zanzibari suzerainty up until the 19th century. During the 19th century, because of the divide in Muscat, the power came to be shared with the Geledi Sultanate over the Banadir in an equilibrium fashion.
Mogadishu reached the height of its prosperity in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The onset of European colonialism occurred in incremental stages, with Italian treaties in the 1880s followed by economic engagement between various Somali clans, including the Reer Mataan and the Shaansi (Cadcad) clans like reer Xamar and the Italian Benadir Company and then direct governance by the Italian government after 1906 and the British Military Administration of Somalia after World War Two and the UN Trust Territory in the 1950s. This was followed by independence in 1960, the Hantiwadaag (socialist) era during Barre’s presidency (1969-1991), a three-decade civil war afterward, and as of the late 2010s and 2020s a period of reconstruction.
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
