Galmudug

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Galmudug


Flag	Coat of arms

Motto: None

Anthem: Somalia Tosow

Capital
(and largest city) Galcayo

Official languages Somali and English

Government

- President Amb. Mohamed Warsame Ali "Kimiko"

- Vice-President Amb. Abdisalam Haji Ahmed Liban

Autonomy Part of Federated Somalia

- Declared August 14, 2006

- Recognition self-elected state autonomy

Area

- Total 100,000 km km² (not ranked)
not ranked sq mi

- Water (%) Negl.

Population

- 2007 estimate ~1,800,000 (not ranked)

- Density 10 /km² (not ranked)
4 /sq mi

GDP (PPP) Unknown estimate

- Total Unknown (not ranked)

- Per capita Unknown (not ranked)

HDI (-) n/a (n/a) (unranked)

Currency Somali shilling (SOS)

Time zone EAT (UTC+3)

- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+3)

Internet TLD

.so

Calling code +252 (Somalia)

Galmudug is a state in the central region of Somalia, based in the southern half of the city and district of Galcayo. To the north is Puntland, to the west is Ethiopia and to the south and east is the rest of Somalia, presently under the control of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The name is a combination of Galguduud and Mudug^{[citation needed]}. Unlike the self-declared state of Somaliland, Galmudug is similar to Puntland in that it is not trying to obtain international recognition as a nation. It seeks to become a federal division within a united federal republic of Somalia, such as defined by the 2004 Transitional Federal Charter (TFG).

1 History
2 Geography
3 Relations with Puntland
4 Involvement in the Civil War
5 External sites
6 Notes

[edit] History

Galmudug was established on August 14, 2006 by the Sacad clan elders in Galcayo, and initially encompassed the districts of Galcayo and Abudwaq, where the former warlord Abdi Qebdiid had fled to rebuild his power base following his expulsion from Mogadishu by the Islamic Courts Union.

Mohamed Warsame Ali 'Kiimiko' was elected President.

As Galcayo is the capital of Mudug, and Abudwaq was the last part of Galgadud not at the time controlled by the ICU, the state was named Galmudug (Galgadud and Mudug). This name was likely chosen prior to the ICU invasion of the majority of Galgadud and Mudug, when a larger and broader coalition state could have emerged. Hobyo chose to join Galmudug following the expulsion of the pirate warlords from the coast on the August 16, bringing the size of the state to a respectable 3 districts.

Galmudug lost ground in November 2006 due to an ICU offensive aimed at Abdi Qeybdiid, which saw them lose Hobyo and Abudwaq to the ICU. Following the collapse of the ICU however, Galmudug gained these districts back in addition to Dusamareb, Adado, El Bur and Harardere, bringing Galmudug's importance up to the level of other Somali states.

[edit] Geography

Galmudug State occupies the following Regions of Somalia^[1]:

Mudug Region
- Galcayo (State Capital)
- Galinsoor
- Bandiiradley
- Colgula
- Bitale

Hobyo Region
- Hobyo (port city)
- Afbarwaaqo
- Wisil
- Dinawda
- Bacaadweyne
- Qaydaro
- Ceeldibir

Other Towns

Xeero Dhagaxley

[edit] Relations with Puntland

Galmudug was put at odds with Puntland due to the fact that they were often made victims of collective punishments designed to hurt the ICU. For instance in October Puntland banned flights to and from southern Somalia (except to Baidoa of course), including, due to proximity, Galmudug. Galmudug condemned this move strongly^[2].

On November 10, Galmudug sought the removal of forces from adjoining Puntland.^[3] However by December, it had grown increasingly reliant on forces from both Puntland and Ethiopia to dislodge the militias of the ICU.

[edit] Involvement in the Civil War

Main article: Battle of Bandiradley

Galmudug and the ICU clashed increasingly in October and November of 2006, leading to an ICU invasion of Hobyo and Abudwaq in November and December. A joint Ethiopia-Puntland force intervened to prevent the ICU from capturing Galcayo, and the Ethiopia-Puntland Bandiradley, Mudug and Adado, Galgadud, from the Islamic Courts on December 25, 2006 in the Battle of Bandiradley.

Aside from the battlefield successes, there were no news reports about the civil government of Galmudug in English-language media. On January 1, 2007, Abdi Qeybdiid returned to Mogadishu where he pled for there to be no reprisals against the defeated Islamists.^[4]