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Awdal

Coordinates: 10°48′3″N 43°21′7″E / 10.80083°N 43.35194°E / 10.80083; 43.35194
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Awdal
Awdal (Somali)
أودَل (Arabic)
Region of Somaliland
Ruins of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal in Zeila
Motto(s): 
Education, Peace and Prosperity.
Location in Somaliland
Location in Somaliland
Coordinates: 10°48′3″N 43°21′7″E / 10.80083°N 43.35194°E / 10.80083; 43.35194
Country Somaliland
Administrative centreBorama
Government
 • TypeRegional
 • GovernorHassan Dahir Haddi[1]
Area
 • Total21,374 km2 (8,253 sq mi)
Elevation
2,136 m (7,008 ft)
Highest elevation
2,632 m (8,635 ft)
Lowest elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
 (2022[2])
 • Total576,543
 • Density27/km2 (70/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Area code+252
ISO 3166 codeSO-AW
HDI (2021)0.401[3]
low · 3rd

Awdal (Somali: Awdal, Arabic: أودَل) is an administrative region (gobol)[4][5] in western Somaliland. It was separated from Woqooyi Galbeed and became a province in 1984 and is the most northwesterly province of Somaliland. To the east it borders Maroodi Jeex and Sahil; to its north-west it borders Djibouti; to its south and south-west lies Ethiopia; and the Gulf of Aden to its north.[6] The province has an estimated population of 1,010,566.[7] The region comprises the four districts of Borama, the regional capital, Baki, Lughaya, and Zeila.

Description

Ruins of the Adal Sultanate in Zeila, Somaliland.

Awdal (أودل) takes its name from the medieval Adal Sultanate (عَدَل), which was originally centered on Zeila.[8] The area along the Ethiopian border is abundant with ruined cities, which were described by the British explorer Richard F. Burton.[9] Geologically, much of the Awdal region is located in the Arabian Plate.[10]

Demographics

The Awdal Region is mainly inhabited by the Gadabuursi subclan of the Dir who are especially well represented and considered the predominant clan of the region.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Federico Battera (2005) states about the Awdal Region:

"Awdal is mainly inhabited by the Gadabuursi confederation of clans."[20]

A UN report published by Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (1999), states concerning Awdal:

"The Gadabuursi clan dominates Awdal region. As a result, regional politics in Awdal is almost synonymous with Gadabuursi internal clan affairs."[21]

Roland Marchal (1997) states that numerically, the Gadabuursi are the predominant inhabitants of the Awdal Region:

"The Gadabuursi's numerical predominance in Awdal virtually ensures that Gadabuursi interests drive the politics of the region."[22]

Marleen Renders and Ulf Terlinden (2010) both state that the Gadabuursi almost exclusively inhabit the Awdal Region:

"Awdal in western Somaliland is situated between Djibouti, Ethiopia, and the Issaq-populated mainland of Somaliland. It is primarily inhabited by the three sub-clans of the Gadabursi clan, whose traditional institutions survived the colonial period, Somali statehood and the war in good shape, remaining functionally intact and highly relevant to public security."[23]

There is also a sizeable minority of the Issa subclan of the Dir who mainly inhabit the Zeila district.[24]

Districts

The Awdal region consists of four districts:[5]

class=notpageimage|
City, Town, Village in Sahil.
Ab=Abasa, Am=Amud, As=Asha-Addo, Ba=Baki, Bor=Borama, Boo=Boon, Ca=Cabdulqaadir, Di=Dilla, Fa=Farda Lagu-Xidh, Fi=Fiqi Aadan, Go=Goroyo Cawl, Ha=Harirad, Ja=Jarahorato, Ji=Jidhi, La=Lawyacado, Lu=Lughaya, Qu=Quljeed, Ru=Ruqi, We=Weeraar, Ze=Zeila
District Grade Capital Comments Location
Borama A Borama Regional capital
Zeila B Zeila
Lughaya C Lughaya
Baki C Baki

