Somalia , officially the
Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the
Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
. It is bordered by
DjiboutiDjibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. On the other side of the Red Sea, on...
to the northwest,
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
to the southwest, the
Gulf of AdenThe Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa...
with
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
to the north, the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
to the east, and
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
to the west.
In antiquity, Somalia was an important center for
commerceCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
with the rest of the ancient world. Its
sailorsSailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
and merchants were the main suppliers of
frankincenseFrankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra , Boswellia frereana, Boswellia bhaw-dajiana...
,
myrrhMyrrh is a reddish-brown resinous material, the dried sap of a number of trees, but primarily from Commiphora myrrha, which is native to Yemen, Somalia, the eastern parts of Ethiopia, and Commiphora gileadensis, which is native to Jordan...
and spices, items which were considered valuable luxuries by the Ancient Egyptians,
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
ns,
MycenaeansMycenaean Greece is a cultural period of Ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
and
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ians with whom the
Somali peopleSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
traded. According to most scholars, Somalia is also where the ancient
Kingdom of PuntThe Land of Punt, also called Pwenet, or Pwene by the ancient Egyptians, was a trading partner known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, African blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals...
was situated. The ancient Puntites were a nation of people that had close relations with
Pharaonic EgyptPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
during the times of
PharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
SahureSahure was the second king of ancient Egypt's 5th Dynasty. He was a son of queen Neferhetepes, as shown in scenes from the causeway of Sahure's pyramid complex in Abusir.. His father probably was Userkaf. Sahure's consort was queen Neferetnebty. Reliefs show Sahure and Neferetanebty with their sons...
and
QueenA queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state.In Ancient Egypt, Pacific cultures, and...
HatshepsutHatshepsut , meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt...
. The
pyramidal structuresArchitecture of Somalia is the engineering and designing of multiple different construction types such as stone cities, castles, citadels, fortresses, mosques, temples, aqueducts, lighthouses, towers and tombs during the ancient, medieval and early modern periods in Somalia, as well as the fusion...
, temples and ancient houses of
dressed stoneMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone such as marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, and...
littered around Somalia are said to date from this period. In the classical era, several ancient city-states such as Opone,
MosyllonCape Guardafui , in Somalia, is the headland that forms the geographical apex of what is commonly known as the Horn of Africa. It is located at . The island of Socotra lies off of this cape. The island of scotra is owned by Yemen. Also the cape is near the gulf of Aden. It is in the Indian ocean...
and Malao that competed with the
SabaeansThe Sabaeans or Sabæans were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in south west Arabian Peninsula. Some Sabaeans also lived in D'mt, located in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, due to their hegemony over the Red Sea.-History:The ancient Sabaean...
, Parthians and Axumites for the wealthy
IndoIndo or Indo-European or Eurasian people is a term used to describe people of mixed European and Indonesian and/or Chinese Indonesian ancestry, in particular, people of Dutch and Indonesian ancestry, and as a result are primarily found in The Netherlands and Indonesia, but also in the United...
-
GrecoGreco may refer to:* Greco , a list of people with this surname* El Greco, a Greek-Spanish painter, sculptor and architect* El Greco , a composition by Vangelis* Greco , a playable character from Chrono Cross...
-
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
trade also flourished in Somalia.
The birth of Islam on the opposite side of Somalia's
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
coast meant that Somali merchants, sailors and
expatriateAn expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence...
s living in the
Arabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
gradually came under the influence of the new religion through their converted
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
trading partners. With the migration of fleeing Muslim families from the Islamic world to Somalia in the early centuries of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
and the peaceful conversion of the Somali population by
Somali Muslim scholarsNearly all Somalis are Sunni Muslims. Practicing Islam reinforces distinctions that further set Somalis apart from their immediate African neighbors, many of whom are either Christians or adherents of indigenous faiths.The Islamic ideal is a society organized to implement Muslim precepts in which...
in the following centuries, the ancient city-states eventually transformed into Islamic
MogadishuMogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital.Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
,
BerberaBerbera is a city in northwestern Somalia. It was for centuries the capital of the Somaliland region and also the colonial capital of British Somaliland from 1870 to 1941 when it was moved to Hargeisa...
,
ZeilaZeila is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast and is located in the Awdal region of Somalia near the Djibouti border.It is located at , surrounded on three sides by the sea; landward the country is unbroken desert for some fifty miles...
,
BarawaBarawa or Brava is a port town in the south eastern coast of Somalia. The traditional inhabitants are the Tunni Somalis and the Bravanese people, who speak Bravanese, a Swahili dialect.-History:...
and Merka, which were part of the Berberi civilization. The city of Mogadishu came to be known as the
City of Islam, and controlled the East African
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
tradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
for several centuries. In the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali
empireThe term empire derives from the Latin imperium. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy...
s dominated the regional trade including the
Ajuuraan StateThe Ajuuraan State was a Somali Muslim empire that ruled over large parts of East Africa in the Middle Ages. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuuraan empire successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese...
, which excelled in hydraulic
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
and fortress
buildingIn architecture, construction, engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following:# Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or...
, the Sultanate of Adal, whose
generalA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
Ahmed Gurey was the first African
commanderCommander is a military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service...
in history to use
cannonA cannon is any tubular piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
warfareWarfarerefers to the conduct of conflict between opponents, and usually involves escalation of aggression from the proverbial "war of words" between politicians and diplomats to full-scale armed conflicts, waged until one side accepts defeat or peace terms are agreed on.Warfare between groups, and...
on the continent during Adal's conquest of the
Ethiopian EmpireThe Ethiopian Empire, also known as Abyssinia, was in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. At its height the empire also included Northern Somalia, Djibouti, Southern Egypt, Eastern Sudan, Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia and existed from approximately 1137 until 1974 when the monarchy was overthrown...
, and the
Gobroon DynastyThe Gobroon Dynasty was a Somali royal house that ruled parts of East Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was established by the Ajuuraan Soldier Ibrahim Adeer who had defeated various vassals of the Ajuuraan Empire and established the House of Gobroon...
, whose military dominance forced governors of the
Omani empireOman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
north of the city of
LamuLamu town is the largest town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya.Lamu town is also the headquarters of Lamu District and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:...
to pay
tributeA tribute is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance...
to the
SomaliSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
Ahmed Yusuf. In the late
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
after the
Berlin conferenceThe Berlin Conference of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power...
had ended,
European empiresEuropean empire may refer to:*in a historical context, the Colonial empires of the Early Modern period*in current usage, a term for the Eurosphere emphasizing a prediction of growing influence of Europe in the 21st century...
sailed with their armies to the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
. The
imperialImperialism, as defined by the dictionary of human geography, is “the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination.” Imperialism, in many ways, is described...
clouds wavering over Somalia alarmed the
DervishThe Dervish State was an early 20th century Somali Muslim state that was established by Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, a religious leader who gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and united them into a loyal army known as the Dervishes...
leader Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, who gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and began one of the longest colonial resistance wars ever.
Somalia was never formally colonized. The
Dervish StateThe Dervish State was an early 20th century Somali Muslim state that was established by Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, a religious leader who gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and united them into a loyal army known as the Dervishes...
successfully repulsed the
British empireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region. As a result of its fame in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, the Dervish state was recognized as an
allyAlly is a common unisex given name. It is a variant of Allie.-People:*Ally Carter, American author of young adult and adult fiction*Ally Fowler , Australian actress in 1980s soap operas...
by the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
and the
German empireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
, and remained throughout
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
the only independent Muslim power on the continent. After a quarter of a century holding the British at bay, the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 when Britain for the first time in Africa used aeroplanes when it bombed the Dervish capital of
TaleexTaleex or Taleh is a town in northeastern Somalia. It has a population of 40,000 inhabitants, and is the administrative center in the Taleex district of the Sool region....
. As a result of this bombardment, former Dervish territories were turned into a
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
of Britain.
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
similarly faced the same opposition from
SomaliSomali can refer to:* Somali people, ethnic group who inhabit the Horn of Africa * Somali language* Somali clan, social grouping of the Somali people* Somali Region, in Ethiopia* Somali , breed of cat* Republic of Somalia...
Sultans and armies and did not acquire full control of parts of modern Somalia until the Fascist era in late 1927. This occupation lasted till 1941 and was replaced by a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
military administrationMilitary administration identifies both the techniques and systems used by military departments, agencies, and Armed Services involved in the management of the armed forces...
. Northern Somalia would remain a
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
while southern Somalia became a
trusteeshipTrusteeship may refer to*Trust law *Trusteeship *United Nations Trusteeship...
. The Union of the two regions in 1960 formed the Somali Democratic Republic.
Due to its ancient brotherly ties with the
Arab worldThe Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast...
, Somalia was accepted in 1974 as a member of the
Arab LeagueThe Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organization of Arab states in Southwest Asia, and North and Northeast Africa. It was formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria...
. To strengthen its relationship with the rest of the African continent, Somalia joined other African nations when it founded the
African UnionThe African Union is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 52 African states. Established on July 9 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organization of African Unity...
, and began to support the
ANCANC usually refers to:* African National Congress, a revolutionary movement which became the ruling political party in South Africa in the 1994 election.* African Nations Cup, or African Cup of Nations, an international football tournament...
in
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
against the apartheid regime and the
EritreanEritrean may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to the country of Eritrea* A person from Eritrea, or of Eritrean descent. For information about the Eritrean people, see Demographics of Eritrea and Culture of Eritrea. For specific persons, see List of Eritreans.* Note that there is no...
secessionists in
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
during the
Eritrean War of IndependenceThe Eritrean War of Independence was a conflict fought between the Ethiopian government and Eritrean separatists, both before and during the Ethiopian Civil War....
. A Muslim country, Somalia is one of the founding members of the
Organisation of the Islamic ConferenceThe Organisation of the Islamic Conference is an international organisation with a permanent delegation to the United Nations. It groups 57 member states, from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkans, Southeast Asia and South Asia...
and is also a member of the UN and
NAMThe Non-Aligned Movement is an international organisation of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The movement is largely the brainchild of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former president of Egypt Gamal Abdul Nasser and Yugoslav...
. Despite suffering from
civil strifeThe Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia, that began in 1991. The conflict has caused destabilisation and instability throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to the rebel...
and instability, Somalia has also managed to sustain a
free marketA free market describes a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to regulate against force or fraud. The terminology is used by economists and in popular culture. A free market requires protection of property rights, but no regulation, no subsidization, no single...
economy which, according to the UN, outperforms those of many other countries in Africa.
Prehistory
Somalia has been inhabited by man since the
PaleolithicThe Paleolithic or Palaeolithic Age, Era, or Period, or Old Stone Age, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history...
period.
Cave paintingCave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
s dating back as far as 9000 BC have been found in northern Somalia. The most famous of these is the Laas Geel complex, which contains some of the earliest known rock art on the African continent. Inscriptions have been found beneath each of the rock paintings, but archaeologists have so far been unable to decipher this form of ancient writing. During the
Stone ageThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric time period during which humans widely used stone for toolmaking.Stone tools were made from a variety of different sorts of stone. For example, flint and chert were shaped for use as cutting tools and weapons, while basalt and sandstone were used for ground...
, the Doian culture and the Hargeisan culture flourished here with their respective industries and factories.
The oldest evidence of
burialBurial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
customs in the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
comes from
cemeteriesA cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are the place where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Somalia dating back to the
4th millennium BCThe 4th millennium BC saw major changes in human culture. It marks the beginning of the Bronze Age and of writing.The city states of Sumer and the kingdom of Egypt are established and grow to prominence. Agriculture spreads widely across Eurasia...
. The
stone implementsA stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made partially, or entirely out of stone. Although stone-tool-dependent cultures exist even today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric societies that no longer exist....
from the
Jalelo siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological recordBeyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
in northern Somalia are said to be the most important link in evidence of the
universalityUniversality may refer to:* Universality * Universality * Universality , meaning present in all places and all times* Universality See also:* Universal...
in Paleolithic times between the
EastEast is a direction in geography. It is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points, opposite of west and at right angles to north and south. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise...
and the
WestWest is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points...
.
Antiquity & the Classical era
Ancient
pyramidal structuresArchitecture of Somalia is the engineering and designing of multiple different construction types such as stone cities, castles, citadels, fortresses, mosques, temples, aqueducts, lighthouses, towers and tombs during the ancient, medieval and early modern periods in Somalia, as well as the fusion...
, tombs,
ruined citiesLost Cities is a 60-card card game, designed in 1999 by game designer Reiner Knizia and published by several publishers. The objective of the game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities...
and
stone wallsDrywall is the term used for a common method of constructing interior walls and ceilings using panels made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper, then kiln dried. Drywall construction is used globally for the finish construction of interior walls and ceilings...
such as the
Wargaade WallWargaade Wall is an ancient stone construction in Wargaade, Somalia that enclosed a large settlement. Graves and unglazed sherds of pottery dating from antiquity have been found during excavations. The Wall's building material consists of rubble set in mud mortar. The high wall measures 230m x 210m...
littered in Somalia are evidence of an ancient sophisticated civilization that once thrived in the Somali peninsula. The findings of archaeological excavations and research in Somalia show that this civilization had an ancient
writing systemA writing system is a type of symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that one must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
that remains undeciphered and enjoyed a lucrative trading relationship with
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
and
Mycenaean GreeceMycenaean may refer to:* Mycenae, coming from or belonging to this ancient town in Peloponnese in Greece* Mycenaean Greece, the Greek-speaking regions of the Aegean Sea as of the Late Bronze Age, named after the Mycenae of the Trojan War epics* Mycenaean language, an ancient form of Greek, known...
since at least the second millennium BC, which supports the view of Somalia being the ancient
Kingdom of PuntThe Land of Punt, also called Pwenet, or Pwene by the ancient Egyptians, was a trading partner known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, African blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals...
.
The Puntites "traded not only in their own produce of
incenseIncense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces....
,
ebonyEbony is a general name for very dense black wood. In the strict sense it is yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but other heavy, black woods are sometimes also called ebony...
and
short-horned cattleThe Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late 18th century. The breed was developed as dual purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however there were always certain blood lines within the breed which emphasised one quality or the other...
, but also in goods from other neighbouring regions, including
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
,
ivoryIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
and
animal skins.The skin is the outer covering of the body. In humans, it is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of mesodermal tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, birds...
" According to the temple reliefs at
Deir el-BahriDeir el-Bahri is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt....
, the Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati.
Ancient Somalis domesticated the
camelCamels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus. The dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the Bactrian camel has two humps. They are native to the dry desert areas of western Asia, and central and east Asia, respectively...
somewhere between the third millennium and second millennium
BCBC or B.C. may refer to:* Before Christ, from the Latin Ante Christum, an epoch based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus.-Places:* Baja California, Mexico's northernmost state...
from where it spread to Ancient Egypt and
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
. In the
classical periodClassical period can refer to the following:*The Classical Period of ancient Greece, which fell between its Archaic Period and Hellenistic Period.*Classical antiquity*Classical period of music*Classic stage of American archaeology...
, the city states of
MossylonCape Guardafui , in Somalia, is the headland that forms the geographical apex of what is commonly known as the Horn of Africa. It is located at . The island of Socotra lies off of this cape. The island of scotra is owned by Yemen. Also the cape is near the gulf of Aden. It is in the Indian ocean...
, Opone, Malao,
MundusMundus , was an East Roman general during the reign of Justinian I.- Origin and early life :Mundus was of the son of Giesmus, a king of the Gepids, and nephew to another Gepid king, Trapstila. The exact date of his birth is unknown. His father was killed in battle against the Ostrogoths of...
and
TabaeTabae is a Catholic titular see. The original diocese was in Caria, a suffragan of Stauropolis; according to Strabo it was located in a plain in Phrygia on the boundaries of Caria. The place is now Tavas, near Kale, Denizli in Turkey; some inscriptions and numerous ancient remains have been...
in Somalia developed a lucrative trade network connecting with merchants from
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
,
Ptolemaic EgyptThe Ptolemaic Kingdom in and around Egypt began following Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BC and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. It was founded when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt, creating a powerful Hellenistic state stretching from...
,
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
,
Parthian PersiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
,
SabaSaba is the smallest island of the Netherlands Antilles, located at . It consists largely of the potentially active volcano, Mount Scenery , the highest point of the Kingdom of the Netherlands....
, Nabataea and the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the
bedenThe Beden is an ancient Somali maritime vessel that remains the longest surviving sewn ship in East Africa. Its shipyards predominantly lie in the Hafun region, and the ship's modern usage is chiefly for fishing. The ship's construction style is unique to Somalia and significantly differs from...
to transport their cargo.
After the Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire and the Roman naval presence at
AdenAden is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb.Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and...
to curb
piracyPiracy is a war-like act committed by private parties that engaged in acts of robbery and/or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the...
, a mutual agreement by
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
and
SomaliSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
merchants barred
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n ships from trading in the free port cities of the
Arabian peninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
because of the nearby Romans. However, they continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from any Roman threat or spies. The reason for barring Indian ships from entering the wealthy Arabian port cities was to protect and hide the exploitative trade practices of the Somali and Arab merchants in the extremely lucrative ancient
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
–
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
commerce.
The Indian merchants for centuries brought large quantities of
cinnamonCinnamon is a small evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Sri Lanka, or the spice obtained from the tree's bark...
from Ceylon and the
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
to Somalia and Arabia. This is said to have been the best kept secret of the Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
world. The Romans and Greeks believed the source of cinnamon to have been the Somali peninsula but in reality, the highly valued product was brought to Somalia by way of Indian ships. Through Somali and Arab traders, Indian/Chinese cinnamon was also exported for far higher prices to North Africa, the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, which made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across ancient sea and land routes.
Birth of Islam & the Middle Ages
The history of Islam in the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
is as old as the religion itself. The early persecuted
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
s fled to the Axumite port city of
ZeilaZeila is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast and is located in the Awdal region of Somalia near the Djibouti border.It is located at , surrounded on three sides by the sea; landward the country is unbroken desert for some fifty miles...
in modern day Somalia to seek protection from the Quraish at the court of the Axumite Emperor in present day
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
. Some of the Muslims that were granted protection are said to have settled in several parts of the Horn of Africa to promote the religion.
The victory of the Muslims over the Quraish in the
7th centuryThe 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era.-Overview:The Muslim conquests began after the death of Muhammad in 632. Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun Caliphate and the Umayyad Caliphate...
had a significant impact on Somalia's merchants and sailors, as their
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
trading partners had then all adopted
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
, and the major trading routes in the Mediterranean and the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
came under the sway of the Muslim Caliphs. Through commerce, Islam spread amongst the Somali population in the coastal cities of Somalia. Instability in the
Arabian peninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
saw several migrations of Arab families to Somalia's coastal cities, who then contributed another significant element to the growing popularity of Islam in the Somali peninsula.
MogadishuMogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital.Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
became the center of Islam on the East African coast, and Somali merchants established a colony in
MozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest. It was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498...
to extract gold from the Monomopatan mines in
SofalaSofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in ean]] nearby. Vasco da Gama's companion Tomé Lopes left a narrative which identifies Sofala with the Biblical Ophir and its ancient...
. In northern Somalia,
AdalAdal may refer to one of the following:* Adal Sultanate* Adal * Adal Ramones* Adal * Adal...
was in its early stages a small trading community established by the newly converted Horn African Muslim merchants, who were predominantly
SomaliSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
according to
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
and
Somali chroniclesSomali literature refers to the literary corpus of the Somali people, literature which ranges from Islamic poetry and Hadith produced by Somali scholars and Sheikhs of centuries past to works of fiction from contemporary Somali writers.-Islamic literature:...
.
The century between 1150 and 1250 marked a decisive turn in the role of Islam in Somali history.
Yaqut Al-HamawiYaqut ibn-'Abdullah al-Rumi al-Hamawi) was a Syrian biographer and geographer. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent, "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah means his father's name was Abdullah. The word yaqut means ruby...
and later
ibn SaidAli ibn Musa ibn Said al-Maghribi was a famous geographer, historian and the most important collector of poetry from al-Andalus in the 12th and 13th centuries. Ibn Said was born at Alcalá la Real near Granada, grew up in Marrakesh, studied in Sevilla and stayed in Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo,...
noted that the Berbers (Somalis) were a prosperous Muslim nation during that period. The
Adal SultanateThe Adal Sultanate was a province-cum-sultanate located in present-day northwestern Somalia, southern Djibouti, and the Somali, Oromia, and Afar regions of Ethiopia. At its height, the sultanate controlled large portions of Ethiopia and Somalia.-Ethnicity:There is still debate over the ethnic...
was now the center of a commercial empire stretching from
Cape GuardafuiCape Guardafui , in Somalia, is the headland that forms the geographical apex of what is commonly known as the Horn of Africa. It is located at . The island of Socotra lies off of this cape. The island of scotra is owned by Yemen. Also the cape is near the gulf of Aden. It is in the Indian ocean...
to
HadiyaHadiya was a powerful vassal kingdom of Ethiopia, located in southwestern Ethiopia, south of the Abbay River and west of Shewa. It acquired its name from its inhabitants, the Hadiya people. The historical Hadiya area was situated between Kembata, Gamo, and Waj, southwest of Shewa...
. The Adalites then came under the influence of the expanding Horn African
Kingdom of IfatIfat was a Muslim sultanate covering eastern Shewa and located in modern day Ethiopia.The historian al-Umari, records that it was near the Red Sea coast, and states its size as 15 days travel by 20 days travel; its army numbered 15,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot. Al-Umar also credits it with seven...
, and prospered under its patronage.
The capital of the Ifat was
ZeilaZeila is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast and is located in the Awdal region of Somalia near the Djibouti border.It is located at , surrounded on three sides by the sea; landward the country is unbroken desert for some fifty miles...
, situated in in northern present-day Somalia, from where the Ifat army marched to conquer the ancient
Kingdom of ShoaShewa is a historical region of Ethiopia. Formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire, the Ethiopian modern capital Addis Ababa is located at its center....
in 1270. This conquest ignited a rivalry for supremacy between the
Christian SolomonidsThe Solomonic dynasty is the traditional Imperial House of Ethiopia, claiming descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who is said to have given birth to the traditional first king Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem...
and the Muslim Ifatites that resulted in several devastating wars and ultimately ended in a Solomonic victory over the Kingdom of Ifat after the death of the popular Sultan
Sa'ad ad-Din IISa'ad ad-Din II was a sultan of Ifat, and the brother of Haqq ad-Din II. He was born at the court of Emperor Newaya Krestos. Richard Pankhurst describes him as "the last great ruler of Ifat."...
in Zeila by Dawit II. Sa'ad ad-Din II's family was subsequently given safe haven at the court of the
KingKing may be a title for a head of state.King may also refer to:-Places:* King, Ontario, Canada* King, Indiana, United States* King, North Carolina, United States* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States...
of
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
, where his sons regrouped and planned their revenge on the Solomonids. During the
Age of the AjuuraansThe Ajuuraan State was a Somali Muslim empire that ruled over large parts of East Africa in the Middle Ages. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuuraan empire successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese...
, the sultanates and republics of
MercaMerca is a port city in southern Somalia on the Indian Ocean. It is the main city in the Lower Shabele region and is located approximately 70 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu. The town was established in the 7th century by the Biyomaal clan...
,
MogadishuMogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital.Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
,
BarawaBarawa or Brava is a port town in the south eastern coast of Somalia. The traditional inhabitants are the Tunni Somalis and the Bravanese people, who speak Bravanese, a Swahili dialect.-History:...
,
HobyoHobyo is an ancient harbor city in the Mudug region of Somalia. Hobyo literally means "here, water", and the plentiful fresh water to be had from the wells in and around the town has been the driving force behind Hobyo's ancient status as a favorite port-of-call for sailors.- Hobyo's Origins...
and their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and coming from Arabia,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
,
VenetiaVenetia is a name used mostly in a historical context for the area of Northeast Italy, corresponding approximately to the present-day Italian administrative regions of the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia....
, Persia,
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
and as far away as
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
Vasco da GamaDom Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
, who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and big palaces in its centre in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.
In the 1500s,
Duarte BarbosaDuarte Barbosa was a Portuguese writer and trader. Living in the 15th and the 16th century, his father was Diogo Barbosa. He travelled as a supernumerary with Ferdinand Magellan in the Armada de Molucca expedition along with approximately 260 people of various ranks...
noted that many ships from the
Kingdom of CambayaKhambhat , formerly known as Cambay, is a city and a municipality in Anand district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was formerly an important trading center, although its harbor has gradually silted up, and the maritime trade has moved elsewhere...
in modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloths and spices, for which they in return received
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
,
waxWax refers to beeswax or another substance with similar properties. The traditional meaning, beeswax, refers to a substance secreted by bees and used by them in constructing their honeycombs...
and
ivoryIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of
meatMeat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs, livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, or lungs...
,
wheatWheat is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
,
barleyBarley is a cereal grain derived from the annual grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food. It is used in soups, stews and barley bread in various countries, such as Scotland and in Africa...
, horses, and
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants. Mogadishu, the center of a thriving weaving industry known as
toob benadir (specialized for the markets in Egypt and
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
), together with Merca and Barawa also served as transit stops for
SwahiliThe Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, and north Mozambique. According to JoshuaProject, the Swahili number is at around 1,328,000. The number of Swahili speakers, on the other hand, numbers at around...
merchants from
MombasaMombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. It has a major port and an international airport. The city is the centre of the coastal tourism industry. The original Arabic name is Manbasa; in Swahili it is called Kisiwa Cha Mvita , which means "Island of War", due to the...
and
MalindiMalindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...
and for the gold trade from
KilwaKilwa is one of the 6 districts of the Lindi Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North by the Pwani Region, to the East by the Indian Ocean, to the South by the Lindi Rural District and to the West by the Liwale District....
. Jewish merchants from the
HormuzHormuz is distorted from the Persian Ohrmuzd, meaning Ahura Mazda. It can refer to:* The Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.* Hormoz island, part of Iran.* The Kingdom of Ormus....
brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange for
grainGRAIN is an international non-governmental organization based in Barcelona, Spain, which works toward sustainable agriculture. It was formed upon the realization that the genetic diversity of the world's food crops are being drastically eliminated...
and wood.
Trading relations were established with
MalaccaMalacca is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The capital is Malacca Town...
in the 15th century with cloth,
ambergrisAmbergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.Ambergris has a peculiar sweet, earthy odor...
and
porcelainPorcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
being the main commodities of the trade. Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to the Ming Empire of China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between the Asia and Africa and influenced the Chinese language with the Somali language in the process.
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
merchants from
SuratSurat formerly known as Suryapur or Khubsoorat, is the eighth largest city in India. The city proper is the seventh most populous city in India and 49th in the world. Surat is the administrative capital of Surat district....
and Southeast African merchants from
PatePate may refer to:* pate, anatomically, a somewhat archaic or poetic word for the top of the head.* Pate Island, also seat of a former Pate sultanate, in Kenya * pâté , a type of meat paste, terrine or pie...
, seeking to bypass both the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
blockade and
OmaniOmani may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Oman, an Arab country in southwest Asia. Omani is also indicative and symbolizes the culture and traditions of that region....
meddling, used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without interference.
Early modern era & the Scramble for Africa
In the early modern period, successor states of the
AdalThe Adal Sultanate was a province-cum-sultanate located in present-day northwestern Somalia, southern Djibouti, and the Somali, Oromia, and Afar regions of Ethiopia. At its height, the sultanate controlled large portions of Ethiopia and Somalia.-Ethnicity:There is still debate over the ethnic...
and
AjuuraanThe Ajuuraan State was a Somali Muslim empire that ruled over large parts of East Africa in the Middle Ages. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuuraan empire successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese...
empireThe term empire derives from the Latin imperium. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy...
s began to flourish in Somalia. These were the
Gerad DynastyThe Warsangali Sultanate or Gerad Dynasty was a Somali imperial ruling house centered in northeastern and in some parts of southeastern Somalia...
, the
Bari DynastiesBari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
and the
Gobroon DynastyThe Gobroon Dynasty was a Somali royal house that ruled parts of East Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was established by the Ajuuraan Soldier Ibrahim Adeer who had defeated various vassals of the Ajuuraan Empire and established the House of Gobroon...
. They continued the tradition of castle-building and seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires.
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
Yusuf Mahamud IbrahimYusuf Mahamud Ibrahim was a Somali ruler, and the third Sultan of the Gobroon Dynasty from 1798 to 1848.-Biography:Yusuf was the son of the Somali Sultan Mahamud Ibrahim, and the grandson of Ibrahim Adeer...
, the third Sultan of the House of Gobroon, started the Golden age of the Gobroon Dynasty. His army came out victorious during the Bardheere Jihad, which restored stability in the region and revitalized the East African
ivoryIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
tradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
. He also received presents from and had cordial relations with the rulers of neighbouring and distant kingdoms such as the
OmaniOmani may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Oman, an Arab country in southwest Asia. Omani is also indicative and symbolizes the culture and traditions of that region....
, Witu and
YemeniYemeni may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Yemen, an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia.* A person from Yemen, or of Yemeni descent. For information about the Yemeni people, see Demographics of Yemen, Culture of Yemen and also Yemeni British and Yemeni...
Sultans.
Sultan Ibrahim's son Ahmed Yusuf succeeded him and was one of the most important figures in
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
East Africa, receiving tribute from Omani governors and creating alliances with important Muslim families on the East African coast. In northern Somalia, the Gerad Dynasty conducted trade with
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
and Persia and competed with the merchants of the Bari Dynasty. The Gerads and the Bari Sultans built impressive palaces, castles and fortresses and had close relations with many different empires in the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
.
In the late
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
, after the
Berlin conferenceThe Berlin Conference of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power...
, European powers began the
Scramble for AfricaThe Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa, was the result of conflicting European claims to African territory during the New Imperialism period, between the 1880s and the First World War in 1914....
, which inspired the
DervishThe Dervish State was an early 20th century Somali Muslim state that was established by Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, a religious leader who gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and united them into a loyal army known as the Dervishes...
leader Muhammad Abdullah Hassan to rally support from across the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
and begin one of the longest colonial resistance wars ever. In several of his poems and speeches, Hassan emphasized that the British
infidelsInfidels is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 22nd studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1983.Produced by Mark Knopfler and Dylan himself, Infidels is seen as his return to secular music, following a conversion to Christianity and three evangelical, gospel records...
"have destroyed our religion and made our children their children" and that the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
Ethiopians in league with the British were bent upon plundering the political and religious freedom of the Somali nation. He soon emerged as "a champion of his country's political and religious freedom, defending it against all Christian invaders."
Hassan issued a religious ordinance stipulating that any Somali national who did not accept the goal of unity of Somalia and would not fight under his leadership would be considered as
kafirKafir is an Arabic word meaning "rejecter" or "ingrate," also the term "Kuffar" the plural of the word "Kafir" is used to refer to peasants Surah 57 Al-Hadid Ayah 20; as they till earth and "cover up" seeds...
or
gaal. He soon acquired weapons from Turkey, Sudan, and other Islamic and/or Arabian countries, and appointed ministers and advisers to administer different areas or sectors of Somalia. In addition, Hassan gave a clarion call for Somali unity and independence, in the process organizing his follower-warriors.
His 'Dervish' movement had an essentially military character, and the Dervish state was fashioned on the model of a Salihiya brotherhood. It was characterized by a rigid hierarchy and centralization. Though Hassan threatened to drive the Christians into the sea, he executed the first attack by launching his first major military offensive with his 1500 Dervish equipped with 20 modem rifles on the British soldiers stationed in the region. He repulsed the British in four expeditions and had relations with the
central powersThe Central Powers was one of the two sides that participated in World War I, the other being the Entente Powers.-Member states:...
of the Ottomans and the
GermansThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
. In 1920, the Dervish state collapsed after intensive aerial bombardments by
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, and Dervish territories were subsequently turned into a
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
.
The dawn of
fascismFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
in the early 1920s heralded a change of strategy for
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, as the north-eastern sultanates were soon to be forced within the boundaries of
La Grande Somalia according to the plan of Fascist Italy. With the arrival of Governor
Cesare Maria De VecchiCesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician....
on 15 December 1923, things began to change for that part of Somaliland known as
Italian SomalilandItalian Somaliland was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy from the 1880s until 1941 in the territory of the modern-day Northeast African nation of Somalia.-History:...
. Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule.
The Fascist government had direct rule only over the
BenadirBenadir is a coastal region of Somalia. It covers most of the Indian Ocean coast of the country, from the Gulf of Aden to the Juba River, including the capital, Mogadishu...
territory.
Fascist ItalyThe Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia which is its legal predecessor State, and with the decisive help of France and Great Britain...
, under
Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
, attacked Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, with an aim to colonize it. The invasion was condemned by the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members...
, but little was done to stop it or to liberate occupied Ethiopia. On August 3, 1940, Italian troops, including Somali colonial units, crossed from Ethiopia to
invade British SomalilandThe Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a campaign in the Horn of Africa which took place in the summer of 1940 between forces of Italy and those of Great Britain and its Commonwealth. It formed part of the East African Campaign.-Background:...
, and by August 14, succeeded in taking
BerberaBerbera is a city in northwestern Somalia. It was for centuries the capital of the Somaliland region and also the colonial capital of British Somaliland from 1870 to 1941 when it was moved to Hargeisa...
from the British.
A British force, including troops from several African countries, launched the
campaign in January 1941The East African Campaign refers to the battles fought in East Africa during World War II. The battles of this campaign were fought between the forces of the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations, and several allies on one side, and the forces of the Italian Empire on the other...
from Kenya to liberate British Somaliland and Italian-occupied Ethiopia and conquer Italian Somaliland. By February, most of Italian Somaliland was captured and in March, British Somaliland was retaken from the sea. The
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
forces operating in Somaliland comprised three divisions of South African, West and East African troops. They were assisted by Somali forces led by Abdulahi Hassan with Somalis of the
IsaaqThe Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of the four major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, and Ceerigaabo – are predominantly...
,
DhulbahanteThe Dhulbahante is a Somali clan, and a part of the Harti confederation of Darod clans. Dhulbahante members primarily inhabit the northern regions of Sool, Nugaal, Sanaag, Ayn , the Haud, some parts of Hargeisa, the port city of Kismayo as well as other areas in the Jubbada Hoose region of...
, and
WarsangaliThe Warsangeli , is a Somali clan of the Harti group, part of the Darod clan...
clans prominently participating. After World War II, the number of the
Italian colonistsItalian Somalis or Italo Somalis are Somali descendants from Italian colonists, as well as Italian long-term residents in Somalia.- History :...
started to decrease; their numbers had dwindled to less than 10,000 in 1960.
The State of Somalia
Following
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, although Somalis aided the
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
powers in their struggle against the
Axis powersThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
, Britain retained control of both
British SomalilandBritish Somaliland was a British protectorate in the northern part of present-day Somalia. The protectorate incorporated much of what now constitutes the Puntland and Somaliland macro-regions of Somalia. For much of its existence, British Somaliland was bordered by French Somaliland, the Ogaden,...
and
Italian SomalilandItalian Somaliland was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy from the 1880s until 1941 in the territory of the modern-day Northeast African nation of Somalia.-History:...
as
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
s. In November 1949, the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland, but only under close supervision and on the condition—first proposed by the
Somali Youth LeagueThe Somali Youth League was the first political party in Somalia. It played a key role in Somalia's road to independence during the 1950's and 1960's.- History :...
(SYL) and other nascent Somali political organizations, such as Hizbia Digil Mirifle Somali (HDMS) (which later became Hizbia Dastur Mustaqbal Somali) and the Somali National League (SNL), that were then agitating for independence—that Somalia achieve independence within ten years. British Somaliland remained a protectorate of Britain until 1960.
To the extent that Italy held the territory by UN mandate, the trusteeship provisions gave the Somalis the opportunity to gain experience in political education and self-government. These were advantages that British Somaliland, which was to be incorporated into the new Somali state, did not have. Although in the 1950s British colonial officials attempted, through various development efforts, to make up for past neglect, the protectorate stagnated. The disparity between the two territories in economic development and political experience would cause serious difficulties when it came time to integrate the two parts.
Meanwhile, in 1948, under pressure from their World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis, the British "returned" the
HaudHaud is a region of thorn-bush and grasslands in the Horn of Africa, which includes the northeastern part of the Ogaden territory of Ethiopia, as well the adjacent parts of Somalia. The Haud is of indeterminate extent; some authorities consider it denotes the part of Ethiopia east of the city of...
(an important Somali grazing area that was presumably 'protected' by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886) and the
OgadenOgaden is the name of a territory comprising the southeastern portion of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim...
to Ethiopia, based on a treaty they signed in 1897 in which the British ceded Somali territory to the Ethiopian Emperor
MenelikMénélik, now MNLK , is a French-born rapper.-Biography:He went to France at the age of nine. Then he met MC Solaar and started to write songs for artists such as No Sé, DJ Jimmy Jay and RPM. In 1995, he released his first album entitled Phenomenelik and participated in Solaar's concerts...
in exchange for his help against plundering by Somali clans. Britain included the
proviso that the Somali nomads would retain their autonomy, but Ethiopia immediately claimed sovereignty over them. This prompted an unsuccessful bid by Britain in 1956 to buy back the Somali lands it had turned over. Britain also granted administration of the almost exclusively Somali-inhabited Northern Frontier District to Kenyan nationalists despite an informal plebiscite demonstrating the overwhelming desire of the region's population to join the newly formed Somali Republic.
A referendum was held in neighbouring
DjiboutiDjibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. On the other side of the Red Sea, on...
(then known as
French SomalilandThe French Somali Coast , better known as French Somaliland , was a French colony in East Africa that lasted from 1896 until 1967, when it was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. It occupied the territory of present-day Djibouti.-See also:* List of colonial heads of French...
) in 1958, on the eve of Somalia's independence in 1960, to decide whether or not to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, largely due to a combined yes vote by the sizable
AfarAfar are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa who reside principally in the Danakil Desert in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, as well as in Eritrea and Djibouti...
ethnic group and resident Europeans. However, the majority of those who voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia as had been proposed by
Mahmoud HarbiMahmoud Harbi was a Pan-Somalist from Djibouti. Prior to independence, he was the country's Prime Minister and the Vice President of its Territorial Assembly from 1957 to December 1958.-Early years:...
, Vice President of the Government Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later. Djibouti finally gained its independence from
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
in 1977 and
Hassan Gouled AptidonHassan Gouled Aptidon was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999....
, a French-groomed Somali who campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958, eventually wound up as Djibouti's first president (1977–1991).
British Somaliland became independent on June 26, 1960, and the former Italian Somaliland followed suit five days later. On July 1, 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic, albeit within boundaries drawn up by Italy and Britain. A government was formed by
Abdullahi IssaAbdullahi Issa Mohamud was the first Prime Minister of Somalia from February 29, 1956 to July 1, 1960.-Biography:Issa was born in Somalia in 1922 to a Habar Gidir Hawiye family. When the Second World War broke out, he was still a student. After the turmoil of the war years, he joined the Somali...
with
Aden Abdullah Osman DaarAden Abdulle Osman Daar was a Somali politician and the country's first President from July 1 1960 to June 10 1967.-Biography:Daar was born near the Ogaden in the town of Beledweyne to a Mudulood Hawiye family....
as
President, and
Abdirashid Ali ShermarkeAbdirashid Ali Shermarke was Prime Minister of Somalia from July 12, 1960 to June 14, 1964, and President of Somalia from June 10, 1967 until his assassination on October 15, 1969.-Early years:...
as
Prime MinisterThis page contains a list of the Prime Ministers of Somalia.-See also:*Somalia**Politics of Somalia**List of colonial heads of British Somaliland**List of colonial heads of Italian Somaliland**Heads of state of Somalia*Lists of office-holders...
, later to become President (from 1967–1969). On July 20, 1961 and through a popular
referendumA referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal...
, the Somali people ratified a new
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
, which was first drafted in 1960.
However, inter-clan rivalry persisted. In 1967, Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal became Prime Minister, a position to which he was appointed by Shermarke. Egal would later become the President of the autonomous
SomalilandSomaliland is an autonomous region, which is part of the Somali republic located in the Horn of Africa. Those who call the area the Republic of Somaliland consider it to be the successor state of the former British Somaliland protectorate...
region in northwestern Somalia.
In late 1969, following the assassination of President Shermarke, a military government assumed power in a
coup d'étatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
led by Major General
Salaad Gabeyre KediyeSalaad Gabeyre Kediye , was a Major General in the Somali military and a revolutionary.-Biography:In late 1969 following the assassination of Somalia's then president, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, a military government assumed power in a bloodless coup d'état led by Major General Salaad Gabeyre...
, General
Siad BarreMohamed Siad Barre was the President of Somalia from 1969 to 1991, and has been described as a dictator. Prior to his presidency, he was an army commander under the then young democratic government of Somalia...
and Chief of Police
Jama KorshelJama Korshel was a Somali army Major General, former Head of the Somali Police Force, and one of the leaders of Somalia's 1969 coup d'état.-Biography:Korshel was born in the town of ceerigaabo situated in the northern Sanaag region of Somalia....
. Barre became President and Korshel vice-president. The revolutionary army established large-scale public works programmes and successfully implemented an urban and rural
literacyLiteracy is a concept claimed and defined by a range of different theoretical fields. In everyday terms, "literacy" is typically described as the ability to read and write...
campaign, which helped dramatically increase the literacy rate from 5% to 55% by the mid-1980s. However, struggles continued during Barre's rule. At one point he assassinated a major figure in his cabinet, Major General Gabeyre, and two other officials.
It was in July 1976 when the real dictatorship of the Somali military commenced with the founding of the
Somali Revolutionary Socialist PartySomali Revolutionary Socialist Party , was the governing political party in Somalia from 1976 to 1991.- History :...
(Xisbiga Hantiwadaagga Kacaanka Soomaaliyeed, XHKS). This party ruled Somalia until the fall of the military government in December 1990–January 1991. It was violently overthrown by the combined armed revolt of the
Somali Salvation Democratic FrontSomali Salvation Democratic Front , initially known as the Democratic Front for Salvation of Somalia, has been one of the major political and paramilitary umbrella organizations in Somalia since its founding in 1981 by several army officers opposed to the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre...
(Jabhadda Diimuqraadiga Badbaadinta Soomaaliyeed, SSDF),
United Somali CongressThe United Somali Congress is one of the major political and paramilitary organizations of Somalia. Formed in 1989, it played a key role in the ouster of the government of Siad Barre, and became a major target of the so-called Operation Restore Hope campaign in 1993...
(USC),
Somali National MovementThe Somali National Movement was a 1980s Somali rebel group.-Formation:In April 1981, a group of Isaaq emigres living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia formed the Somali National Movement , and at the end of 1981 it was announced in London, which subsequently became the strongest of Somalia's various...
(SNM), and the
Somali Patriotic MovementThe Somali Patriotic Movement is a political party and paramilitary organization in Somalia, and a key faction in the Somali Civil War. Commanded by Aden Abdullahi Nur Gabyow, it was based in the southwestern area of the country, and had considerable influence in the leaderless country...
(SPM) together with the non-violent political oppositions of the Somali Democratic Movement (SDM), the Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) and the Somali Manifesto Group (SMG).
In 1977 and 1978, Somalia invaded its neighbour Ethiopia in the
Ogaden WarThe Ogaden War was a conventional conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1977 and 1978 over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. In a notable illustration of the nature of Cold War alliances, the Soviet Union switched from supplying aid to Somalia to supporting Ethiopia, which had previously been...
, in which Somalia aimed to unite the Somali lands that had been partitioned by the former colonial powers, and to win the right of self-determination for ethnic Somalis in those territories. Somalia first engaged Kenya and Ethiopia diplomatically, but this failed. Somalia, already preparing for war, created the
Ogaden National Liberation FrontThe Ogaden National Liberation Front , is a separatist rebel group fighting to make the region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia an independent state. Because Ogaden is populated by many ethnic Somalis, the ONLF claims that Ethiopia is an occupying government...
(ONLF, then called the
Western Somali Liberation FrontThe Western Somali Liberation Front was a separatist rebel group fighting in eastern Ethiopia to create an independent state. It played a major role in the Ogaden War of 1977-78 assisting the invading Somali Army...
, WSLF) and eventually sought to capture Ogaden. Somalia acted unilaterally without consulting the
international communityThe international community is a vague term used in international relations to refer to all the governments of the world or to a group of them...
, which was generally opposed to redrawing colonial boundaries, while the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
and the
Warsaw PactThe Warsaw Pact is the informal name for the mutual defense Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance subscribed by eight Communist states in Eastern Europe, that was established at the USSR’s initiative and realised on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Poland...
countries refused to help Somalia, and instead, backed Communist Ethiopia. Still the USSR, finding itself supplying both sides of a war, attempted to mediate a ceasefire.
In the first week of the conflict Somali armed forces took southern and central Ogaden and for most of the war, the Somali army scored continues victories on the Ethiopian army and followed them as far as
SidamoSidamo may refer to the following:*Sidamo Province, Ethiopia*The Sidamo language*The Sidamo or Sidama people*Ethiopian Sidamo, a single origin variety of coffee from Ethiopia...
. By September 1977 Somalia controlled 90% of the Ogaden and captured strategic cities such as
JijigaJijiga is a city in eastern Ethiopia and the capital of the Somali Region of that country. Located in the Jijiga Zone approximately 80 km east of Harar and 60 km west of the border with Somalia, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1609 meters above sea level.The city...
and put heavy pressure on
Dire DawaDire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia . This chartered city is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura....
threatening the train route from the latter city to Djibouti. After the siege of Harer, a massive unprecedented Soviet intervention consisting of 20 thousand
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
n forces and several thousands Soviet experts came to the aid of Ethiopia. The Somali Army was forced to withdraw and consequently Somalia sought the help of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Although the Carter Administration had expressed interest in helping Somalia, it later declined, as did American allies in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
.
By 1978, the moral authority of the Somali government had collapsed. Many Somalis had become disillusioned with life under military dictatorship and the regime was weakened further in the 1980s as the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
drew to a close and Somalia's strategic importance was diminished. The government became increasingly
totalitarianTotalitarianism is a political system where the state, usually under the control of a single party or faction, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
, and
resistance movementA resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign nation through either the use of physical force, or nonviolence. The term resistance is generally used to designate movement considered...
s, encouraged by Ethiopia, sprang up across the country, eventually leading to the
Somali Civil WarThe Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia, that began in 1991. The conflict has caused destabilisation and instability throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to the rebel...
.
During 1990, in the capital city of Mogadishu, the residents were prohibited from gathering publicly in groups greater than three or four. Fuel shortages caused long lines of cars at petrol stations. Inflation had driven the price of pasta, (ordinary dry Italian noodles, a staple at that time), to five U.S. dollars per kilogram. The price of
khatKhat , also known as qat, qaat, quat, gat, jaad, chat, chad, chaad and miraa, is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.Khat contains the alkaloid called cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant which is said to cause...
, imported daily from
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
, was also five U.S. dollars per standard bunch. Paper currency notes were of such low value that several bundles were needed to pay for simple restaurant meals. Coins were scattered on the ground throughout the city being too low in value to be used. A thriving black market existed in the centre of the city as banks experienced shortages of local currency for exchange. At night, the city of Mogadishu lay in darkness. The generators used to provide electricity to the city had been sold off by the government. Close monitoring of all visiting foreigners was in effect. Harsh exchange control regulations were introduced to prevent export of foreign currency and access to it was restricted to official banks, or one of three government-operated hotels. Although no travel restrictions were placed on foreigners, photographing many locations was banned. During the day in Mogadishu, the appearance of any government military force was extremely rare. Late-night operations by government authorities, however, included 'disappearances' of individuals from their homes.
The Somali Civil War
1991 saw great changes in Somalia. President Barre was ousted by combined northern and southern clan-based forces all of whom were backed and armed by Ethiopia. And following a meeting of the
Somali National MovementThe Somali National Movement was a 1980s Somali rebel group.-Formation:In April 1981, a group of Isaaq emigres living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia formed the Somali National Movement , and at the end of 1981 it was announced in London, which subsequently became the strongest of Somalia's various...
and northern clans' elders, the northern former British portion of the country declared its independence as Somaliland in May 1991; although de facto independent and relatively stable compared to the tumultuous south, it has not been recognised by any foreign government.
