Hargeisa is a city in northwestern Somalia, it is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland which was formed in 1991. It was the colonial capital of British Somaliland

It was heavily bombed by the Somali military in 1988 because of the rebel activity that was forming in Northern Somalia in the begining of the ongoing civil war. But ever since 1991, the city rebuilt itself and better and more important than it was before the war. It is in the safest part of Somalia and isn't a war zone like Mogadishu and Southern Somalia.

The city wasn't rebuilt mostly by aid but by money from relatives overseas making it unique in Africa that it doesn't need much foreign aid to survive. (International aid is not certain because the Republic of Somaliland isn't recognized by any nation.)

It has a population of between 500,000 and 800,000. Some suggest it is over a million because there hasn't been any kind of census in almost 30 years and there are many squatters and homeless people in the city. This is a considerable amount of growth since 1990, when the city had around 100,000 inhabitants.