Sheikh, Somaliland

Sheikh (Somali: Sheekh, Arabic: شَيخ, also known as Shiikh or Upper Sheikh), is a city in central Somaliland. Sheikh is the capital of the Sheikh district in the region/province Sahil. It lies at an altitude of some 1430 m in the Golis Mountains, roughly halfway between the larger cities of Berbera (on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, at a distance of about 71 km) and Burao (further inland, around 60 km from Sheikh).

The broader Sheikh District has a total population of about 93,625 residents.

Sheikh lies on the tarmacked road from Berbera to Burao. This so-called Burao-Berbera Highway is one of the most scenic drives in Somaliland. Coming from hot and arid Berbera the climb into the Golis Mountains starts after some 46 km at the village of Laaleys. The landscape then quickly becomes greener, and, via a series of hairpin bends, the Sheikh pass is reached at about 1490 m above sea level. This is followed by a short descent to Sheikh, which lies on a plateau at about 1430 m. Actually, therefore, the Golis Mountains are not a mountain range, but the jagged northern edge of the Somali plateau.

The core of the town has a rectangular street plan. There are four hotels (MashaAllah, Daalo, the Ayaan Muniiro hotel, and the large 5-storey Hashi Baroo hotel). Furthermore, there are at least two pharmacies and several shops and eateries.
Sheikh used to have an airstrip; it has now fallen into disuse but is still recognizable in the landscape.

Several sources indicate that Sheikh is said to contain old British colonial buildings and temple ruins similar to those on the Deccan Plateau in India. These reports appear to be from an article in a Scottish geographic journal from 1898, among others. In practice and on the internet, there is nothing of historical buildings or ruins to be found, and modern guidebooks describe the city as humdrum: mundane, boring.

Just outside the city is the Pharo Secondary School. It is a large complex founded in 1958 as the "SOS Hermann Gmeiner Sheikh Secondary School" and was run by SOS Children's Villages. In 1989, the school was looted and destroyed by Siad Barre's troops. In 2003, the complex was restored by a British couple and reopened. For this they had to pay with their lives, as a few months after the school's reopening they were murdered by terrorists from Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya because the school allegedly converted pupils to Christianity. Several senior politicians were educated here, including two former Somaliland presidents, Ahmed Silanyo and Ibrahim Egal. The school has strict entry requirements; only the best students are admitted. In 2019, management of the school was taken over by The Pharo Foundation from SOS Children's Villages and the name changed. There are about 260 students (2022).

Sheikh, was a significant trading center in the medieval period, strategically positioned along key trade routes connecting the Somali interior to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The archaeological site of Fardowsa Ruins, provides evidence of the town's economic prominence.

The Fardowsa Ruins contains well-preserved multi-room structures with stone walls over 1.2 meters high, suggesting a developed urban settlement. Excavations have uncovered artifacts such as an Arab coin, glass bangles, and fragments of Chinese porcelain, indicating extensive trade links with the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia, and beyond.