Kismaayo, also Kismayu or Chisimaio, town, southern Somalia, in Lower Jubba region. A deepwater port on the Indian Ocean, it is one of the nation's principal commercial and manufacturing centers. Industries include meat, fish, turtle, and leather processing. Kismaayo was founded in 1872 as a trade center by the sultan of Zanzibar. It was occupied in 1887 by the British and from 1927 to 1941 was part of Italian Somaliland. Port facilities were upgraded in the 1960s. Population (1980) 70,000.