In January 1991, President
Ali Mahdi MuhammadAli Mahdi Muhammad was president of Somalia from January 1991 to November 1991. He rose to power when Mohammed Farah Aidid forced then president Mohamed Siad Barre out of office. Muhammad, however, was not able in that time to exert control over the country...
was selected by the manifesto group as an interim state president until a conference between all stakeholders to be held in Djibouti the following month to select a national leader. However,
United Somali CongressThe United Somali Congress is one of the major political and paramilitary organizations of Somalia. Formed in 1989, it played a key role in the ouster of the government of Siad Barre, and became a major target of the so-called Operation Restore Hope campaign in 1993...
military leader General
Mohamed Farrah AididGeneral Mohamed Farrah Aidid was a controversial Somali military leader, often described as a warlord. He claimed to be the President of Somalia from 1995 to 1996...
, the
Somali National MovementThe Somali National Movement was a 1980s Somali rebel group.-Formation:In April 1981, a group of Isaaq emigres living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia formed the Somali National Movement , and at the end of 1981 it was announced in London, which subsequently became the strongest of Somalia's various...
leader Abdirahman Toor and the
Somali Patriotic MovementThe Somali Patriotic Movement is a political party and paramilitary organization in Somalia, and a key faction in the Somali Civil War. Commanded by Aden Abdullahi Nur Gabyow, it was based in the southwestern area of the country, and had considerable influence in the leaderless country...
leader Col Jess refused to recognize Mahdi as president.
This caused a split between the SNM, USC and SPM and the armed groups Manifesto, Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) and
Somali National AllianceThe Somali National Alliance was a political alliance formed in June, 1992 with Mohamed Farrah Aidid as its head. Its constituents included Aidid's breakaway United Somali Congress faction, the Somali Patriotic Movement and other southern factions...
(SNA) on the one hand and within the USC forces. This led efforts to remove Barre who still claimed to be the legitimate president of Somalia. He and his armed supporters remained in the south of the country until mid 1992, causing further escalation in violence, especially in the Gedo, Bay, Bakool, Lower Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Middle Juba regions. The armed conflict within the USC devastated the Mogadishu area.
The civil war disrupted agriculture and food distribution in southern Somalia. The basis of most of the conflicts was clan allegiances and competition for resources between the warring clans. James Bishop, the United States last ambassador to Somalia, explained that there is "competition for water, pasturage, and... cattle. It is a competition that used to be fought out with arrows and sabers... Now it is fought out with AK-47s." The resulting
famineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality...
(about 300,000 dead) caused the
United Nations Security CouncilThe United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
in 1992 to authorise the limited peacekeeping operation United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I). UNOSOM's use of force was limited to self-defence and it was soon disregarded by the warring factions.
In reaction to the continued violence and the humanitarian disaster, the United States organised a military coalition with the purpose of creating a secure environment in southern Somalia for the conduct of humanitarian operations. This coalition, (Unified Task Force or UNITAF) entered Somalia in December 1992 on Operation Restore Hope and was successful in restoring order and alleviating the famine. In May 1993, most of the United States troops withdrew and UNITAF was replaced by the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II).
However,
Mohamed Farrah AididGeneral Mohamed Farrah Aidid was a controversial Somali military leader, often described as a warlord. He claimed to be the President of Somalia from 1995 to 1996...
saw UNOSOM II as a threat to his power and in June 1993 his militia attacked
Pakistan ArmyThe Pakistan Army is a branch of the Pakistan military that protects the state borders and territories.The Pakistan Army, combined with the Navy and Air Force, makes Pakistan's armed forces the sixth largest military in the world. The Army is modelled on the United Kingdom armed forces and came...
troops, attached to UNOSOM II, (see Somalia (March 1992 to February 1996)) in Mogadishu inflicting over 80 casualties. Fighting escalated until 19 American troops and more than 1,000 Somalis were killed in a raid in Mogadishu during October 1993. The UN withdrew
Operation United ShieldOperation United Shield was the name given to the US military operation of evacuating all remaining 6,200 UN peacekeeping troops from Somalia from January to March of 1995, the troops were made up of Americans, Pakistanis and Egyptians. .General Peay of the United States Army and Lieutenant Gen....
in 3 March 1995, having suffered significant casualties, and with the rule of government still not restored. In June 1996, Aidid was killed in Mogadishu.
Politics
Following the civil war the
HartiHarti , meaning "strong man", is a name used to denote a confederation of various Darod sub-clans of the Somali people.-Darod Harti summary:*Darod**Harti***Dhulbahante ***Kaskiqabbe ***LiibanGashe...
and Tanade clans declared a self-governing state in the northeast, which took the name
PuntlandPuntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe , whose leaders declared it an autonomous state in 1998. A third of Somalia's population lives in the province, which likewise represents about a third of the nation's geographical area. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland does...
, but maintained that it would participate in any Somali reconciliation to form a new central government. Then in 2002,
Southwestern SomaliaSouthwestern Somalia was an ostensibly autonomous self-proclaimed state in Somalia founded by Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, leader of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army on April 1, 2002...
, comprising
BayBay is an administrative region in southern Somalia. Its capital is Baidoa. It is bordered by the Somali regions of Bakool, Lower Shabele, Middle Juba, and Gedo...
,
BakoolBakool is a region in central Somalia.-Overiew:Its capital is Xuddur. It is bordered by the Ogaden and the Somali regions of Hiiraan, Bay and Gedo...
,
Jubbada DhexeMiddle Juba is an administrative region in southern Somalia in the historical region of Jubaland. Its capital is Bu'aale. It is bordered by Somali regions of Gedo, Bay, Lower Shabele and Lower Juba and the Indian Ocean....
(Middle Juba),
GedoGedo is an administrative region formerly part of the historic Upper Juba Region, Somalia. Gedo's regional capital is Garbahaarreey. Gedo is a region created in 1980s and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province in Kenya, and the Somali regions of Bakool, Bay, Jubbada...
,
Shabeellaha HooseLower Shabele is an administrative region in southern Somalia. Until 1984, when the regions were reshaped, it was part of the larger Benadir region and its capital was Mogadishu, but is now Marka....
(Lower Shabele) and
Jubbada HooseLower Juba is an administrative region in the traditional region of Jubaland in southern Somalia. Its capital is Kismaayo. It is bordered by Kenya, the Somali regions of Gedo, Middle Juba, and the Indian Ocean....
(Lower Juba)
regions of SomaliaThree quasi-independent macro-regions have formed in Somalia since the 1990s, and have remained intact till the present. These entities and their capitals are: Galmudug...
declared itself autonomous. Although initially the instigators of this, the
Rahanweyn Resistance ArmyThe Rahanweyn Resistance Army , also known as the Reewin Resistance Army, is an autonomist militant group operating in the two southwestern regions of Somalia, Bay and Bakool. It was the first Reewin armed faction to emerge during the Somali civil war...
, which had been established in 1995, was only in full control of Bay, Bakool and parts of Gedo and Jubbada Dhexe, they quickly established the de facto autonomy of Southwestern Somalia.
Although conflict between
Hasan Muhammad Nur ShatigadudColonel Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud is a Somali faction leader, and chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army , which sought to establish the autonomous state of Southwestern Somalia. Recently, he is said to have played a role in the capture of Mogadishu by Ethiopian and Transitional Federal...
and his two deputies weakened the Rahanweyn militarily from February 2006, the Southwest became central to the TFG based in the city of
BaidoaBaidoa is a city in south-central Somalia, situated 256 kilometers by road northwest of the capital Mogadishu. It is the capital of the Bay Region, which is historically inhabited by the Digil and Mirifle clans...
. Shatigadud became Finance Minister, his first deputy
Adan Mohamed Nuur MadobeSheikh Adan Mohamed Nuur "Madobe" is a Somali politician and the present Speaker of Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Following the resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as President of Somalia in December 2008, he became interim president. Like many Somali politicians,...
became Parliamentary Speaker and his second deputy Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade became Minister of Transport. Shatigadud also held the Chairmanship of the Rahanwein Traditional Elders' Court.
In 2004, the TFG met in
NairobiNairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters"...
, Kenya and published a charter for the government of the nation. The TFG capital is presently in Baidoa. Meanwhile Somalia was one of the many countries affected by the
tsunamiA is a series of water waves that is caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean. The original Japanese term literally translates as "harbor wave." Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded...
which struck the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
coast following the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquakeThe 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, destroying entire villages and killing an estimated 300 people. In 2006, Somalia was deluged by torrential rains and flooding that struck the entire
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
affecting 350,000 people. The inter-clan rivalry continued in 2006 with the declaration of regional autonomy by the state of Jubaland, consisting of parts of Gedo, Jubbada Dhexe, and the whole of Jubbada Hoose.
Barre Adan Shire HiiraaleBarre Adan Shire , also known as Barre Hiiraale, Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire, or Abdikadir Adan Shire, is a former Minister of Defense of the Somali Transitional Federal Government . He was previously the TFG Minister for National Reconstruction and Resettlement...
, chairman of the
Juba Valley AllianceThe Juba Valley Alliance is a political faction of the Somali Civil War. It was the primary opponent of the Somali Patriotic Movement and the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council vying for the control of Kismayo and the Juba River valley, the area known as Jubaland.Following the...
, who comes from
GalguduudGalguduud is an administrative region in central Somalia. It is bordered by Ethiopia, the Somali regions of Mudug, Hiiraan and Middle Shabele, and the Indian Ocean. The region's capital is Dhusa Mareb, but its largest city and commercial center is Guriceel.Galgaduud is known for its peace and...
in central Somalia is the most powerful leader there. Like Puntland this regional government did not want full statehood, but some sort of federal autonomy.
Conflict broke out again in early 2006 between an alliance of Mogadishu warlords known as the
Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-TerrorismThe Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism was a Somali alliance created by various warlords and businesspeople. The alliance included Botan Ise Alin, Mohammed Dheere, Mohamed Qanyare, Musa Sudi Yalahow, Nuur Daqle, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid, Omar Muhamoud Finnish and others...
(or "ARPCT") and a
militiaThe term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
loyal to the Islamic Courts Union (or "I.C.U."), seeking to institute
ShariaSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
law in Somalia. Social law changes, such as the forbidding of chewing
khatKhat , also known as qat, qaat, quat, gat, jaad, chat, chad, chaad and miraa, is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.Khat contains the alkaloid called cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant which is said to cause...
, were part of moves by the ICU to change behaviours and impose strict social morals. It was widely reported that soccer playing was being banned, as well as viewing of broadcasts of soccer games, but there were also reports of the ICU itself denying any such bans. The Islamic Courts Union was led by Sheikh
Sharif AhmedSheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is the 7th President of Somalia and former Commander in Chief of the Islamic Courts Union . Ahmed was born in the Shabeellaha Dhexe province of Somalia and studied at Libyan and Sudanese universities. He has worked as a secondary school teacher of geography, Arabic, and...
. When asked if the ICU plans to extend its control to the rest of Somalia, Sheikh Ahmed responded in an interview: "Land is not our priority. Our priority is the people's peace, dignity and that they could live in liberty, that they could decide their own fate. That is our priority. Our priority is not land; the people are important to us."
Several hundred people, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire, died during this conflict. Mogadishu residents described it as the worst fighting in more than a decade. The Islamic Courts Union accused the U.S. of funding the warlords through the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
and supplying them with arms in an effort to prevent the Islamic Courts Union from gaining power. The
United States Department of StateThe United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, similar to foreign ministries, foreign offices, ministries of external relations, etc. in other countries...
, while neither admitting nor denying this, said the U.S. had taken no action that violated the international arms embargo of Somalia. A few e-mails describing covert illegal operations by private military companies in breach of U.N. regulations have been reported by the UK Sunday newspaper
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a left-liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-History:The...
.
By early June 2006 the Islamic Militia had control of Mogadishu, following the Second Battle of Mogadishu, and the last A.R.P.C.T. stronghold in southern Somalia, the town of
JowharJowhar is the capital town of the Shabeellaha Dhexe region of Somalia , and, along with Baidoa, used to form the joint administrative capital of the Transitional Federal Government, which captured it from the Islamic Courts Union....
, then fell with little resistance. The remaining A.R.P.C.T. forces fled to the east or across the border into Ethiopia and the alliance effectively collapsed.
