BERBERA

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 764 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BEC-BER

BERBERA ,

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

town and principal port of the British Somaliland protectorate, North-

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

Africa, 155 M. S. of Aden, in to 26' N., 450 4' E. Berbera stands at the head of a deep inlet which forms the only completely sheltered haven on the south side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the residence of the

commissioner

COMMISSIONER

of the protectorate and the headquarters of the Somaliland battalion of the King's African Rifles. The harbour is eleven to thirteen fathoms deep at the entrance (indicated by a lighthouse), decreasing to five fathoms near the shore. Ocean-going steamers find ample accommodation. There are two piers and numerous warehouses. The town is built in two divisionsthe native town to the

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

, the new town, laid out by the Egyptians (1875-1877), to the west. The majority of the better-class houses are of rubble, one-storeyed and flat-roofed. The public buildings include the fort,

hospital

and barracks.
BERBERS
There are a Roman Catholic mission-

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

and convent and a government school. The affairs of the town are administered by a municipality. The water-

supply

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

is brought to the town by an aqueduct from the hills some 8 m. distant. The bulk of the inhabitants are Somali, who have abandoned a nomadic life and adopted largely the ways of the Arab and Indian traders. The permanent population is under Io,000; but from October to April the population rises to 30,000 or more by the arrival of caravans from Ogaden and Dolbahanta. The traders bring with them tents on the backs of camels and these are pitched near the native town. Their merchandise consists of sheep and goats, gum and resin, skins and ostrich feathers. The trade is almost entirely with Aden, of which Berbera may be considered a commercial dependency. The value of the goods brought in yearly by caravan exceeds on the average roo,000. The total trade of the port for the five years 1901-1902 to 1905-1906 averaged over 200,000 a year. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

articles of import are

cotton

goods (European white longcloth and American grey shirting), rice and jowari, flour,

dates

DATES

, sugar and tobacco (the last from Rotterdam). Berbera is said to have been founded by the Ptolemies among the Barbari of the adjacent coast lands. It fell subsequently into the possession of Arabs and was included in the Mahommedan state of Adel. At the time of the visit to the town of R. F. Burton and J. H. Speke (1854) it was governed by its own sheiks. In 187o it was claimed by the khedive Ismail, but was not permanently occupied by Egypt until 1875. In 1884 it passed into the possession of Great Britain (see SOMALILAND, 2, History).

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