Is Bosaso safe?
Somalia · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Bosaso is a city in Somalia, home to about 232k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. For Bosaso there is not enough published data for an honest score - fewer than half of the ranking's factors are measured here, so it is listed as "no data" rather than guessed at.
Emergency Ambulance 999 · Fire 555 · Police 888
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Somalia, updated 2026-05-20.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Somalia as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- army base near Af-Urur village15 deaths · 1 event
- Cal Miskaad mountains11 deaths · 1 event
- Bossaso6 deaths · 2 events
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Bosaso, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Parts of Somalia, including Somaliland
Named in the official UK travel advice for Somalia (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Bosaso.
How safe is Bosaso really?
Neither Bosaso nor Somalia has a published homicide rate in the sources this site uses (UNODC and the Igarapé Homicide Monitor), so the strongest single indicator of city safety is simply missing here.
Bosaso also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 41 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 12 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were army base near Af-Urur village (15 deaths), Cal Miskaad mountains (11 deaths), Bossaso (6 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Somalia at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-20). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 1 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Somalia
Terrorism in Somalia · Terrorist kidnaps · Political situation · Crime · Personal ID · Ramadan · Public offences · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Money · Road travel · Sea travel · Flooding
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Somalia — country-level, not specific to Bosaso. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 41within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- no datacountry,
- Human development
- HDI 0.404country, 2023
- Income
- $1,640/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 232kurban centre · 12,232/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 27.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 27/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 19/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 9/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.46Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 18.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.1 doctors /1k0.9 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 53 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Somalia
- Drought
- 10.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 6.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 1.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 1.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Somalia as a whole, not Bosaso specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Somalia, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Somalia; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Bosaso compared with Fuwwah
| Measure | Bosaso | Fuwwah | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | no data | 61.8 | — |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | 5.8 /100k | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 41 | 0 | +41 — better for Fuwwah |
| Income inequality (Gini) | no data | 36.7 | — |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.404 | 0.470 | −0.066 — better for Fuwwah |
| Road deaths | 27.4 /100k | 29.4 /100k | −2.0 /100k — better for Bosaso |
| Rule of law | 19/100 | 24/100 | −5/100 — better for Fuwwah |
| Corruption perceptions | 9/100 | 13/100 | −4/100 — better for Fuwwah |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 18.5 µg/m³ | 46.8 µg/m³ | −28.3 µg/m³ — better for Bosaso |
| Natural-hazard risk | 8.2/10 | 7.7/10 | +0.5/10 — better for Fuwwah |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Fuwwah →
Nearby cities
- Erigavo n/a
- El Afweyn n/a
- Fuwwah, Yemen 61.8
- Mukalla, Yemen 61.8
- Las Anod n/a
- Shihr, Yemen 61.8
- Burao n/a
- Berbera n/a
See Bosaso on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →