Anyone who has read news in the past decade or two
is familiar with Somalia. Unfortunately, most of it
has been bad news. From civil war to the recent spate
of piracy, Somalia has seen its share of turmoil and
unsavory incident.
Currently, the Transitional Federal Government only
controls the southern part of the country which is also
the most unstable politically.
There are 27 regions of Somalia and as far as Islands
go, Bajuni or Baajun Archipelago is the biggest aggregation
of Somali Islands, located in the Indian Ocean. Following
are a few of the islands in the group:
Bajuni
Chandra
Chovaye
Chula
Koyama
Darakasi
Ngumi
Kandha
Iwu
Fuma
Ilisi
Kisimayu
Thenini
Tegadi
Ambu
Gua
Chula is the only island with a significant population
(500-1000). It has a village named Ndowa. There is possibility
of village soccer in Ndowa, although likely only among
Marehan tribe. Most Bajuni tribesmen work for the former
and lack sufficient spare time for any meaningful organized
sports.Most people are fishermen.
Koyama Island is the largest island with two villages,
Koyama and Koyamani. There are very small populations
in these villages but informal kickabouts are a real possibility
with soccer being popular.
Chandra, Chovaye, Darakasi, Ngumi are other bigger islands
in the chain but seem to have only migratory fishermen
as their "populations". It is unlikely that
these men engage in any roundball activity.
Kandha Iwu, Fuma, Ilisi, Thenini, Tegadi, Ambu and Gua
Islands are small islands and do not possess any native
populations. This may be due to inhospitable conditions
and the migration of the local Bajuni tribes to Kenya
in 1990s. No soccer activity reported.
It is also highly unlikely but entirely possible that
the new breed of Somali pirates cruising in the Indian
Ocean may play some informal type of soccer when on land.
No confirmed reports about these individuals engaging
in this activity, their prime concern for the moment being
hijacking all the big tankers and ships and causing international
uproar.
