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Luuq ( so, Luuq, ar, لوق) is a town in the southwestern
Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. It was created in 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in E ...
province of
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 Constitut ...
. It is one of the older settlements in the area. It is the seat of the
Luuq District Luuq District ( so, Degmada Luuq) is a district in the southwestern Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital i ...
. The town is located in a bend of the
Juba River The Jubba River or Juba River ( so, Wabiga Jubba) is a river in southern Somalia which flows through the autonomous region of Jubaland. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south ...
, where the watercourse flows down from north to south in a horseshoe shape. Luuq is also known as Luuq Gan naane.


Overview

The name Luuq in the
Somali language Somali (Latin script: ; Wadaad: ; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 ) is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in Greater Somalia and the Somali diaspora. Somali is an ...
means "alley" by virtue of the city's geographical setting. The river has great influence on the city and its surrounding areas. The entrance of the city gate is situated not more than 100 meters from the river banks on both the eastern and western sides of the town. About 4 km past the city center and main Luuq Market, the river encloses the city again completely.


History


Medieval

With the expansion of coastal-interior trade in the south, both the coastal town of Benadir and its inland sister "town of Luuq" on upper Jubba had grown into an important emporium. The Bender-Luuq caravan trade used the southern region of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
as an economic catchment area to access new and valued commodities such as coffee, gold, and slaves. In the Shebelle and Jubba valleys, the emergence of the political power of the
Ajuran Sultanate The Ajuran Sultanate ( so, Saldanadda Ajuuraan, ar, سلطنة الأجورانية), also natively referred-to as Ajuuraan, and often simply Ajuran, was a Somali Empire in the Middle Ages in the Horn of Africa that dominated the trade in th ...
coincided with this period of southern expansion of the interior caravan trade which boosted urban centers across the inter-riverine regions. The Ajuran Somalis "established and maintained control over the coastal regions and built roads connecting the interior urban centers which further boosted prosperity in southern Somalia. As the political power grew, so the Ajuran extended their control of the coastal-interior caravan trade reaching Ethiopia." Among the most important inland market towns were Luuq and
Bardera Bardera ( ar, بارديرا, so, Bardhere) is a city in Jubaland State of Somalia. It is the second largest and most populous city in Jubaland with Kismayo being the largest and most densely populated city in the region. Bardera sits on the Jub ...
on the Jubba river. Then the goods from the interior were exported as far as Southeast Asia.


Early Modern

Luuq was one of the most important cities in
Geledi Sultanate The Sultanate of the Geledi ( so, Saldanadda Geledi, ar, سلطنة غلدي) also known as the Gobroon Dynasty Somali Sultanate: The Geledi City-state Over 150 Years - Virginia Luling (2002) Page 229 was a Somali kingdom that ruled parts of th ...
led by the Gasaaragude dynasty part of the Geledi federation that governed the upper Jubba region. Luuq was the largest city in Jubba river and served as the military center for the kingdom. All prisoners were locked in the Luuq prison facility. Anyone who wanted to join the army were trained in Luuq. All the weapons were made in Luuq. According to captain Thomas Smee in his 1811 report to the authorities of British India wrote the city was heavily fortified and had over 2 thousand stone houses with mosques, roads including palaces, and castles in the center. According to Scott Rees, the importance of the locally made cotton cloth ''Futa Benaadir'' "lay in its exchange". The inland commercial centers in Jubbaland "formerly a seat of flourishing and extensive trade, and a commercial and enterprising people" and the coastal commercial nodes of the Benadir, particularly
Barawa Barawa ( so, Baraawe, Maay: ''Barawy'', ar, ﺑﺮﺍﻭة ''Barāwa''), also known as Barawe and Brava, is the capital of the South West State of Somalia.Pelizzari, Elisa. "Guerre civile et question de genre en Somalie. Les événements et le ...
, provided goods for the interior markets. The caravans from the Benadir stopped in Bale to attract trade goods from the surrounding regions. Cattle barter for "expensive beads, copper, and better quality goods" was popular. The traders of Luuq "reached such sophistication that hey hada highly developed system of weights and measures, credit was available, and written contracts were signed between the merchants the caravans who carried their merchandise into the interior". The importance of Luuq was its proximity to the Arsi and Borana regions. Market transactions between Luuq-based Somali traders and the Oromo pastoralists were complex in terms of methods used to obtain ivory, the most valued trade item, from the interior: "Somali traders would first have to exchange cotton cloth for cattle from the Oromo herdsmen. The cattle were then traded to the hunters for ivory." The Ethiopian Emperor Menelik's Somali expedition, consisting of an army of 15,000 men, made a deep push into the vicinity of Luuq in
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 Constitut ...
. However, his troops were soundly defeated by the Sultanate of the Geledi, with only 200 soldiers returning alive in the Battle of Luuq.


Colonial Period

Luuq came under indirect Italian control by 1907, and Italian interest in the town was serious enough for them to demarcate the only segment of the Somali-Ethiopian boundary in order to include Luuq as part of
Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...
.


Modern

After independence in 1960, the city was made the center of the official
Luuq District Luuq District ( so, Degmada Luuq) is a district in the southwestern Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital i ...
and served as the political center for
Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. It was created in 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in E ...
region. On March 7, 2011,
Transitional Federal Government The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ( so, Dowladda Federaalka Kumeelgaarka, ar, الحكومة الاتحادية الانتقالية) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October ...
forces and allied militia captured Luuq from Al-Shabaab rebels, encountering little or no resistance. In 2013, Luuq and other settlements in the wider Gedo region were officially incorporated into the newly formed
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 ...
autonomous state.


Demographics

Luuq has a population of around 41,000 inhabitants. The broader
Luuq District Luuq District ( so, Degmada Luuq) is a district in the southwestern Gedo Gedo ( so, Gedo, Maay: ''Gethy'', ar, جيذو, it, Ghedo or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital i ...
has a total population of 185,703 residents.


Climate

Luuq has a
hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''BWh''). It has two very short rainy seasons, in April/May and October/November, due to the passages of the
Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal ...
. However, these two rainy seasons are extremely unreliable even vis-à-vis other similar hot and arid regions of the globe.Dewar, Robert E. and Wallis, James R; ‘Geographical patterning of interannual rainfall variability in the tropics and near tropics: An L-moments approach’; in ''
Journal of Climate The ''Journal of Climate'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published semi-monthly by the American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the Uni ...
'', 12; pp. 3457-3466
Averages high temperatures exceed in March, the hottest month of the year. Averages high temperatures remain above during July and August, the least hot months of the year. Averages low temperatures are always above throughout the whole year. Annual average rainfall is only and the city receives just too little annual rainfall to achieve a “semi-arid” climate classification. Luuq is one of the hottest places year-round on Earth as the annual daily mean temperature exceeds . The sky is almost always clear year-round and fair weather is extremely reliable.


Notes

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References


Luuq, Somalia
Populated places in Gedo Jubba River