The Ethiopian-supported Transitional Government then called for intervention by a regional East African
peacekeepingPeacekeeping, as defined by the United Nations, is "a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace." It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
force. The I.C.U. meanwhile were fiercely opposed to foreign troops—particularly Ethiopians—in Somalia. claiming that Ethiopia, with its long history as an imperial power including the occupation of Ogaden, seeks to occupy Somalia, or rule it by proxy. Meanwhile the I.C.U. and their militia took control of much of the southern half of Somalia, normally through negotiation with local clan chiefs rather than by the use of force.
However, the Islamic militia stayed clear of areas close to the Ethiopian border, which had become a place of refuge for many Somalis including the Transitional Government itself, headquartered in the town of Baidoa. Ethiopia said it would protect Baidoa if threatened. On September 25, 2006, the I.C.U. moved into the southern port of Kismayo, the last remaining port held by the transitional government.
Ethiopian troops entered Somalia and seized the town of Buur Hakaba on October 9, and later that day the I.C.U. issued a declaration of war against Ethiopia.
On 1 November 2006, peace talks between the Transitional Government and the ICU broke down. The international community feared an all-out civil war, with Ethiopian and rival
EritreaEritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen...
n forces backing opposing sides in the power-struggle. Fighting erupted once again on 21 December 2006 when the leader of ICU, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said: "Somalia is in a state of war, and all Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia", and heavy fighting broke out between the Islamic militia on one side and the Somali Transitional Government allied with Ethiopian forces on the other.
In late December 2006, Ethiopia launched
airstrikeAn air strike is a military strike by air forces or other military aviation assets against either a suspected or a confirmed enemy ground position. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as bombers, ground attack aircraft, strike fighters, and Attack helicopters. Weapons used in an...
s against Islamic troops and strong points across Somalia. Ethiopian Information Minister Berhan Hailu stated that targets included the town of
BuurhakabaBuurhakaba is a city located in the administrative region of Bay in southwestern Somalia. It is the second largest town in the region after Baidoa, with a reported population of 28,000 people...
, near the Transitional Government base in Baidoa. An Ethiopian jet fighter strafed Mogadishu International Airport (now Aden Adde International Airport), without apparently causing serious damage but prompting the airport to be shut down. Other Ethiopian jet fighters attacked a military airport west of Mogadishu.
Ethiopian Prime Minister
Meles ZenawiMeles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.-Background:Meles Zenawi was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from Adwa, Ethiopia and his mother from Adi Quala, Eritrea, ....
then announced that his country was waging war against the ICU to protect his country's sovereignty. "Ethiopian defence forces were forced to enter into war to the protect the sovereignty of the nation and to blunt repeated attacks by Islamic courts terrorists and anti-Ethiopian elements they are supporting," he said.
Days of heavy fighting followed as Ethiopian and government troops backed by tanks and jets pushed against Islamic forces between Baidoa and Mogadishu. Both sides claimed to have inflicted hundreds of casualties, but the Islamic infantry and vehicle artillery were badly beaten and forced to retreat toward Mogadishu. On 28 December 2006, the allies entered Mogadishu after Islamic fighters fled the city. Prime Minister
Ali Mohammed GhediAli Mohamed Gedi or Mohammed Ali Ghedi was the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia from 2004 to 2007. He was relatively unknown in political circles upon his appointment as prime minister in November 2004. He is affiliated with the Abgaal subclan of Mogadishu's...
declared that Mogadishu had been secured, after meeting with local clan leaders to discuss the peaceful hand-over of the city. Yet as of April 2008, the Transitional Federal Government and its Ethiopian allies still face frequent attacks from an Islamic insurgency.
The Islamists retreated south, towards their stronghold in Kismayo, fighting rearguard actions in several towns. They abandoned Kismayo, too, without a fight, claiming that their flight was a strategic withdrawal to avoid civilian casualties, and entrenched around the small town of
Ras KamboniRas Kamboni is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. American officials have said that it has served as a training camp for extremists with connections to Al-Qaeda; al-Sharq al-Awsat reported in May 1999 that al-Qaeda...
, at the southernmost tip of Somalia and on the border with Kenya. In early January, the Ethiopians and the Somali government attacked, resulting in the
Battle of Ras KamboniThe Battle of Ras Kamboni was a battle in the 2006-2007 Somali War fought by the Islamic Courts Union and affiliated militias against Ethiopian and the Somali Transitional Federal Government forces for control of Ras Kamboni , a town near the Kenyan border which once served as a training camp for...
, and capturing the Islamic positions and driving the surviving fighters into the hills and forests after several days of combat. On January 9, 2007, the United States openly intervened in Somalia by sending
Lockheed AC-130The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft. The basic airframe is manufactured by Lockheed, and Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support. It is a variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane...
gunships to attack ICU positions in Ras Kamboni. Dozens were killed and by then the ICU were largely defeated. During 2007 and 2008, new Islamic militant groups organized, and continued to fight against transitional government Somali and Ethiopian official troops. They recovered effective control of large portions of the country. Ethiopian forces retreated in 2009. The ICU no longer exists as an organized political group.
On December 29, 2008,
Abdullahi Yusuf AhmedAbdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is a veteran Somali politician and was the President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008.-Biography:Ahmed was born in 1934 in the town of Gaalkacyo situated in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia...
announced before a united parliament in
BaidoaBaidoa is a city in south-central Somalia, situated 256 kilometers by road northwest of the capital Mogadishu. It is the capital of the Bay Region, which is historically inhabited by the Digil and Mirifle clans...
his resignation as President of Somalia. In his speech, which was broadcast on national radio, Yusuf expressed regret at failing to end the country's seventeen year conflict as his government had mandated to do. He also blamed the international community for its failure to support the government, and said that the speaker of parliament,
Aden "Madobe" MohamedSheikh Adan Mohamed Nuur "Madobe" is a Somali politician and the present Speaker of Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Following the resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as President of Somalia in December 2008, he became interim president. Like many Somali politicians,...
, would succeed him in office per the charter of the
Transitional Federal GovernmentThe Transitional Federal Government of the Republic of Somalia is the present internationally recognized government of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the...
. On January 31, 2009, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was elected as president at the Kempinski hotel in
DjiboutiThe City of Djibouti is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Djibouti. It lies on a peninsula that divides the Gulf of Aden from the Gulf of Tadjoura....
.
Former Prime Minister
Nur Hassan HusseinNur Hassan Hussein , also known as Nur Adde which means Light Nur, was the Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2007 to February 2009. He is from Mogadishu and is part of the Abgaal sub-clan of the Hawiye.-Career:...
of the Transitional Federal Government and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed signed a power sharing deal in Djibouti that was brokered by the United Nations. According to the deal, Ethiopian troops were to withdraw from Somalia, giving their bases to the transitional government, African Union (AU) peacekeepers and moderate Islamist groups led by the ARS. Following the Ethiopian withdrawal, the transitional government expanded its parliament to include the opposition and elected Sheikh Ahmed as its new president on January 31, 2009. Sheikh Ahmed then appointed
Omar Abdirashid Ali SharmarkeOmar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke , born June 18, 1960, is a Somali diplomat and politician. He is the current Prime Minister of Somalia.-Biography:...
, the son of slain former President Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, as the nation's new Prime Minister.
Law
The legal structure in Somalia is divided along three lines:
civil lawCivil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not determined, as in common law, by judges. The principle of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which...
,
religious lawIn some religions, law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality; knowledge as revealed by God defining and governing all human affairs. Law, in the religious sense, also includes codes of ethics and morality which are upheld and required by God...
, and
traditional clan lawIn law, custom can be described as the established patterns of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Generally, customary law exists where:#a certain legal practice is...
.
Civil law
While Somalia's formal judicial system was largely destroyed after the fall of the
Siad BarreMohamed Siad Barre was the President of Somalia from 1969 to 1991, and has been described as a dictator. Prior to his presidency, he was an army commander under the then young democratic government of Somalia...
regime, it has been rebuilt and is now administered under different regional governments such as the autonomous
PuntlandPuntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe , whose leaders declared it an autonomous state in 1998. A third of Somalia's population lives in the province, which likewise represents about a third of the nation's geographical area. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland does...
and
SomalilandSomaliland is an autonomous region, which is part of the Somali republic located in the Horn of Africa. Those who call the area the Republic of Somaliland consider it to be the successor state of the former British Somaliland protectorate...
macro-regions. In the case of the
Transitional Federal GovernmentThe Transitional Federal Government of the Republic of Somalia is the present internationally recognized government of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the...
, a new judicial structure was formed through various international conferences.
Despite some significant political differences between them, all of these administrations share similar legal structures, much of which are predicated on the judicial systems of previous Somali administrations. These similarities in civil law include:
- A charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
which affirms the primacy of Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
shari'a or religious law, although in practice shari'a is applied mainly to matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and civil issues.
- The charter guarantees respect for universal standards of human rights
Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
to all subjects of the law. It also assures the independence of the judiciaryThe judiciary is the system of courts which interprets and applies the law in the name of the sovereign or state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
, which in turn is protected by a judicial committee.
- A three-tier judicial system including a supreme court
A supreme court is in some jurisdictions the highest judicial body within that jurisdiction's court system, whose rulings are not subject to further review by another court. The designations for such courts differ among jurisdictions...
, a court of appeals, and courts of first instanceThe European Court of First Instance, created in 1989, is a court of the European Union.-Competence:The Court of First Instance hears disputes . Appeals are sent to the European Court of Justice...
(either divided between district and regional courts, or a single court per region).
- The laws of the civilian government which were in effect prior to the military coup d'état
A coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
that saw the Barre regime into power remain in force until the laws are amended.
Shari'a
Islamic shari'a has traditionally played a significant part in Somali society. In theory, it has served as the basis for all national legislation in every Somali
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
. In practice, however, it only applied to common civil cases such as
marriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
,
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
,
inheritanceInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
and family matters. This changed after the start of the civil war when a number of new shari'a courts began to spring up in many different cities and towns across the country.
These new shari'a courts serve three functions:
- To pass rulings in both criminal and civil cases.
- To organize a militia capable of arresting criminals.
- To keep convicted prisoners incarcerated.
The shari'a courts, though structured along simple lines, feature a conventional hierarchy of a chairman, vice-chairman and four
judgeA judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is like an umpire in a game and...
s. A police force that reports to the court enforces the judges' rulings, but also helps settle community disputes and apprehend suspected criminals. In addition, the courts manage
detention centerA detention center or a detention centre is any location used for detention. Specifically, it can mean:*A jail or prison*A structure for immigration detention*An internment camp or concentration camp...
s where criminals are kept. An independent finance committee is also assigned the task of collecting and managing
taxTo tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law.Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
revenue levied on regional merchants by the local authorities.
In March 2009, Somalia's newly established coalition government announced that it would implement shari'a as the nation's official judicial system.
Xeer
SomalisSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
for centuries have practiced a form of customary law which they call
XeerXeer /ħeːr/ is the polycentric legal system of Somalia. Under this system, elders serve as judges and help mediate cases using precedents. It is a good example of how customary law works within a stateless society and is a fair approximation of what is thought of as natural law...
. Xeer is a
polycentricPolycentric law is a legal structure in which providers of legal systems compete or overlap in a given jurisdiction, as opposed to monopolistic statutory law according to which there is a sole provider of law for each jurisdiction.Tom W...
legal system where there is no monopolistic agent that determines what the law should be or how it should be interpreted.
The Xeer legal system is assumed to have developed exclusively in the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
since approximately the 7
th century. There is no evidence that it developed elsewhere or was greatly influenced by any foreign legal system. The fact that Somali legal terminology is practically devoid of loan words from foreign languages suggests that Xeer is truly indigenous.
The Xeer legal system also requires a certain amount of
specializationDivision of labour or economic specialisation is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles, intended to increase the productivity of labour...
of different functions within the legal framework. Thus, one can find
odayal (
judgeA judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is like an umpire in a game and...
s),
xeer boggeyaal (
juristA jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
s),
guurtiyaal (
detectiveA detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators...
s),
garxajiyaal (
attorneysA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
),
murkhaatiyal (witnesses) and
waranle (
police officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
s) to enforce the law.
Xeer is defined by a few fundamental tenets that are immutable and which closely approximate the principle of
jus cogens in
international lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states, analogous entities, such as the Holy See, and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
:
- Payment of blood money
Blood money is money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim.-Other uses:...
(locally referred to as diyaDiyya is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic the word means both blood money and ransom.-Islamic and Arab tradition:...
