Ras Hafun

Ras Hafun, also spelled Raas Xaafuun, is a promontory in the Bari region of Puntland, in northeastern Somalia, and forms the easternmost point of mainland Africa.^[1] The 2018 United Nations List of Protected Areas of Somalia includes Ras Hafun as a designated national park.^[2] The headland is also recognised by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area.^[1]

Ras Hafun is an Important Bird Area, designated by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of nine bird species: Somali pigeon, Forbes-Watson's swift, eastern chanting goshawk, Somali fiscal, lesser hoopoe-lark, Somali lark, Somali starling, Somali wheatear and Somali sparrow.^[1]

The Ras Hafun area has a rocky coastline, sandy beaches and mangroves, backed inland by lowland plains that support an arid savanna landscape with low, woody vegetation.^[1]

Ras Hafun is joined to the mainland at the town of Foar by a sand spit about 20 km long, 1 to 3 km wide and roughly 5 m above sea level.^[1] The coast of the promontory is rocky, with sandy beaches, and inland it gives way to lowland plains.^[1]

Somalia's year follows four seasons: Jilal from December to March, the harshest dry season; Gu from April to June, the main rainy season; Xagaa from July to September, a second dry season; and Dayr from October to December, the shortest rainy season.^[3] The northeast of the country, where Ras Hafun lies, receives less than about 100 mm of rain a year.^[3]

Ras Hafun is generally identified with Opone, a trading town described in the first-century Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.^[4] A British-Somali expedition in the 1970s led by Neville Chittick found drystone walls, courtyard houses and the site of the old harbour, and a University of Michigan team recovered Egyptian, Roman and Persian Gulf pottery.^[4] The fishing town of Hafun lies on the promontory.^[1] It had about 13,200 inhabitants in 2000.^[5] An Italian firm began exploiting salt deposits there in 1930, and by 1933 or 1934 the works were producing more than 200,000 tonnes of salt.^[5]

The United Nations list records Ras Hafun as a designated national park, with no reported year of designation, area or IUCN category.^[2] Nationally, newer legislation governing the establishment of national parks, game reserves and special reserves had been drafted by 1989.^[6] There has been little formal protection or management of most Somali protected areas since the central government collapsed in 1991.^[7]

No trails, interpretive sites or visitor routes have been developed at Ras Hafun. Its notable features are its position as the easternmost point of mainland Africa and the long sand spit that links it to the mainland.^[1] The promontory is also generally identified with the ancient port of Opone, where excavations found drystone walls and the site of the old harbour.^[4]

The nearest settlement is the fishing town of Hafun, on the promontory about 2 km east of the sand spit.^[1] Travellers considering a visit to Somalia should check current government travel advisories first, because security conditions vary widely and change quickly.

The United Nations list shows Ras Hafun as designated.^[2] The cape's recognition by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area rests on its populations of nine bird species.^[1]