Ras Filuk (, ), also known as Cape Elephant, is a headland 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 ...

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 situated in the autonomous

Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...

region.

Etymology

Ras Filuk (or ''Ras Fil'') means the ''Head of the Elephant'' in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Alternatively it is known as ''Jebel Fil'', which translates into ''Mount Elephant'' (''Jebel'' meaning mountain in

Location

Ras Filuk is located at , next to 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 ...

. It lies 39 nautical miles (45 miles) west of

Cape Guardafui Cape Guardafui is a headland in Somalia, in the federal state of Puntland. It forms the geographical apex of the Horn of Africa. Its shore at 51°27'52"E is the second easternmost point on mainland Africa after Ras Hafun. The offshore oceanic st ...

, 7 nautical miles (8 miles) west of

Alula The alula , or bastard wing, (plural ''alulae'') is a small projection on the anterior edge of the wing of modern birds and a few non-avian dinosaurs. The word is Latin and means "winglet"; it is the diminutive of ''ala'', meaning "wing". The a ...

and 52 nautical miles (60 miles) east of Qandala.

History

Ras Filuk has, on account of its steep cliffwalls jutting into the Gulf of Aden, been a prominent geographical feature for vessels passing the tip of the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. It is quite likely the ''Elephas Mons'' of antiquity.Strabo, ''The geography of Strabo: Literary translated, with notes'', Volumes 74-76 of Bohn's classical library, (G. Bell & sons: 1889), p.200.James Bruce, ''Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, & 1773'', (William Sleater: 1791), p.81. On April 8, 2013, the Puntland government announced the creation of a new region coextensive with Ras Filuk and

, named ''Gardafuul''. Carved out of the

region, it consists of three districts and has its capital at

References

{{Provinces of Puntland , state=expanded Bari, Somalia Headlands of Somalia

Etymology

Location

History

See also

References