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South West State of Somalia
The South-West State of Somalia (Somali: Koonfur Galbeed, Maay: Koofur Orsé) is a federal member state in southwestern Somalia. It was founded by [[1]], leader of the Somalia RRA on 1 April 2002. It was the third autonomous region to be established.
After its dissolution in 2005, the territory was re-established in November 2009 as an official federal member state of Somalia. Sharif Hassan was selected the president of this state. The official capital of South-West state is Barawa, located on the coast of the Somali Sea, though the state administration is currently based in Baidoa.
The South West state is bordered to the north by Ethiopia, to the west by Jubaland, to the east by Hirshabelle, and to the south by the Somali Sea. To the southeast, it is also bordered by Banaadir, whose administrative status was unclear during the 2010s.
During its development phase, the regional state was called the Interim South West Administration. Its full name was the South West State of Somalia and, in Somali, Maamul Goboleedka Koonfur Galbeed. In the local Maay Maay language it is referred to as Koofur Orsi. An individual from Koofur Orsi is called a Koofur Orsian.
During the pre-independence period, when the Koofur Orsi or Koonfur-Galbeed region was administered by the United Nations Trusteeship, the majority segment population of Digil and Mirifle were the only major Somali demographic whose political groups and spokesmen voiced apprehension about a centralized unitary republic. Many of these spokesmen voiced a preference for some form of confederalism or federalism. Several decades after independence, opposition to Siad Barre's Hantiwadaag (socialist) government grew. When in 1990 the three major opposition factions of SPM, USC, and SNM met in Ethiopia and put forth an informal accord in favor of federalism, many civil servants from the Konfuur-Galbeed region argued that, in retrospect, the predecessors in their region were correct. In 1992, the blockage of aid supplies from the coast to the Konfuur-Galbeed region meant that many viewed the famine as man-made. This increased support for federalism. One form of criticism that was levelled at the Konfuur-Galbeed administration during its early development is that some of its functional facets hearkened back to the negative aspects of the era of the historically conterminous Geledi. The latter's tributary status was believed to inculcate subordinacy rather than self-sufficiency, an administration that was oligarchical rather than egalitarian, and too much contrast with the historically British Jubaland to its west and south.
The territory known as the Southwestern State of Somalia (Somali: Dowlad Goboleedka Koonfur-Galbeed ee Soomaaliya), or locally Koofur Orsi, was originally intended to consist of six Somali administrative regions: (gobollo): Bay, Bakool, Middle Jubba (Jubbada Dhexe), Lower Shabelle (Shabeellada Hoose), Gedo and Lower Jubba (Jubbada Hoose). The establishment of the autonomous state was intended to express the disaffection of the Somalia State with the nascent Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government. It was also intended to counter the influence of the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council in the same regions. In 2005, the state was dissolved after its leader Shatigadud had joined the Transitional Federal Parliament in November 2004. He became Minister of Finance in January 2005 in the Transitional Federal Government, successor to the Transitional National Government.
The coast of Koofur Orsi is primarily settled by Biimaal clan, but also the Barwani, other coastal Banadiri communities, and the Sheekhaal. The interior and the bulk of Koofur Orsi are populated mainly by the Rahanweyn clan, who are located between the Hawiye to the east in Hirshabelle, and the Marehan and other Darod clans to the west in Jubaland.
On 17 March 2026, the state severed ties with the federal government over issues related to Somalia's ongoing constitutional crisis and allegations by State President Abdiaziz Laftagareen of an attempted coup against him by federal forces. Commercial flights between Mogadishu and Baidoa have been halted, but humanitarian flights continue. Somalian federal forces would recapture Baidoa on March 30, stating that the city "looks like a ghost town" and prompting the regional leader's resignation.
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South West State of Somalia
The South-West State of Somalia (Somali: Koonfur Galbeed, Maay: Koofur Orsé) is a federal member state in southwestern Somalia. It was founded by [[1]], leader of the Somalia RRA on 1 April 2002. It was the third autonomous region to be established.
After its dissolution in 2005, the territory was re-established in November 2009 as an official federal member state of Somalia. Sharif Hassan was selected the president of this state. The official capital of South-West state is Barawa, located on the coast of the Somali Sea, though the state administration is currently based in Baidoa.
The South West state is bordered to the north by Ethiopia, to the west by Jubaland, to the east by Hirshabelle, and to the south by the Somali Sea. To the southeast, it is also bordered by Banaadir, whose administrative status was unclear during the 2010s.
During its development phase, the regional state was called the Interim South West Administration. Its full name was the South West State of Somalia and, in Somali, Maamul Goboleedka Koonfur Galbeed. In the local Maay Maay language it is referred to as Koofur Orsi. An individual from Koofur Orsi is called a Koofur Orsian.
During the pre-independence period, when the Koofur Orsi or Koonfur-Galbeed region was administered by the United Nations Trusteeship, the majority segment population of Digil and Mirifle were the only major Somali demographic whose political groups and spokesmen voiced apprehension about a centralized unitary republic. Many of these spokesmen voiced a preference for some form of confederalism or federalism. Several decades after independence, opposition to Siad Barre's Hantiwadaag (socialist) government grew. When in 1990 the three major opposition factions of SPM, USC, and SNM met in Ethiopia and put forth an informal accord in favor of federalism, many civil servants from the Konfuur-Galbeed region argued that, in retrospect, the predecessors in their region were correct. In 1992, the blockage of aid supplies from the coast to the Konfuur-Galbeed region meant that many viewed the famine as man-made. This increased support for federalism. One form of criticism that was levelled at the Konfuur-Galbeed administration during its early development is that some of its functional facets hearkened back to the negative aspects of the era of the historically conterminous Geledi. The latter's tributary status was believed to inculcate subordinacy rather than self-sufficiency, an administration that was oligarchical rather than egalitarian, and too much contrast with the historically British Jubaland to its west and south.
The territory known as the Southwestern State of Somalia (Somali: Dowlad Goboleedka Koonfur-Galbeed ee Soomaaliya), or locally Koofur Orsi, was originally intended to consist of six Somali administrative regions: (gobollo): Bay, Bakool, Middle Jubba (Jubbada Dhexe), Lower Shabelle (Shabeellada Hoose), Gedo and Lower Jubba (Jubbada Hoose). The establishment of the autonomous state was intended to express the disaffection of the Somalia State with the nascent Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government. It was also intended to counter the influence of the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council in the same regions. In 2005, the state was dissolved after its leader Shatigadud had joined the Transitional Federal Parliament in November 2004. He became Minister of Finance in January 2005 in the Transitional Federal Government, successor to the Transitional National Government.
The coast of Koofur Orsi is primarily settled by Biimaal clan, but also the Barwani, other coastal Banadiri communities, and the Sheekhaal. The interior and the bulk of Koofur Orsi are populated mainly by the Rahanweyn clan, who are located between the Hawiye to the east in Hirshabelle, and the Marehan and other Darod clans to the west in Jubaland.
On 17 March 2026, the state severed ties with the federal government over issues related to Somalia's ongoing constitutional crisis and allegations by State President Abdiaziz Laftagareen of an attempted coup against him by federal forces. Commercial flights between Mogadishu and Baidoa have been halted, but humanitarian flights continue. Somalian federal forces would recapture Baidoa on March 30, stating that the city "looks like a ghost town" and prompting the regional leader's resignation.