Hargeisa
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Hargeisa (Somali: Hargeysa) is a city in northwestern Somalia, it is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland which was formed in 1991. It was the colonial capital of British Somaliland
Hargeisa is in a valley in the northwestern part of the country. It is in a mountainous area, and is about 1260 meters above sea level. This altitude makes Hargeisa and the surrounding area relatively more mild than the Gulf of Aden coastal area (one of the hottest areas on earth). The temperature is between 23 and 32 degrees Celsius (74-89 degrees F). Hargeisa also gets larger amounts of rain, and used to be surrounded by forest when smaller. It has a very confortable climate, even though it sometimes gets hot in the afternoon.
It was practically destroyed by bombing done by the Somali military in 1988 because of the rebel activity that was forming in Northern Somalia in the beginning of the ongoing civil war. But ever since 1991, the city rebuilt itself better and more important than it was before the war. It is in the safest part of Somalia and isn't a war zone like Mogadishu and Southern Somalia.
The city wasn't rebuilt so much by aid as by money from relatives overseas, making it unusual in Africa that it doesn't need much foreign aid to survive. (International aid is not certain because the Republic of Somaliland isn't recognized by any nation.)
Hargeisa has working traffic lights and traffic laws are respected. All the traffic lights in Mogadishu have been destroyed.
It has a population of between 500,000 and 800,000. Some suggest it is over a million because there hasn't been any kind of census in almost 30 years and there are many squatters and homeless people in the city. This is a considerable amount of growth since 1990, when the city had around 100,000 inhabitants.
Hargeisa is also home to lots of remittance companies, from relatives abroad who give money. Some families moved back to the city, living in mansions in the hills during the summer. The city has been seeing lots of development like these in recent years. Hargeisa shows that the area is not dead for ever, that if there is peace, Somalia (and Somaliland) could flourish.
Simon Reeve visited the city as part of his television series, Places That Don't Exist.