) for libel, theft, physical harm, rape and death, as well as supplying assistance to relatives.
- Assuring good inter-clan
A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by actual or perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members may nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor...
relations by treating women justly, negotiating with "peace emissaries" in good faith, and sparing the lives of socially protected groups (e.g. children, women, the pious, poets and guests).
- Family obligations such as the payment of dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. Compare bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both dowry...
, and sanctions for eloping.
- Rules pertaining to the management of resources such as the use of pasture land, water, and other natural resources.
- Providing financial support to married female relatives and newlyweds.
- Donating livestock and other assets to the poor.
Regions and districts
Prior to the civil war, Somalia was divided into eighteen regions (
gobollada, singular
gobol), which were in turn subdivided into districts. The regions are:
On a
de facto basis, northern Somalia is now divided up among the quasi-independent states of
PuntlandPuntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe , whose leaders declared it an autonomous state in 1998. A third of Somalia's population lives in the province, which likewise represents about a third of the nation's geographical area. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland does...
,
SomalilandSomaliland is an autonomous region, which is part of the Somali republic located in the Horn of Africa. Those who call the area the Republic of Somaliland consider it to be the successor state of the former British Somaliland protectorate...
, and
GalmudugGalmudug, is a secular, decentralized state in the central region of Somalia. The administrative capital, South Galcayo, is based in the southern half of the city and district of Gaalkacyo. To the north is Puntland, to the west is Ethiopia and to the south and east is the rest of Somalia,...
. The south is at least nominally controlled by the Transitional Federal Government, although it is in fact controlled by Islamist groups outside Baidoa and Mogadishu. Under the
de facto arrangements there are now 27 regions.
Geography and climate
Africa's easternmost country, Somalia has a land area of 637,540 square kilometers and occupies the tip of a region commonly referred to as the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
(because of its resemblance on the map to a
rhinocerosRhinoceros , often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia. Three of the five species—the Javan, Sumatran and Black Rhinoceros—are...
' horn). Somalia has the longest coastline on the continent. Its terrain consists mainly of plateaus,
plainsPlains is the plural of plain, a geographical feature.Plains or The Plains may also refer to:-Locations:Canada*Three Mile Plains, Nova Scotia*Five Mile Plains, Nova ScotiaUnited States*Great Plains...
, and highlands.
Cal MadowCal Madow is a mountain range in northeastern Somalia, extending from several kilometers west of Bosaso to northwest of Erigavo. Its peak sits at 2500 m in Shembir Beris, northwest of Erigavo...
is a beautiful mountain range in the northeastern part of the country, extending from several kilometers west of the city of Bosaso to the northwest of Erigavo. The rugged east-west ranges of the Karkaar Mountains lie at varying distances from the
Gulf of AdenThe Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa...
coast.
Major climatic factors are a year-round hot climate, seasonal
monsoonA pennis is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but now is used to describe seasonal changes atmospheric circulation and precipitation The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the African and Asia-Australian monsoons...
winds, and irregular rainfall. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from to , except at higher elevations and along the east coast. Mean daily minimums usually vary from about to .
The southwest monsoon, a sea breeze, makes the period from about
MayMay is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. It is also a month within the northern season of spring....
to
OctoberOctober is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name after July and August, after Julius and Augustus Caesar respectively; when the calendar was originally...
the mildest season in
MogadishuMogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital.Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
. The
DecemberDecember is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days....
–
FebruaryFebruary is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the shortest month and the only month with fewer than 30 days. The month has 29 days in leap years, when the year number is divisible by four...
period of the northeast monsoon is also relatively mild, although prevailing climatic conditions in Mogadishu are rarely pleasant. The
tangambili periods that intervene between the two monsoons (October–November and March–May) are hot and humid.
Health
Somalia has one of the lowest
HIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid,...
infection rates in all of Africa. This is attributed to the
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
nature of Somali society and adherence of Somalis to Islamic morals. While the estimated HIV prevalence rate in Somalia in 1987 (the first case report year) was 1% of adults, a more recent estimate from 2007 now places it at only 0.5% of the nation's adult population despite the ongoing civil strife.
Education
With the collapse of the central government in 1991, the education system is now private. Primary schools have risen from 600 before the civil war to 1,172 schools today, with an increase of 28% in primary school enrollment over the last 3 years. In 2006, the autonomous
PuntlandPuntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe , whose leaders declared it an autonomous state in 1998. A third of Somalia's population lives in the province, which likewise represents about a third of the nation's geographical area. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland does...
region in the northeast was the second territory in Somalia after the
SomalilandSomaliland is an autonomous region, which is part of the Somali republic located in the Horn of Africa. Those who call the area the Republic of Somaliland consider it to be the successor state of the former British Somaliland protectorate...
region to introduce free primary schools, with teachers now receiving their salaries from the Puntland administration.
In Mogadishu,
Benadir UniversityBenadir University, or University of Benadir, abbreviated as BU, is a university located in Mogadishu, Somalia.-History:Benadir University was founded in 2002 as a medical school to help train Somali doctors.-Faculties:...
, the
Somalia National UniversityThe Somali National University is the national university of the Northeast African nation of Somalia. The university campus was located near KM6, in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.-History:...
,
Mogadishu UniversityMogadishu University is a non-governmental university in Mogadishu, Somalia.-History:The idea to establish a non-governmental educational institution started in June 1993, after which time it took five years to develop and open the university...
,
Kismayo UniversityKismayo University is a university in Kismayo, in the Jubba region of Somalia.As of 2007 the university has two faculties:*Faculty of Education*Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences-External links:...
, and
University of GedoUniversity of Gedo is a public university in the city of Bardera situated in the Gedo region of Somalia.In the past, the higher education system in Somalia was mostly concentrated in the area near Mogadishu, the nation's capital...
are five of the eight functioning universities in southern Somalia that offer higher education. The Somali National University and all of its campuses in Lafole,
SNUSNU may refer to:*Skilled nursing unit, a type of care of residents*Abel Santa María Airport, an international airport serving Santa Clara, Cuba*Solar neutrino unit, units of measure...
or Jaamacada Ummada, Medicine, and Gaheyr are presently too unsafe for holding classes in.
In
PuntlandPuntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe , whose leaders declared it an autonomous state in 1998. A third of Somalia's population lives in the province, which likewise represents about a third of the nation's geographical area. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland does...
, higher education is provided by the
Puntland State UniversityPuntland State University is a university located in Garowe, the capital of the Puntland region of Somalia.-History:The school traces its roots back to the Garowe School of Management, a women's school in Garowe offering courses in accounting, computer skills, business English and business management...
and East Africa University. In
SomalilandSomaliland is an autonomous region, which is part of the Somali republic located in the Horn of Africa. Those who call the area the Republic of Somaliland consider it to be the successor state of the former British Somaliland protectorate...
, it is provided by
Amoud UniversityAmoud University is a university located in the city of Amoud, Borama in the Awdal region of Somalia.-History:It was officially inaugurated on November 4th, 1998, and is the first post-war institution of higher learning to be established in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia...
,
University of HargeisaThe University of Hargeisa is a university located in the city of Hargeisa in northwestern Somalia. The school has over 2,600 students, and operates on a four to six year system...
,
Somaliland University of TechnologySomaliland University of Technology is the only stand-alone technical university in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia. It is located in Hargeisa, the region's capital.-Overview:...
and
Burao UniversityThe University of Burao is an independent university established in 2004 in Burao, Somalia. It has been ranked as 51st ranking university in Africa according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.- Campuses :...
. Three Somali universities are currently ranked in the top 100 of Africa.
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
ic schools (also known as
duqsi) are the basic system of religious instruction in Somalia. The Qur'anic system, which teaches the greatest number of students relative to the other education sub-sectors, is the only system accessible to nomadic Somalis compared to the urban Somalis who have easier access to education. In 1993, a survey by the
United Nations Children's FundThe United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...
(UNICEF) was conducted in which it found, among other things, that about 40% of pupils in Qur'anic schools were girls.
Economy
AgricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
is the most important sector, with
livestockLivestock are one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food or fiber, or labor...
accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings.
NomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
s and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population.
After livestock,
bananaBanana is the common name for a herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, and the commonly eaten fruit it produces. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics.Banana...
s are the principal export;
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
,
sorghumSorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
,
maizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
, and
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
are products for the domestic market.
The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of
GDPThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year...
.
American and Chinese oil companies are also excited about the prospect of oil and other natural resources in Somalia. An oil group listed in Sydney, Range Resources, anticipates that the
PuntlandPuntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe , whose leaders declared it an autonomous state in 1998. A third of Somalia's population lives in the province, which likewise represents about a third of the nation's geographical area. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland does...
province in the north has the potential to produce 5 billion to 10 billion barrels of oil.
While millions of Somalis receive food aid, according to a study by the
UNDPThe United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. The UNDP is an executive board within the United Nations General Assembly...
and the
European CommissionThe European Commission acts as an executive of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.The Commission operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27...
, it is estimated that as much as $1 billion USD is annually remitted to Somalia by Somalis in the
diasporaA diaspora is any movement of a population sharing common ethnic identity. While refugees may or may not ultimately settle in a new geographic location, the term diaspora refers to a permanently displaced and relocated collective.Diasporic cultural development often assumes a different course from...
via money transfer companies—far more than the amount of development funding flowing into the
country.
Media and telecommunications
In Somalia, dozens of
privatePrivate can refer to:* Privacy, the ability of a person to control the availability and path of information about himself or herself and exposure of himself or herself.* Privately held company...
newspapers,
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
stations mushroomed in the last decade, (
MogadishuMogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital.Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
has two fiercely competing TV stations), with private radio stations or newspapers in almost all of the major towns. Large media companies include the
Shabelle Media NetworkShabelle Media Network is a Somalian television and radio network founded in Merca, Somalia in 2002.On October 19, 2007, the acting manager of Radio Shabelle, Bashir Nor Gedi, was killed in Mogadishu. In 2009 the director Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe was assassinated...
,
Radio GaalkacyoRadio Gaalkacyo is a radio station based in Gaalkacyo, Somalia. The radio station has an associated website written in Somali and in English, presenting news and current events. Radio Gaalkacyo was formerly known as Radio Free Somalia....
and
Radio GaroweRadio Garowe is a community radio station based in the city of Garowe in Puntland, a self-governing region in northern Somalia. Established in 2004, Radio Garowe broadcasts daily on 89.8 FM.- Sources :* - MondoTimes.com* - Sydney Morning Herald...
.
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
usage in Somalia increased 44,900% from 2000 to 2007, registering the highest growth rate in Africa.
SomaliSomali can refer to:* Somali people, ethnic group who inhabit the Horn of Africa * Somali language* Somali clan, social grouping of the Somali people* Somali Region, in Ethiopia* Somali , breed of cat* Republic of Somalia...
information technologyInformation technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...
companies currently compete for a market with more than 500,000 Internet users. The country has 22 established ISPs and 234
cyber cafesAn internet café or cybercafé is a place where one can use a computer with Internet access, most for a fee, usually per hour or minute; sometimes one can have unmetered access with a pass for a day or month, etc...
with a growth of 15.6% per year. Internet over the
satelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
services are also offered, especially in remote areas and cities that have no dialup or wireless Internet services. Major clients include UN, NGOs, financial institutions particularly the remittance companies and Internet Cafes. Currently over three hundred satellite terminals connected to various teleports in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
are available throughout the country. This type of service has shown a stable growth of 10–15% per year.
Somalia has one of the best telecommunications systems on the continent: several companies such as
Golis Telecom GroupGolis Telecom Somalia is the largest telecom operator in northeastern Somalia. It has an extensive network that covers all the major cities and more than 40 districts in both Puntland and Somaliland...
, Hormuud Telecom,
SomafoneSomafone Telecommunications Service Company is Somalia's leading mobile telephone operator. It was formed in 2003 as a fully owned subsidiary of Somafone FZ LLC of the Dubai Internet City. The head offices are located in Mogadishu....
,
NationlinkNationLink Telecom is a mobile phone operator in Somalia.NationLink Telecom came into being on September 1997 by its founder Abdi Mohamed a Somali engineer who is also a share holder of the well knowm telecommunication company in East Afrika Safaricom. The company provides telecommunication...
