Bayla (, ), is a coastal town along the

Guardafui Channel The Guardafui Channel (, ) is an oceanic strait off the tip of the Horn of Africa that lies between the Puntland region of Somalia and the Socotra governorate of Yemen to the west of the Arabian Sea. It connects the Gulf of Aden to the north ...

in the northeastern

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

region of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. It is the capital of the

Bayla District Bander Beila (chief town Bayla), also known as Bander Beyla (Italian: Bander Beila ) is a district in the northeastern Bari region of Puntland It is an old town near the Indian Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approxim ...

History

Bayla is located at the headland of Ras Ma'bar (or ''Cape Ma'bar''). It historically served as an important landmark for sailors voyaging between the Arabian Peninsula and Horn of Africa. A coastal community, Bayle is noted for its various ''

beden The ''beden'' See author at . or alternate type names ''beden-seyed'' (also ''beden seyad'') and ''beden-safar'', is a fast, ancient Somali single or double-masted maritime vessel and ship, typified by its towering stern-post and powerful rudde ...

'', or ancient design

sewn boat A sewn boat is a type of wooden boat which has its planks sewn, stitched, tied, or bound together with natural fibre rope (e.g. coir in the Indian Ocean) tendons or flexible wood, such as roots and willow branches. Sewn boat construction techniq ...

s constructed without nails. In the early modern period, Bedar Beyla was a part of the

Majeerteen Sultanate The Majeerteen Sultanate (, ), or Majerteen Kingdom also known as Majeerteenia and/or Migiurtinia, was a Somali kingdom centered in the Horn of Africa. Ruled by Boqor Osman Mahamuud during its golden age, the sultanate controlled the areas co ...

(Migiurtinia), centered in

Aluula Alula (, ), also spelled Aluula, is a coastal town in the northeastern Ra'as Aseir region and is part of the state of Puntland, on the coast of the Guardafui Channel. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it served as the main capital of the ...

. It was later incorporated into

Italian Somaliland Italian Somaliland (; ; ) was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia, which was ruled in the 19th century by the Sultanate of Hobyo and the Majeerteen Sultanate in the north, and by the Hiraab Imamate and ...

during the early 20th century. The town sustained significant damage from the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

that followed the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicenter, epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Submarine earthquake, undersea ...

.US provides 1 million dollars to help tsunami-hit Somalia

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official State media, state news agency of the China, People's Republic ...

, 7 February 2005

Administration

In October 2015, the Puntland government in conjunction with the local Kaalo NGO and UN-HABITAT launched a new regional census to gather basic information in order to facilitate social service planning and development, as well as tax collection in remote areas. According to senior Puntland officials, a similar survey was already carried out in towns near the principal

Garowe–Bosaso Highway The Garowe–Bosaso Highway is a major thoroughfare in the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia. It connects the administrative capital of Garowe with the commercial hub of Bosaso, a distance of around 450 km (279.1 mi). O ...

. The new census initiative is slated to begin in the

, in addition to the

Eyl District Eyl District () is a district in the northeastern Nugal region of Somalia. Its capital is Eyl. Overview Eyl District was once a major hub for dervish movement in the early 1900s, with Sayid Mohamed Abdille Hassan operating in the area and ...

and

Jariban District Jariban District () is a district in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordere ...

Demographics

Bayla has a population of around 16,700 inhabitants. The town is mainly inhabited by the

Majeerteen The Majeerteen, (, ; also spelled Majerteen, Macherten, Majertain, or Mijurtin) alternately known as Mohammed Harti, are a Somali sub-clan part of the Harti branch of the Darod, Darod clan. Traditionally, they inhabit extensive territories in ...

clan Osman Mohamoud, and by the

Leelkase The Leelkase or LailkaseUnited Nations Security CouncilLetter dated 21 November 2006 from the Chairman of the Security Council Committee... p. 20 or Lelkase (, ) (''Hussein bin Abdirahman bin Is'mail bin Ibrahim al Jaberti'') is a major subclan ...

subclan of

Tanade The Darod (, ) is a Somali clan. The forefather of this clan is Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, more commonly known as Darod. The clan primarily settles the apex of the Horn of Africa and its peripheries, the Somali hinterlands adjacent ...

. The broader Bayla District has a total population of 14,376 residents.

Education

There are 13 primary schools in the Bayla District. Among these are Rasul-Macbar, Kulule, Caris and Qoton.

Notes

References

Bayla, Somalia
Populated places in Bari, Somalia {{Somalia-geo-stub Populated coastal places in Somalia