El Ali District
City in Somalia
El Ali (Somali: Degmada Ceel Cali) is a district in the central Hiran region of Somalia. El Ali has a population of around 230,000 inhabitants. The broader El Ali District has a total population of 543,345 residents. El Ali means (Ali's well).
El-Ali's residents largely belong to the Galje'el (or Gaaljecel) sub-clan of Dirisame.
History
The El Ali meteorite was identified by Kureym Mining and Rocks Company's staff in 2020 and trucked towards Mogadishu.
Prior to that, the rock had been celebrated for between five and seven generations, featuring in songs, folklore, dances, and poems. In 2022, the mineral elaliite was named after El Ali after being identified in the meteorite by scientists at the University of Alberta.
Location
It is situated 75 km south west of Beledweyne, the capital of the Hiiraan region.
Demographics
El Ali is predominantly inhabited by people from the Somali ethnic group, with the Dirisame sub-clan of the main Gaaljecel clan especially well represented.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “El Ali District” as city in Somalia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Somalia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q130285917. Authority coordinates are 4.200, 44.983. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 2022.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “El Ali District”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow El Ali District primary sources, El Ali District archive and District research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “El Ali District”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “El Ali District” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.