Berbera is a port city on the Gulf of Aden and the capital of the Sahil region. Lying about 160 km north-east of Hargeysa, it has long been the sea gate for livestock, frankincense and myrrh from the interior.

Today its port is one of the busiest in the region and a corridor for Ethiopian trade. The old town, with its coral-stone houses and weathered mosques, and the white-sand beaches make it one of the most atmospheric places on the coast.

Somaliland declared independence in 1991; the Federal Government of Somalia considers it part of Somalia, and it is not recognised as a state by the United Nations or most countries.

Historians generally identify Berbera with Malao, a port described in the 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. For centuries it hosted a great seasonal fair, running from October to April, that drew camel caravans from the interior and dhows from Arabia and India.

The Portuguese attacked the town in 1518. In the 19th century Egypt briefly controlled the coast, after which the British made Berbera the capital of British Somaliland until 1941, when the capital moved to Hargeysa. Many buildings in the old town date from the Ottoman and Egyptian period.

The old town has two-storey houses of coral stone and lime and flat roofs, a reminder of Berbera's long links with the Red Sea and Arabia. Fishing and coastal traditions remain part of everyday life.

The port is operated by DP World. A new 400-metre container terminal opened in June 2021, raising capacity to 500,000 TEU a year, alongside a special economic zone. Livestock exports, fishing and trade with Ethiopia are the other pillars of the economy. The airport has one of the longest runways in the region, at roughly 4 km.