See also

References

  1. ^ "President Muse Bihi names new positions". 23 June 2023.
  2. ^ International Population Conference (IPC). "IPC Population Estimates: Projection (Apr-Jun 2023)" (PDF). Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Somalia". The World Factbook. Langley, Virginia: Central Intelligence Agency.
  5. ^ a b "Awdal Region" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  6. ^ E. H. M. Clifford, "The British Somaliland-Ethiopia Boundary", Geographical Journal Archived 28 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Vol. 87, No. 4 (Apr. 1936), p. 296
  7. ^ "Population Estimation Survey 2014". Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2017.
  8. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 15. ISBN 978-3-8258-3084-7. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  9. ^ Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, 1856; edited with an introduction and additional chapters by Gordon Waterfield (New York: Praeger, 1966), p. 132. For a more recent description, see A. T. Curle, "The Ruined cities of Somalia", Antiquity, 11 (1937), pp. 315-327
  10. ^ Bosellini, Alfonso. "The Continental Margins of Somalia: Structural Evolution and Sequence Stratigraphy: Chapter 11: African and Mediterranean Margins." (1992): 185-205.
  11. ^ Ambroso, G (2002). Pastoral society and transnational refugees:population movements in Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia 1988 - 2000 (PDF). p. 5. Main sub-clan(s) Habr Awal, Region(s): Waqooyi Galbeed, Main districts: Gabiley, Hargeisa, Berbera. Main sub-clan(s) Gadabursi, Region(s): Awdal, Main districts: Borama, Baki, part. Gabiley, Zeila, Lughaya.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link).
  12. ^ Samatar, Abdi I. "Somali Reconstruction and Local Initiative: Amoud University". p. 132. Samaroon or Gadabursi is the clan name for the majority of people of Awdal origin.
  13. ^ Battera, Federico (2005). "Chapter 9: The Collapse of the State and the Resurgence of Customary Law in Northern Somalia". Shattering Tradition: Custom, Law and the Individual in the Muslim Mediterranean. Walter Dostal, Wolfgang Kraus (ed.). London: I.B. Taurus. p. 296. ISBN 1-85043-634-7. Retrieved 18 March 2010. Awdal is mainly inhabited by the Gadabuursi confederation of clans. The Gadaabursi are concentrated in Awdal.
  14. ^ UN (1999) Somaliland: Update to SML26165.E of 14 February 1997 on the situation in Zeila, including who is controlling it, whether there is fighting in the area, and whether refugees are returning. "Gadabuursi clan dominates Awdal region. As a result, regional politics in Awdal is almost synonymous with Gadabuursi internal clan affairs." p. 5.
  15. ^ Renders, Marleen; Terlinden, Ulf. "Chapter 9: Negotiating Statehood in a Hybrid Political Order: The Case of Somaliland". In Tobias Hagmann; Didier Péclard (eds.). Negotiating Statehood: Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa (PDF). p. 191. Retrieved 21 January 2012. Awdal in western Somaliland is situated between Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Issaq-populated mainland of Somaliland. It is primarily inhabited by the three sub-clans of the Gadabursi clan, whose traditional institutions survived the colonial period, Somali statehood and the war in good shape, remaining functionally intact and highly relevant to public security.
  16. ^ Jörg, J (8 March 2024). What are Somalia's Development Perspectives?. Verlag Hans Schiler. p. 132. ISBN 978-3-86093-230-8. Awdal region , populated by Dir clans : the Gadabursi and ` Cisa , is credited as being the most stable region in Somaliland . This is mainly due to peacekeeping efforts on the part of the Gadabursi clan who dominate this region.
  17. ^ Countries That Aren't Really Countries. p. 22. The Isaaq are concentrated primarily in the regions of Maroodi Jeex, Sanaag, Gabiley, Togdheer and Saaxil. The Gadabuursi inhabit the west, pre-dominantly in Awdal, the Zeila district of Salal and parts of Gabiley.
  18. ^ Bruchhaus, E. M, Sommer, M. M. (8 March 2024). Hot Spot Horn of Africa Revisited (2008). p. 54. ISBN 978-3-8258-1314-7. Next to the three sub-clans of the Gadabursi, a small minority of Ciisse inhabits Awdal.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung (8 March 2024). Afrika Spectrum Volume 43. p. 77. Gadabursi being the major descent group in the Awdal region.
  20. ^ Battera, Federico (2005). "Chapter 9: The Collapse of the State and the Resurgence of Customary Law in Northern Somalia". Shattering Tradition: Custom, Law and the Individual in the Muslim Mediterranean. Walter Dostal, Wolfgang Kraus (ed.). London: I.B. Taurus. p. 296. ISBN 1-85043-634-7. Retrieved 18 March 2010. Awdal is mainly inhabited by the Gadabuursi confederation of clans.
  21. ^ UN (1999) Somaliland: Update to SML26165.E of 14 February 1997 on the situation in Zeila, including who is controlling it, whether there is fighting in the area, and whether refugees are returning. "Gadabuursi clan dominates Awdal region. As a result, regional politics in Awdal is almost synonymous with Gadabuursi internal clan affairs." p. 5.
  22. ^ Marchal, Roland (1997). "United Nations Development Office for Somalia: Studies on Governance: Awdal Region". The Gadabuursi's numerical predominance in Awdal virtually ensures that Gadabuursi interests drive the politics of the region.
  23. ^ Renders, Marleen; Terlinden, Ulf. "Chapter 9: Negotiating Statehood in a Hybrid Political Order: The Case of Somaliland". In Tobias Hagmann; Didier Péclard (eds.). Negotiating Statehood: Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa (PDF). p. 191. Retrieved 21 January 2012. Awdal in western Somaliland is situated between Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Issaq-populated mainland of Somaliland. It is primarily inhabited by the three sub-clans of the Gadabursi clan, whose traditional institutions survived the colonial period, Somali statehood and the war in good shape, remaining functionally intact and highly relevant to public security.
  24. ^ Janzen, J.; von Vitzthum, S.; Somali Studies International Association (2001). What are Somalia's Development Perspectives?: Science Between Resignation and Hope? : Proceedings of the 6th SSIA Congress, Berlin 6-9 December 1996. Proceedings of the ... SSIA-Congress. Das Arabische Buch. p. 132. ISBN 978-3-86093-230-8. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Awdal.
  • Administrative maps of Awdal region and its official districts: here [1] and here [2]
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