El Wak () is a border city on the

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

border. 9 km away from

El Wak, Kenya El Wak, also Elwak, is a town in Kenya, on the international border with Somalia. The name El Wak translates into "the well of God". There are about 50 wells spread across the town, each approximately 60 feet deep with interconnected underground ...

and 4 km from Somalia -Kenya border.The Somali portion is located in the southwestern

Gedo Gedo (, , , or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. The region was formed during 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province ...

region of

Jubaland Jubaland (; ; ), or the Juba Valley (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in southern Somalia. Its eastern border lies no more than east of the Jubba River, stretching from Dolow to the Indian Ocean, while its western si ...

state, where it is the seat of one of the region's seven districts.

Etymology

The place name "CeelWaaq" literally translates as "God's well". In the

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

Somali language Somali is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Somalis, Somali people, native to Greater Somalia. It is an official language in Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethio ...

, the word ''Ceel'' means "well" and the word ''Waaq'' comes from ''Waaq'', an archaic Somali term for God.Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, ''Culture and Customs of Somalia'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.

Location

El Wak is situated in the

El Wak District El Wak District () is a district in the southwestern Gedo region of Somalia. Its capital is El Wak. The district has suffered from Marehan-Garre tensions over political control, driven by competition over El Wak town.CEWERU 2013, p.21. Even betw ...

. It is bordered by the

Bardera Bardere (, , ) also known as Bardera, is a city in Jubaland State of Somalia. It is the second most populous city in Jubaland with Kismayo being the largest and most densely populated city in the region. Bardere sits on the Jubba River around 250& ...

and Garbaharey districts on the east, and the Somali-inhabited North Eastern Province to the west.

References

Populated places in Somalia {{Somalia-geo-stub This page was edited by Abdikadar Dini. Born and raised in Elwak Somalia and currently living in USA.