Jilib is a city in the

Middle Juba Middle Juba (, , ) is an administrative region (''Administrative divisions of Somalia, gobol'') in southern Somalia. With its capital at Bu'aale, it is located in the States and regions of Somalia, autonomous Jubaland region. Middle Juba is bord ...

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 currently serves as the ''de facto'' capital of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab. Jilib has an estimated population of around 100,000 inhabitants and covers an area of about 10 square kilometres. It is north of Kismaayo.

History

During the Middle Ages, Jilib and its surrounding area was part of the Ajuran Empire that governed much of southern

and eastern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, with its domain extending from Hobyo in the north, to Qelafo in the west, to Kismayo in the south.Lee V. Cassanelli, ''The shaping of Somali society: reconstructing the history of a pastoral people, 1600-1900'', (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1982), p.102. In the early modern period, Jilib was ruled by the Geledi Sultanate. The kingdom was eventually 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 ...

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

in 1910 after the death of the last Sultan Osman Ahmed. After independence in 1960, the city was made the center of the official Jilib District. The Islamic Courts Union was defeated there in the Battle of Jilib (December 2006 – January 2007). The ICU recaptured the town on May 17, 2008. The city has a National Park called Jilib national park. It is the largest

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in the

region of

, at around 950km square kilometres in area.

Somali Civil War

Jilib is controlled by Al-Shabaab, a

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

fundamentalist group based in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

with links to

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. The town functions as the capital of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia.

Notes

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Middle Juba