Zeila

a city and port in the northwest region of the Somali Republic, on the Gulf of Aden. Population, approximately 5,000. Zeila is connected by road with the port of Berbera and with cattle-breeding regions. There is a small transit trade with Ethiopia. Cattle, untanned leather, and coffee are exported, and there is diving for sponges. From the 12th to 16th centuries Zeila was the capital of the Zeila Sultanate.