Somalia National University

Jaamacada Ummada Soomaaliyeed or the Somali National University (SNU) is the national university of the Northeast African nation of Somalia. The university campus was located near KM6, in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

The main university grounds were situated about six kilometers from the city center. Here, the first thirty years the main campus was known as the Jaamacada Gaheyr or Gahery University. SNU was created in 1954 [http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/inhea/profiles/Somalia.htm] .

In 1973, under the new Revolutionary leadership system of the military government, programs and facilities were expanded. The SNU developed over the next twenty years into an expansive institution of higher learning, with 13 departments and half a dozen outposts dispersed throughout the country. Research centers were also established in many cities.

The teaching college of Lafole (or Lafoole, as it was known to Somalis), was made a stand-alone institution with the help of the US Corps back in the mid 1970s. Lafole served as the college of teaching, and the language of instruction was English.

The thirteen departments of Somali National University were:

# Department Of Sharia Law
# Department of Linguistics (Somali, Arabic, English, German and Italian)
# Department of Livestock and Forest Management
# Department of Education (Teaching College at Lafoole), 20 km west of Mogadishu
# Department of Agriculture
# Department of Geology and Mining
# Department of Medicine (College of Medicine) near Digfeer Hospital
# Department of Chemical/Industrial Engineering
# Department of History
# Department of Geography
# Science Department
# Department of Mathematics
# Department of Public Health

Due to extensive damage to its facilities, the difficulty of holding classes and acquiring books and other necessities in the wake of the civil war in Somalia, classes at the university have been indefinitely suspended.