El Ali () is a town located in an area of western Hiiraan, Somalia, characterized by pastoral land, groundwater resources and a network of local roads and tracks. The town has been documented under the names El Ali and Ceel Cali in Italian, Somali and international geographical records. A 1986 Somali government electoral record listed Ceel Cali as a polling town within Beledweyne District, while a 1994 National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency gazetteer classified it as a populated place and assigned it to topographic sheet NB38-14. Name The Somali name Ceel Cali literally refers to a well associated with a person named Ali. Later geological and meteorite literature describes the town as having taken its name from its borehole or well, reflecting the importance of groundwater to the settlement. The locality is also recorded in English-language geographical sources as El Ali and in variant forms including Ceel-Cali and Ceel Caali.Egeh, Ali H. (2025). "El Ali meteorite: From whetstone to fame and to the tragedy of local people's heritage". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 60 (7): 1674–1678. doi:10.1111/maps.14382.
Geography and environment El Ali occupies a landscape where access to groundwater has historically been important to pastoral settlement. A 2021 UN-Habitat study of patterns in Belet Weyne District area describes Ceel Cali as being beside a large area where an underground aquifer reaches the surface and identifies it as lying at the centre of a network of tertiary roads and tracks.
The wider Hiiraan region was subject to systematic groundwater investigation during the 1970s and 1980s. The United Nations Development Programme's Mineral and Groundwater Survey, Phase II, produced the 1973 technical report Groundwater in the Somali Democratic Republic, which documented drilled and hand-dug wells, springs and groundwater analyses. Geophysical investigations in Hiiraan were also undertaken to locate groundwater and assess water-control measures.
The Somali government's Comprehensive Groundwater Development Project, begun in 1981 and extended through 1986, subsequently included Hiiraan among its priority areas for groundwater development. Its hydrogeological volume contains well data, maps and illustrative plates documenting the programme's investigations and drilling activities.
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.Global News: In meteorite, Alberta researchers discover 2 minerals never before seen on Earth
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.
References
Ceel Cali, Hiiraan Somalia
See also Hiiraan Mukayle Dheriyow Ceel Warre Ceel Dheer Bilaal Shaaw Beledweyne Dabbad Jimbiley El Ali meteorite Shabelle River