'''Mogadishu''' (, also ;  ;  ;  ), locally known as '''Xamar''' or '''Hamar''', is the capital city and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting with traders all round the Indian Ocean for millennia and has an estimated population of 5,488,000 (2021). Mogadishu is located in the coastal Banadir region on the Indian Ocean, which unlike other Somali regions, is considered a municipality rather than a  (federal state).