Mogadishu in 1993
Mogadishu, also known as Muqdisho, Xamar, or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The region was originally settled by Khoisan peoples who were later overwhelmed, driven, away, or assimilated by other migratory peoples, with traces of Khoisan culture surviving in Puntland. During ancient times, it became a Somali city state and port which traded with Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Ancient Greece (who knew the city as "Sarapion"), Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabatea, and the Roman Empire. In 150 BC, the Himyarites conquered Mogadishu, and the city was conquered by the Umayyad Arabs in 700 AD. Mogadishu frequently rebelled against the foreign caliphates, but it became a major Indian Ocean port city in which Arab and Persian settlers intermarried with the local East Africans. During the 12th century, the Sultanate of Mogadishu rose to power, and it turned Mogadishu into an Islamic center. Portugal failed in its attempt to conquer the city from the Ajuran Sultanate in 1542, and, in the late 17th century, the rivalry between Portugal and Oman led to Mogadishu being occupied by the Omani Empire. In 1905, Italy annexed Mogadishu and made it the capital of Italian Somaliland, renaming the city to Mogadiscio. Thousands of Italians settled in Mogadishu and founded small manufacturing companies; by 1940, Italians made up 44% of the city's population of 50,000. Mogadishu was captured by British forces in February 1941 during World War II, and Mogadishu became the capital of an independent Somalia in 1960. Mogadishu was impoverished during Siad Barre's communist military dictatorship, and, following Siad Barre's downfall, Mogadishu was taken over by several militias during the ensuing Somali Civil War. In 1993, United Nations peacekeepers were dispatched to restore peace to the city, leading to the Battle of Mogadishu. In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union seized control of the city, but it was soon driven out by Somali and Ethiopian troops. From January 2009 to August 2011, Mogadishu was occupied by al-Shabaab before it was forced out by AMISOM peacekeepers. Mogadishu was then rebuilt with the help of the Somali diaspora, the municipal authorities, and the Turkish government. In 2017, Mogadishu had a population of 2.425 million people.
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