The Bajuni Islands ( it, Isole Giuba, also known as the Bajun Islands
or Baajun Islands) are an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...
in southern
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. They are situated in the Somali sea in the southern coast of
Jubaland
Jubaland ( so, Jubbaland, ar, , it, Oltregiuba), the Juba Valley ( so, Dooxada Jubba) or Azania ( so, Asaaniya, ar, ), is a Federal Member State in southern Somalia. Its eastern border lies east of the Jubba River, stretching from Gedo ...
, from
Kismayo
Kismayo ( so, Kismaayo, Maay: ''Kismanyy'', ar, كيسمايو, ; it, Chisimaio) is a port city in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region.
The city is situa ...
to
Ras Kiyamboni (not to be confused with
Ras Kamboni
Kamboni (; so, Kambooni) is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. It is the southernmost town in Somalia. The tip of that peninsula is called Ras Kamboni (Cape Ka ...
).
Geography
Administratively, the islands are within the
Lower Jubba
Lower Juba ( so, Jubbada Hoose, Maay: ''Jubithy Hoosy'', ar, جوبا السفلى, it, Basso Giuba) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. With its capital at Kismayo, it lies in the autonomous Jubaland region. It has gre ...
region of Somalia.
There are six main islands:
*
Chandra
Chandra ( sa, चन्द्र, Candra, shining' or 'moon), also known as Soma ( sa, सोम), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) an ...
(2.95 km²),
*
Chovaye (also spelled Tovai;
[ ) (5.46 km²),
* Chula (also spelled Tula;][ ) (1.99 km²),
* Koyama (6.38 km²),
* Darakasi (1.99 km²) and
* Ngumi (2.56 km²).
Chula with the village of Ndowa is the only island with a significant population.
Other islands of minor importance are: Kandha Iwu, Fuma, Ilisi and the island of Kismayo (actual Kismayo harbor), the latter of which was attached to the coast in 1961 during the construction of Kismayo Port.
]
History
The islands, as well as the extreme southern area of present-day Somalia, were part of British East Africa
East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Brita ...
prior to World War I. They were later transferred to Italy after the war.[ According to C. Wightwick Haywood, then a British official in Kismayo, who visited the islands in 1913, the only inhabited islands in the chain were Tovai (i.e., Chovaye - the biggest island in the chain) and the nearby Tula (i.e. Chula). Each of these two islands were no more than 3 miles long and a mile across.
On his 1913 trip, Haywood saw ruins of what he described as a "fair-sized town" on the Tovai (Chovaye) Island. He was impressed. He mentioned that somewhat similar stone scrollwork could also be seen on houses in the Lamu Islands in present-day ]Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
.[ Until 1925, the Bajuni Islands had for decades formed a constituent part of British Jubbaland, until the adjacent mainland territory was ceded and British Jubaland ceased to exist.
]
Demographics
The islands are today mainly inhabited by the eponymous Bajuni people
The Bajuni people are a Bantu ethnic group mainly residing on the Bajuni Islands and surrounding coastal areas between the port city of Kismayo and Mombasa area of Kenya and Somalia’s southern border.
Overview
The Bajuni principally inhabi ...
.[Land, Property, and Housing in Somalia - Page 52, Gregory Norton - 2008]
See also
*List of islands in the Indian Ocean
The islands of the Indian Ocean are part of either the eastern, western, or southern areas. Some prominently large islands include Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.
Eastern Indian Ocean
* Andaman Islands (Ind ...
*Saad ad-Din Islands
The Sa'ad ad-Din Islands ( so, Jasiirada Sacadadiin, ar, جزر سعد الدين), also Romanized as and known as the Zeila Archipelago, are a group of islands off the northern coast of Somaliland. They are situated near the ancient city of Z ...
Notes
Islands of Somalia
Archipelagoes of Somalia
Lower Juba
{{Somalia-geo-stub