Luuq (, , ) is a city in the southwestern
Gedo province 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 one of the older settlements in the area. It is the seat of the
Luuq District. The town is located in a bend of the
Ganana River, where the watercourse flows down from north to south in a horseshoe shape. Luuq is also known as Luuq Ganaane.
Overview
The name Luuq in the
Somali language
Somali is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Somalis, Somali people, native to Greater Somalia. It is an official language in Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethio ...
means "alley" by virtue of the city's geographical setting. The river has great influence on the city and its surrounding areas. The entrance of the city gate is situated not more than 100 meters from the river banks on both the eastern and western sides of the town. About 4 km past the city center and main Luuq Market, the river encloses the city again completely.
History
Medieval
With the expansion of coastal-interior trade in the south, both the coastal town of Benadir and its inland sister "town of Luuq" on
upper Jubba had grown into an important emporium. The Bender-Luuq caravan trade used the southern region of
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 ...
as an economic catchment area to access new and valued commodities such as coffee, gold, and slaves. In the
Shebelle and
Jubba valleys, the emergence of the political power of the
gasaargude saldante coincided with this period of southern expansion of the interior caravan trade which boosted urban centers across the inter-riverine regions. The Ajuran Somalis "established and maintained control over the coastal regions and built roads connecting the interior urban centers which further boosted prosperity in southern Somalia. As the political power grew, so the
Ajuran extended their control of the coastal-interior caravan trade reaching Ethiopia."
Among the most important inland market towns were Luuq and
Bardera on the
Ganana river. Then the goods from the interior were exported as far as Southeast Asia.
Early Modern
Luuq was one of the most important cities in
Geledi Sultanate
The Sultanate of the Geledi (, ) also known as the Gobroon dynasty,Somali Sultanate: The Geledi City-state Over 150 Years - Virginia Luling (2002) Page 229 was a Somali people, Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the late ...
led by the Gasaaragude dynasty part of the Geledi federation that governed the
upper Jubba region. Luuq was the largest city in
Jubba river and served as the military center for the kingdom. All prisoners were locked in the Luuq prison facility. Anyone who wanted to join the army were trained in Luuq. All the weapons were made in Luuq. According to captain Thomas Smee in his 1811 report to the authorities of British India wrote the city was heavily fortified and had over 2 thousand stone houses with mosques, roads including palaces, and castles in the center.
According to Scott Rees, the importance of the locally made cotton cloth ''Futa Benaadir'' "lay in its exchange". The inland commercial centers in Jubbaland "formerly a seat of flourishing and extensive trade, and a commercial and enterprising people" and the coastal commercial nodes of the Benadir, particularly
Barawa, provided goods for the interior markets. The caravans from the Benadir stopped in
Bale
Bale may refer to:
Apps
Bale Messenger, an Iranian instant messaging (IM) app owned by the National Bank of Iran
Packaging
* Cotton bale
* Hay or straw bale in farming, bound by a baler
* Paper bale, a unit of paper measurement equal t ...
to attract trade goods from the surrounding regions. Cattle barter for "expensive beads, copper, and better quality goods" was popular. The traders of Luuq "reached such sophistication that
hey hada highly developed system of weights and measures, credit was available, and written contracts were signed between the merchants the caravans who carried their merchandise into the interior". The importance of Luuq was its proximity to the
Arsi and
Borana regions. Market transactions between Luuq-based Somali traders and the Oromo pastoralists were complex in terms of methods used to obtain ivory, the most valued trade item, from the interior: "Somali traders (Rahaween tribe) would first have to exchange cotton cloth for cattle from the Oromo herdsmen. The cattle were then traded to the hunters for ivory."
Colonial Period
Luuq came under indirect Italian control by 1907, and Italian interest in the town was serious enough for them to demarcate the only segment of the Somali-Ethiopian boundary in order to include Luuq as part of
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 ...
.
Modern
After independence in 1960, the city was made the center of the official
Luuq District and served as the political center for
Gedo region.
After the collapse of the
Somali Democratic Republic
The Somali Democratic Republic (; , ; ) was a socialist state in Somalia that existed from 1969 to 1991.
Established in October 1969, the Somali Democratic Republic emerged following a 1969 Somali coup d'état, coup d'état led by Major General ...
in 1991, a
Sharia
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
court was opened in Luuq and the surrounding district came to be one of the safest regions in Somalia during the civil war. The town was later governed by
Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya until it's administration was toppled by Ethiopian troops in 1996.
On March 7, 2011,
Transitional Federal Government forces and allied militia captured Luuq from
Al-Shabaab rebels, encountering little or no resistance.
In 2013, Luuq and other settlements in the wider Gedo region were officially incorporated into the newly formed
Jubaland
Jubaland (; ; ), or the Juba Valley (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in southern Somalia. Its eastern border lies no more than east of the Jubba River, stretching from Dolow to the Indian Ocean, while its western si ...
autonomous state.
Demographics
Luuq has a population of around 41,000 inhabitants.
The broader
Luuq District has a total population of 185,703 residents.
Climate
Luuq has a
hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''BWh''). It has two very short
rainy seasons, in April/May and October/November, due to the passages of the
Intertropical Convergence Zone
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ , or ICZ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the t ...
. However, these two rainy seasons are extremely unreliable even vis-à-vis other similar hot and arid regions of the globe.
[Dewar, Robert E. and Wallis, James R; ‘Geographical patterning of interannual rainfall variability in the tropics and near tropics: An L-moments approach’; in '' Journal of Climate'', 12; pp. 3457-3466] Averages high temperatures exceed in March, the hottest month of the year. Averages high temperatures remain above during July and August, the least hot months of the year. Averages low temperatures are always above throughout the whole year. Annual average rainfall is only and the city receives just too little annual rainfall to achieve a
“semi-arid” climate classification. Luuq is one of the hottest places year-round on Earth as the annual daily mean temperature exceeds . The sky is almost always clear year-round and fair weather is extremely reliable.
Notable People
*
Mohamed Omar Salihi
Mohamed Omar Salihi, (, ; ) was a marine scientist, engineer, and maritime advisor to the Somali presidency credited for the protection of Somalia's maritime database during the civil war that broke in 1991, a statement by the presidency, Farm ...
(1952-2021) - marine scientist and engineer
Notes
References
Luuq, Somalia
{{Authority control
Populated places in Gedo
Jubba River