Muqdisho, as noted on the front of our banknote below the serial number at bottom left center, or Mogadishu, as known in English, translates as “the beautiful place”. It is a coastal city, the capital and largest city, of Somalia; and it is featured on our banknote. It is also know locally as Xamar.
Two views of Mogadishu are presented on this side of the banknote. The one is an aerial view of the port and the other is the waterfront.
1990, the year of our banknote, was a precipitous year for Mogadishu, perhaps the last of relative peacefulness for a long time. In 1991, Drought and Famine and Civil War would break out and leave Mogadishu ruined. Somalia and Mogadishu had been flooded with an estimated 1.5 million refugees from the recent war with Ethiopia. Siad Barre, president of Somalia since 1969, was forced to flee Mogadishu in January 1991 into exile. In 1991, May, the northern region of Somalia, north of the tip of the horn of Africa, declared its independence as the Republic of Somaliland. With the overthrow of the Said government, Somalia and Mogadishu was in the control of competing clansman, armed with the pillaged stores of Somali armaments. A massive drought began in the Summer of 1991, at least partly a direct military tactic, and was followed by devastating famine.1 The UN sent military observers in 1992 and a significant UN force arrived in December 1992 to bring stability. 15 Somali factions signed a peace agreement in the January and March 993, but by June 1993 security deteriorated and in early 1994 the UN forces withdrew.2
Our banknote is dated 1990. For those curious, the events chronicled in the Hollywood movie Black Hawk Down occurred on October 3 and 4, 1993. From Military.com, “A year before, U.S. soldiers were deployed to Somalia to support a United Nations humanitarian mission to help with a devastating famine.
Without a government in place, militia and clans were fighting among themselves for power, so President George H.W. Bush sent the troops over to help with more than 1 million people starving from the famine.”3