Hard to quantify this, since it can mean population, or its extended area, or political/economic importance.
Some cities have outsized influence because they serve an entire state (Baydhabo), others are tiny but have huge political influence (Garoowe), some are economic hubs and influence because of trade that reaches outside their city (Berbera, Boosaaso.)
Below is my gut estimate of "significance", an amalgamation of the previous metrics.
Mogadishu
Hargaysa
Kismaayo
Boosaaso
Burco
Baydhabo
Gaalkacayo
Beledweyne
Garoowe
Boorama
Berbera
Marka
Dhuusamareeb
Laascaanood
Jawhar
Buuhoodle
Yikes, my gut feeling was far off.
Boosaaso is 2M people
Baydhabo 950k
Burco 750k.
Source: Wikipedia, accessed now.
Boosaaso and Baydhabo are way bigger than I expected.
In 2005 Baydhabo had 370k and Bosaso 164k suddenly 2022 Bosaso hits 2M and Baydhabo is 950k. Not taking this away from Bosaso but something isn’t adding up.
Charitable interpretation: international sea port of Boosaaso attracted people.
Not so charitable interpretation: zealous Somalis are edited Wikipedia again.
The later can be verified by looking at the edit history of the Boosaaso page, and seeing when the numbers jumped, and what source was cited for it, if any.
Few good heuristics to estimate the size of city:
1. Number of highways leading to it
2. Number of airports and sea ports.
3. Proximity to a larger city.
That last one is highly underestimated. Big cities will absolutely cannibalize smaller towns near them for both people and resources. This is why Afgooye, Gabiley, and Jilib are quite insignificant; they're being squeezed by Mogadishu, Hargaysa and Kismaayo respectively.
Baidoa surely
Baidoa
Definitely Baidoa. That city is growing rapidly with investors, IDPs, and etc.
Hard to quantify this, since it can mean population, or its extended area, or political/economic importance. Some cities have outsized influence because they serve an entire state (Baydhabo), others are tiny but have huge political influence (Garoowe), some are economic hubs and influence because of trade that reaches outside their city (Berbera, Boosaaso.) Below is my gut estimate of "significance", an amalgamation of the previous metrics. Mogadishu Hargaysa Kismaayo Boosaaso Burco Baydhabo Gaalkacayo Beledweyne Garoowe Boorama Berbera Marka Dhuusamareeb Laascaanood Jawhar Buuhoodle
Burco and Bosaso above Baydhabo🤓
Yikes, my gut feeling was far off. Boosaaso is 2M people Baydhabo 950k Burco 750k. Source: Wikipedia, accessed now. Boosaaso and Baydhabo are way bigger than I expected.
In 2005 Baydhabo had 370k and Bosaso 164k suddenly 2022 Bosaso hits 2M and Baydhabo is 950k. Not taking this away from Bosaso but something isn’t adding up.
Charitable interpretation: international sea port of Boosaaso attracted people. Not so charitable interpretation: zealous Somalis are edited Wikipedia again. The later can be verified by looking at the edit history of the Boosaaso page, and seeing when the numbers jumped, and what source was cited for it, if any.
Oh saw it thank you.
😂 Bosaso is definitely not 2m. Don't trust wikipedia sources
OT, Idk why but got a little chuckle @ Dhuusmareeb 😂
Wheres afgoye
It's barely outside of Mogadishu. We used to go there for dinner and drive back home within 40 minutes.
Bosaso is way bigger then all the three city
Used to be beledweyne but might have changed with baidhabo
Few good heuristics to estimate the size of city: 1. Number of highways leading to it 2. Number of airports and sea ports. 3. Proximity to a larger city. That last one is highly underestimated. Big cities will absolutely cannibalize smaller towns near them for both people and resources. This is why Afgooye, Gabiley, and Jilib are quite insignificant; they're being squeezed by Mogadishu, Hargaysa and Kismaayo respectively.
Top 5 biggest cities in Somalia: 1. Xamar 2. Hargaysa 3. Baydhabo 4. Bosaaso 5. Baladweyne
Baidoa
It’s baidoa
Either Jigjiga or if we are using colonial borders bosaso.