Kismaayo

Kismaayo, also spelled Chisimayu or Kismayu, Italian Chisimaio, seaport, southern Somalia. It lies along the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Jubba River. Founded in 1872 by the sultan of Zanzibar, the town was taken by the British in 1887; it later became a part of Jubaland and was within Italian Somaliland (1927–41). In the 1960s its harbour facilities, mainly used in the banana export industry, were improved with U.S. aid. Kismaayo’s port was damaged during the 1990s as a result of Somalia’s civil war. Pop. (latest est.) 90,000.