Cape Guardafui | |
|---|---|
 Cape Guardafui as seen from theISS | |
 Cape Guardafui location | |
| Coordinates:11°50′N51°17′E / 11.833°N 51.283°E /11.833; 51.283 | |
| Country |  Somalia |
| Regional State |  Puntland |
| Region | Bari |
| District | Alula |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Cape Guardafui (Somali:Raas Caseyr,Arabic:راس عسير) is aheadland inSomalia, in the federal state ofPuntland. It forms the geographical apex of theHorn of Africa. Its shore at 51°27'52"E is the second easternmost point on mainland Africa afterRas Hafun. It is named after the offshore oceanic strait of theGuardafui Channel.
Cape Guardafui is located at11°49′N51°15′E / 11.817°N 51.250°E /11.817; 51.250, next to the Guardafui Channel. Thearchipelago ofSocotra lies off thecape in the north of the Somali Sea.[1]
Fifteenleagues (45 miles) west of Guardafui isRas Filuk, a steep cliff jutting into the Gulf of Aden from flatland. The mountain is believed to correspond with the ancientElephas Mons orCape Elephant (Ras Filuk inArabic) described byStrabo.[2][3]
Referred to asAromata promontorium (Greek: Αρώματον ἄκρον) by the ancientGreeks, Guardafui was described as early as the 1st century CE in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea, along with other flourishing commercial settlements on the northern Somali littoral.[2]
The nameGuardafui originated during the late Middle Ages by sailors using theMediterranean Lingua Franca: "guarda fui" in ancient Italian means "look and escape", as a reference to the danger of the cape.[4] Another theory traces the name to the nearby promontory south known as Jard-Hafun, pronounced as Gard-Hafun. The town ofHafun still carries this name.[5]
During the early 19th century,Somali seamen prevented entry to their ports along the coast, while engaging in trade withAden andMocha in adjacentYemen using their own vessels.[2]
Due to the frequency of shipwrecks in the treacherous seas near Cape Guardafui, the British made an agreement with sultanOsman Mahamuud of theMajeerteen Sultanate, which controlled much of the northeastern Somali seaboard during the 19th century. The agreement stipulated that the British would pay annual subsidies to protect shipwrecked British crews and guard wrecks against plunder. The agreement, however, remained unratified, as the British feared that doing so would "give other powers a precedent for making agreements with the Somalis, who seemed ready to enter into relations with all comers".[6]
SultanYusuf Ali Kenadid of theSultanate of Hobyo, which also controlled a portion of the coast, later granted concessions to an Aden-based French hotel proprietor and a formerFrench Army officer to construct alighthouse in Cape Guardafui. Capital for the project was raised by a company inMarseille, but the deal subsequently failed.[7]
Britain ceded to Italy sovereignty of the disputed region where Cape Guardafui is located in 1894. Starting in 1899, the Italians performed detailed studies and surveys to build a lighthouse and the first real project was proposed in 1904. Italy wanted the construction and maintenance costs of the future lighthouse to be shared by the maritime powers which would benefit most from the new lighthouse but Britain, which suspected that Italy also intended to build a coaling station that would compete with Aden, finally refused to contribute.[8]
Thus, it is only during the early 1920s that the authorities ofItalian Somaliland finally made good on their promise to build a lighthouse. The first one, inaugurated in April 1924 as the Francesco Crispi Lighthouse, was a simple, functional metal-framed lighthouse built atop the headland.[9] Simultaneously, a wireless station to monitor maritime traffic, which had been built in the nearby village ofTohen, was activated.
A large-scale rebellion against Italian rule in that part of Italian Somaliland was underway at the time and troops guarding the new lighthouse and the wireless station repelled two attacks by several hundred rebels in November 1925 and January 1926.[10]
The lighthouse had suffered some damages during the attacks and this was one of the reasons that prompted the authorities to build a stronger, stone and reinforced concrete lighthouse, which was inaugurated in 1930. The striking new lighthouse was built in the shape of an Italian fascist "Fascio littorio". The lighthouse, which is no longer in use, still has the huge stone axe blade characteristic offascist symbolism.
A stone lighthouse andradio station were eventually built in the headland,[11] with the former named afterFrancesco Crispi in 1930.[12]
The lighthouse has an original "Fascio littorio" exterior stone as a decoration, that is typical offascist architecture promoted byBenito Mussolini. Italian authorities have requested a study to declare the lighthouse an "historical monument" of Somalia and a proposed World Heritage Site.[13]
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Ras Asir represents the tip of the African continent. Many nomads that traverse here are also fisherman due to the abundance of fish off its shores.[14] With the usage of binoculars, the vessels that traverse theGuardafui Channel can sometimes be seen.[15]
Six miles south of Ras Asir there are somemimosa trees with water streams known as Wadi Tuhom. The offshoreGuardafui Channel connects theGulf of Aden with the Somali Sea.[16] A sighting of Ras Asir represents a milestone for passing vessels, due to a sharp westerly change in direction and a changing contrast between the hazardous currents to Ras Asir's east, and the comparatively calm seas to its north, especially during the south-west monsoon.[17] On April 8, 2013, the Puntland government announced the creation of a new region coextensive with Cape Guardafui namedGardafuu. Carved out of theBari region, it consists of four districts (Baargaal,Bereeda,Alula, andGumbah)[18] and has its capital atAlula. It has the longest coastline of Puntlands 9 regions (on both the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden).
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