Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao[3] (Burr-OH; Somali: Burco, IPA: [Burˈʕo], Arabic: برعو), is the capital of the Togdheer region[4] and the second largest city in Somaliland.

[10][11] Due to the availability of water along the dry valley, Burao developed into a small inland market hub that linked the port of Berbera with the hinterland and offered trading facilities for the region's nomadic population.

[14][15]After leaving the Berbera coastlands and ascending the escarpments of the great inland plateau, the convoy followed the valley of the Tug Dayr as far as Burao, capital of a powerful but friendly Habr Gerhaji sultan.

[16]Explorer Frank Linsly James, a guest of Sultan Awad Deria during his visit to Somaliland in 1884, describes a performance he witnessed by Habr Yunis Horsemen at Burao's Togdheer River.During our stay at Burao, the Sultan collected a great many of his people together, and twice entertained us with some well-executed and characteristic evolutions on horseback.

On the first occasion some forty mounted men were collected in the Tug before our zariba; but this did not satisfy the Sultan, and he arranged a second "fan- tasia", in which fully two hundred warriors were engaged.

Some of the riders went through regular circus feats, leaping from their horses when at full gallop, picking up objects thrown on the ground, and then remount- ing.

[18] The assembled Dervish and their clan allies sent the following stern letter to Captain Cordeauxe and James Hayes Sadler: "This is to inform you that you have done whatever you have desired, and oppressed our well-known religion without any cause.

In the ensuing disturbances a shootout between the British and Burao residents broke out; Captain Allan Gibb, a Dervish war veteran and district commissioner, was shot and killed.

[20] The RAF planes arrived at Burao within two days and proceeded to bomb the town with incendiaries, effectively burning the entire settlement to the ground.

Having called out Camel corps company to quell the disturbance, he went forward himself with his interperter, whereupon fire opened on him by some Rer segulleh riflemen and he was instantly killed..Miscreants then disappeared under the cover of darkness.

We propose to inflict fine of 2,500 camels on implicated sections, who are practically isolated and demand surrender of man who killed Gibbs.

[26]James Lawrence author of Imperial Rearguard: Wars of Empire writes [Gibb]..was murdered by rioters during a protest against taxation at Burao.

The inhabitants of the native township were turned out of their houses, and the entire area was razed by a combination of bombing, machine-gun fire and burning.

[27]After the RAF aircraft bombed Burao to the ground, the leaders of the rebellion acquiesced, agreeing to pay a fine for Gibb's death, but they refused to identify and apprehend the accused individuals.

The group also attacked the house of the district commissioner of Burao District, Major Chambers, resulting in the death of Major Chamber's police guard before escaping to Bur Dhab, a strategic mountain south-east of Burao, where Sheikh Bashir's small unit occupied a fort and took up a defensive position in anticipation of a British counterattack.

The government came to a conclusion that another expedition against him would be useless; that they must build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely.

[33] The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops, led by police general James David, to fight against Sheikh Bashir and had intelligence plans to capture him alive.

The British authorities mobilized a police force, and eventually on 7 July found Sheikh Bashir and his unit in defensive positions behind their fortifications in the mountains of Bur Dhab.

[38][39] With the opening of a local branch of the Somali Commercial Bank, livestock traders gained access to credits and further expanded their business activities by investing their profits in the real estate market, further contributing to the development and growth of the city.

[40] After Siad Barre took power in 1969, the Isaaq sub-clans felt more and more marginalized, as outsiders from the Darood clan dominated the political establishment of Burao.

[43] During the offensive the Somali National Army committed gross human rights violations, including attacking the civilian population using heavy artillery and tanks.

[47] After Somali troops retreated to Goon Ad, in the late afternoon, off-duty soldiers regrouped and entered the center of the city.

Bazookas, machine guns, hand grenades and other weapons of mass destruction were also directed against civilian targets in Hargeisa which had also been attacked as well as in Burao.

[51] Burao, then the third largest city in Somalia[46][52] was "razed to the ground",[53] and most of its inhabitants fled the country to seek refuge in Ethiopia.

In May 1991, an SNM Central Committee convened in Burao collectively agreed upon revoking its voluntary union with the Somali Democratic Republic.

[56] The conference was concluded with formation of an interim administration whereby Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur was elected to govern for a period of two years.

[66] In 2007, Burao's city authority (in conjunction with development organizations and local traders) opened the Burco Meat and Produce complex.

The city has a hot arid climate (Köppen BWh) in common with most of Somalia, although Burao's weather is moderated by altitude.

Due south of Burao is a grassland savannah, which attracts many types of fauna to the region, including lions and leopards.

Air transportation needs are served by the Burao Airport, which offers flights via Daallo Airlines to Hargeisa and other cities in the Horn of Africa, as well as international locations such as Addis Ababa and San'aa.