The largest city, and administrative capital of Somalia, Mogadishu has a long and proud history, being known from the Middle Ages as an important trade node, and "the city of the hundred Mosques." Sold by the local rulers to Italian traders, it soon became the epicenter of the Italian colonial expansion in Somalia: slowly but steadily, the city expanded as more and more colonists found a new life outside of the mainland, until they outnumbered the natives, and started pushing them towards the outskirts in large slums, rebuilding the city center in the image of a typical Italian town.

While less developed than Addis Ababa or Asmara, Mogadishu is still an important urban center, with more than a hundred thousand inhabitants and several industries - especially in the textile and fruit sectors - marking its progress from a mere trade and agricultural town into a modern industrial city. As Italy's main port into the Indian Ocean, Mogadishu also boasts a large and modern port: every day, dozens of cargo ships dock here to load Somalia's fruits and textiles, exporting them towards Italy or other countries.