HCHorn Compass

Reference map

Map of the Horn of Africa

Borders, capitals, major cities and ports, and the maritime corridors that carry the region's trade and most of its strategic risk. Tap a country for a short brief.

Bab el-MandebPort Sudan — Sudan's lifeline port and de facto seat of governmentEl Fasher — Besieged Darfur state capitalMassawa — Eritrean Red Sea portAssab — Southern Eritrean port, long sought by EthiopiaDire Dawa — Ethiopian rail hub on the Djibouti corridorBerbera — DP World port and Somaliland's strategic assetBosaso — Puntland's main port on the Gulf of AdenGarowe — Puntland's administrative capitalBaidoa — South West State hub near al-Shabaab linesKismayo — Jubaland port cityMombasa — East Africa's largest container portKhartoumKhartoum (capital)JubaJuba (capital)AsmaraAsmara (capital)Djibouti CityDjibouti City (capital)Addis AbabaAddis Ababa (capital)HargeisaHargeisa (capital)MogadishuMogadishu (capital)NairobiNairobi (capital)

Somalia

Capital: Mogadishu

Al-Shabaab insurgency, federal–state disputes and a security handover from the AU mission.

Dots mark capitals, squares mark major cities and ports (hover for detail), and the dashed arrows trace the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping corridors. Borders are simplified for legibility and are not an authority on disputed boundaries.

Maritime corridors

Suez–Red Sea route

Roughly 12% of world trade normally transits here between Suez and Bab el-Mandeb; Port Sudan, Massawa and Assab sit on its western shore.

Bab el-Mandeb strait

A 30 km chokepoint between Djibouti and Yemen. Attacks and rerouting around the Cape add roughly ten days to Asia–Europe voyages.

Gulf of Aden

Patrolled by EU Atalanta and Aspides and other naval task forces; Berbera and Bosaso are the main regional ports.

Indian Ocean coast

Somalia's 3,300 km coastline, Kismayo and Mombasa; piracy incidents have re-emerged as naval attention shifted north.

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