Mogadishu

Mogadishu (Somali: Muqdisho, popularly Xamar; Arabic: مقديشو Maqadīshū; Italian: Mogadiscio), is the largest city in Somalia, and its capital.

Mogadishu is in Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, and the city has served as an important regional port for centuries.

With the 1991 collapse of central governance in Somalia, Mogadishu has seen 16 years of fighting by rival militias. Estimates of the city's current population vary wildly, between 1.5 and 3 million.