Ceerigaabo
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| Ceerigaabo, Erigavo | |
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  Ceerigaabo, Erigavo
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Regions of Somalia | Sanaag |
| Population (2007) | |
| - City | ca.33,853 |
| - Metro | ca.33,853 |
Erigabo or Erigavo (Somali: Ceerigaabo) is the administrative capital of the Sanaag region of Somalia. Erigavo is disputed by the two autonomous Puntland and Maakhir regions of northern Somalia, as well as the internationally unrecognized secessionist region of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia. The city has an estimated population of just over 33,853.[1], and sits at an altitude of 1,788 m (5,866 ft)[2] above sea level.
Erigavo is also the seat of a handful of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental officials from Somaliland.
Erigavo has one hospital, and a small airport lies to the east of the town.
10 km (6 m) to the north of Erigavo are the remains of a juniper forest[3], running along the edge of the escarpment which looks down to the Gulf of Aden. The escarpment is approximately 2,000 m (6,562 ft) above sea level, where the road from Erigavo drops down to the coast. 2 km (1.2 mi) to the west it rises to the highest point in Somalia (2,416 m [7,927 ft]), known variously as Shimbiris/Shimbir Beris (abode of the birds), Surad Cad, and other names. Shimbir Beris was one of the locations where Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan built a fort, which was subsequently attacked and destroyed by British colonial forces in 1920.
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[edit] Roads To and From Erigavo
The road was constructed in a form suitable for trucks by the British during World War II, using the labour of Italian prisoners of war. Before then there was a long established camel track down the escarpment. Frankincense grows throughout the area north of the escarpment, and is a source of income for the people of this area.
[edit] History of Erigavo
In the Government area of the town of Erigavo (the Shaab) a simple masonry monument holds the wrecked engine block of a British biplane that crashed in the area in 1920 while carrying out bombing operations against Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. This operation, based out of Aden, is thought to be one of the first uses of aircraft in war, on the continent of Africa.
Scattered throughout the coastal ranges and some distance inland from the escarpment, are large graves, in the shape of cairns of large stones loosely piled on top on each other, up to three meters high and from six to ten metres wide. These are know as Galla graves (Taalla Galla), and thought to predate the occupation of the area by the Warsangeli. Some have been opened up, showing a small burial chamber covered by a flat rock. The cairns near the coast at Mait seem to be more complex in design, with two distinct levels, the use of different colored stone for different sections, and sometimes an outer boundary ring of stones some metres away from the cairn itself
[edit] People
Pastoralism is the principal source of livelihood for people in the region. Nomads herd goats, sheep and camels, over ranges of open country defined on a clan rather than a household basis. In the town proper, remittances from family members outside of Somalia also serve as an important source of sustenance.
[edit] Image Gallery
 Erigavo city, the capital city of the Sanaag region of Somalia |
 Erigavo Hospital |
 Road inside Erigavo |
 East district of Erigavo city |
 Surad, Erigavo |
 farm house in Erigavo |
 Road to Erigavo |
