Badhan or Baran (Somali: Badhan; Arabic: برن‎, Baran; Italian: Badhan) is a city and district in the Sanaag region, a territory in north Eastern Somalia. In July 2007, the district became the capital city of the autonomous Maakhir(Maakhir has rejoined Puntland since January 2009) region of Somalia. Since the start of the Somali civil war, the city has grown to include, among other things, a hospital, three secondary schools, as well as a university in the works since the Maakhir regional authorities was planning to open another University in Buraan, another city towards the East of Sanaag, however that has never happened.