Mogadishu known locally as Hamar‚ is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. Located in the coastal Banaadir region on the Indian Ocean‚ the city has served as an important port for millennia. As of 2015‚ it had a population of 2‚120‚000 residents.
As Somalia’s capital city‚ many important national institutions are based in Mogadishu. It is the seat of the Federal Government of Somalia established in August 2012‚ with the Somalia Federal Parliament serving as the government’slegislative branch.
Yusuf Hussein Jimaale has been the Mayor of Mogadishu since October 2015. Villa Somalia is theofficial residential palace and principal workplace of the President of Somalia‚ Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. In May 2012‚ the First Somali Bank was established in the capital‚ which organized Mogadishu’s first ever Technology‚ Entertainment‚ Design (TEDx) conference. The establishment of a local construction yard has also galvanized the city’s real-estate sector. Arba’a Rukun Mosque is one of the oldest Islamic places of worship in the capital‚ built circa 667 (1268/9 AD).
TheMosque of Islamic Solidarity in Mogadishu is the largest masjid in the Horn region. Mogadishu Cathedral was built in 1928 by the colonial authorities in Italian Somaliland in a Norman Gothic style‚ and served as the traditional seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogadiscio. The National Museum of Somalia is based in Mogadishu and holds many culturally important artefacts. The National Library of Somalia is undergoing a $1 million Somali federal government funded renovation‚ including a new library complex.