, Netco, Telecom and
Somali Telecom GroupSomali Telecom Group is a telecommunications company based in Somalia. It was founded in 1993 in Rockville, Maryland, in the USA, by Abdirazak I. Osman, Edmund L. Resor, Abdiaziz Ismail Dualeh and Luis F. George. According to the company's website's front page, it is Somalia's "first telecom...
provide crystal-clear service, including international long distance, for about $10 USD a month. Dial up internet services in Somalia are the fastest growing internet services in Africa, as the nation enjoys landline growth of more than 12.5% per year compared to other countries in the Horn and eastern Africa at large, where landline is experiencing a serious decline due to vandalism and an increase in the cost of copper cables in the international market. Installation time for a
landlineA landline, main line or fixed-line is a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre. This is distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where the medium used is the airwaves...
is just three days in Somalia, while in neighboring Kenya waiting lists are many years long.
Environment
Somalia is a semi-arid country with about 2%
arable landIn geography, arable land is an agricultural term, meaning land that can be used for growing crops. It is distinct from cultivated land and includes jungles that are not currently used for human purposes. Arable land covers an area of approximately 12 million square miles...
. The civil war had a huge impact on the country’s
tropical forestsTropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
by facilitating the production of
charcoalCharcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood, sugar, bone char, or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
with ever-present, recurring, but damaging droughts. Environmentalist and
Goldman Environmental PrizeThe Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize given annually to grassroots environmental activists from six geographic areas: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America...
winner,
Fatima JibrellFatima Jibrell is a prominent Somali-American environmental activist. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization , co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking, and was instrumental in the creation of the Women’s Coalition for Peace.-Biography:Jibrell...
, became the first Somali to step in and undertake a much-needed effort to save the rest of the environment through local initiatives that organised local communities to protect the rural and coastal habitat. Jibrell trained a team of young people to organise awareness campaigns about the irreversible damage of unrestricted charcoal production. She also joined the Buran rural institute that formed and organised the Camel Caravan program in which young people loaded tents and equipment on camels to walk for three weeks through a nomadic locale, and educate the people about the careful use of fragile resources,
health careHealth care , is the treatment and management of illness, and the preservation of health through services offered by the medical, dental, complementary and alternative medicine, pharmaceutical, clinical laboratory sciences , nursing, and allied health professions...
, livestock management and peace.
Fatima JibrellFatima Jibrell is a prominent Somali-American environmental activist. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization , co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking, and was instrumental in the creation of the Women’s Coalition for Peace.-Biography:Jibrell...
has consistently fought against the burning of charcoal,
loggingLogging is the process in which certain trees are cut down for forest management and timber.In forestry the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage...
and other man-induced environmental degradation. Her efforts have born fruits to the local communities across Somalia and international recognition when she won the prestigious Environmental Goldman award from
San FranciscoSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
. Jibrell is also the executive director of Horn Relief and Development Organisation.
Following the massive
tsunami of December 2004The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, there have also emerged allegations that after the outbreak of the
Somali Civil WarThe Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia, that began in 1991. The conflict has caused destabilisation and instability throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to the rebel...
in the late 1980s, Somalia's long, remote shoreline was used as a dump site for the disposal of toxic waste. The huge waves which battered northern Somalia after the tsunami are believed to have stirred up tonnes of nuclear and toxic waste that was illegally dumped in the country by several European firms. The
European Green PartyThe European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
followed up these revelations by presenting before the press and the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in
StrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north-eastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in France...
copies of contracts signed by two European companies—the Italian Swiss firm, Achair Partners, and an Italian waste broker,
ProgressothumbProgresso foods is an American company that was founded by Sicilian born Vincent Taormina in 1905 and specializing in canned Italian food products, mostly soup and beans, sold since 1949. Up until the 1970s, it was a family owned company. It is now owned by General Mills.It is often seen as an...
– and representatives of the then "President" of Somalia, the faction leader Ali Mahdi Mohamed, to accept 10 million tonnes of toxic waste in exchange for $80 million (then about £60 million). According to reports by the
United Nations Environment ProgrammeThe UN Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and encourages sustainable development through sound environmental practices...
(UNEP), the waste has resulted in far higher than normal cases of respiratory infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding, abdominal haemorrhages and unusual skin infections among many inhabitants of the areas around the northeastern towns of
HobbioHobyo is an ancient harbor city in the Mudug region of Somalia. Hobyo literally means "here, water", and the plentiful fresh water to be had from the wells in and around the town has been the driving force behind Hobyo's ancient status as a favorite port-of-call for sailors.- Hobyo's Origins...
and
BenadirBenadir is a coastal region of Somalia. It covers most of the Indian Ocean coast of the country, from the Gulf of Aden to the Juba River, including the capital, Mogadishu...
on the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
coast—diseases consistent with
radiationIn physics, radiation describes any process in which energy emitted by one body travels through a medium or through space, ultimately to be absorbed by another body...
sickness. UNEP continues that the current situation along the Somali coastline poses a very serious environmental hazard not only in Somalia but also in the eastern Africa sub-region.
Demographics
Somalia has a population of around 10.7 million according to U.N. estimates in 2003, 85% of which constitute
ethnic SomalisSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
.
There is little reliable statistical information on urbanisation in Somalia. However, rough estimates have been made indicating an
urbanizationUrbanization is the physical growth of urban areas from rural areas as a result of population immigration to an existing urban area. Effects include change in density and administration services. While the exact definition and population size of urbanized areas varies amongdifferent countries,...
of 5% and 8% per
annumAnnum is a form of the Latin noun annus meaning year, from which are derived words such as annual and annuity. Annum is the accusative singular of the 2nd declension masculine noun annus , anni...
with many towns rapidly growing into cities. Currently, 34% of the Somali population live in towns and cities with the percentage rapidly increasing.
Because of the civil war, the country has a large
diaspora communityThe Somali diaspora refers to expatriate Somalis who reside in areas of the world that have traditionally not been inhabited by their ethnic group...
, one of the largest of the whole continent. Millions of Somalis live abroad, and this excludes those who inhabit Yemen, northeastern Kenya, and Djibouti.
Languages
SomaliThe Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies of it from before 1900....
is the national language of the Somali people and is used virtually everywhere by almost all ethnic Somalis as well as a few minority groups. Minority languages do exist, such as
Af-MaayMaay is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family and is written using the Latin alphabet. It is spoken mostly in Somalia and adjacent parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. Its speakers are known as Sab Somalis. The capital of the language is Baidoa....
, which is spoken in areas in South-Central Somalia mainly by the
RahanweynThe Rahanweyn is a Somali clan, composed of two major sub-clans, the Digil and the Mirifle. It makes up about 20% of the population of Somalia, and is one of the five major Somali clans residing in the Horn of Africa.The Digil sub-clan mainly consists of farmers and coastal people, while the...
. Variants of
SwahiliSwahili is spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique, including the Comoros Islands...
(
BaraweThe Bravanese language is spoken by the Bravanese people, who are the traditional inhabitants of Barawa, or Brava, in Somalia. Bravanese is a dialect of the Bantu Swahili language. Many Bravanese also speak Somali, which is an Afro-Asiatic language....
) are also spoken along the coast by
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
s and some
BantusThe Somali Bantu are a minority ethnic group in Somalia. They primarily reside in southern Somalia, near the Juba and Shabelle rivers, and are the descendants of people from various Bantu ethnic groups originating from what are modern-day Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique who were brought to Somalia...
(Jareer).
Many Somalis speak
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
due to close ties with the
Arab WorldThe Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast...
, the far-reaching influence of the Arabic media, and religious education.
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
is also widely used and taught.
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
used to be a major language but now because of the civil war and lack of education, it is most frequently heard among older generations.
Religion
To a first approximation, the Somalis are entirely
SunniSunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. It is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short...
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
s.
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
entered the region very early on, as a group of persecuted Muslims had, at Prophet Muhummad's urging, sought refuge across the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
in the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
.
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
may thus have been introduced into Somalia well before the faith even took root in its place of origin.
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
's influence was significantly reduced in the 1970s when church-run schools were closed and
missionariesA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
sent home. There has been no
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
of the
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in the country since 1989; the cathedral in Mogadishu was severely damaged in the civil war of January-February 1992.
The Somali constitution discourages the promotion and propagation of any religion other than
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. This sets Somalis apart from their
EthiopianEthiopian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to the country of Ethiopia* A person from Ethiopia, or of Ethiopian descent. For information about the Ethiopian people, see Demographics of Ethiopia and Culture of Ethiopia. For specific persons, see List of Ethiopians.* Ethiopian Semitic...
neighbours, some of whom are either Christians (particularly the
AmharaThe Amhara are an ethnic group in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26 percent of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
and others of Ethiopia) or adherents of indigenous faiths.
Cuisine
The cuisine of Somalia varies from region to region and encompasses different styles of cooking. One thing that unites the Somali food is its being
HalalHalal is an Arabic term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. It is the opposite of haraam. The term is widely used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
. Therefore, there are no
porkPork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig . The word pork often denotes specifically the fresh meat of the pig, but can be used as an all-inclusive term which includes cured, smoked, or processed meats It is one of the most-commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig...
dishes,
alcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. An important group of acohols is formed by the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is C
nH
2n+1OH...
is not served, nothing that died on its own is eaten, and no blood is incorporated. Somali people serve dinner as late as 9 pm. During
RamadanRamadan or Ramadhan or Ramazan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.Ramadan is one of the holy months in the Islamic calendar. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset...
, dinner is often served after
TarawihTarawih is an Arabic phrase referring to extra prayers given by Sunni Muslims at night in the Islamic month of Ramadan .-Overview:...
prayers – sometimes as late as 11 pm.
Cambuulo is one of Somalia's most popular dishes and is enjoyed throughout the country as a dinner meal. The dish is made out of well-cooked
azuki beanThe azuki bean is an annual vine widely grown throughout East Asia and the Himalayas for its small bean. The cultivars most familiar in north-east Asia have a uniform red color, but white, black, gray and variously mottled varieties are also known. Scientists presumeVigna angularis var...
s, mixed with butter and sugar. The beans, which by themselves are referred to as
digir, are often left on the stove for as many as five hours, on low heat, to achieve an optimal taste.
Barriss (rice) and
basto (pasta) are common foods, but have a unique flavor due to the seasoning and many spices added.
Literature
Somalia produced a large amount of literature through Islamic
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
from Somali scholars of the last centuries. With the adoption of the
Latin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
in 1973 numerous Somali authors have released books over the years which received widespread success,
Nuruddin FarahNuruddin Farah is a prominent Somali novelist.-Early years:Born in Baidoa, Somalia, Farah is the son of a merchant father and a poet mother. As a child, he attended school at Kallafo in the Ogaden, and studied English, Arabic, and Amharic...
being one of them. Novels like
From a Crooked Rib and
Links are considered important literary achievements which earned him the 1998
Neustadt International Prize for LiteratureThe Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, World Literature Today. It is widely considered to be the most prestigious international literary prize after the Nobel Prize in...
.
Music
Somalia has the distinction of being one of only a handful of African countries that are composed almost entirely of one ethnic group, the Somalis. Traditional bands like
WaaberiWaaberi was a Somali musical supergroup.-History:The troupe was established by members of the Radio Artists Association. It was supported by the Somali government as part of the Somali National Theater, and made tours throughout several countries in Africa, including Egypt and Sudan. After a coup...
and
HorseedHorseed is a district of Marka, a city in the Shabelle Hoose region in southern Somalia. Its geographical coordinates are 1° 45' 0" North, 44° 38' 0" East.-References:...
have gained a small following outside the country. Others, like
Maryam MursalMaryam Mursal is a Somali composer and vocalist.-Biography:Mursal grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters. As a teenager, she broke with tradition and began singing professionally in Mogadishu...
, have fused Somali traditional music with
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
,
bossa novaBossa nova is a style of Brazilian music popularized by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and João Gilberto. Bossa nova acquired a large following, initially by young musicians and college students...
,
hip hopHip hop as a cultural movement "manifest in B-boying , graffiti writing, DJing and eMCeeing/rapping – is an artistic commitment to seize freedom from oppressive social conditions...
, and
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
influences. Most Somali music is love oriented.
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
, where a sizable Somali community exists, replaced Mogadishu (because of the instability) as the centre of the Somali music industry, which is also present in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
MinneapolisMinneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities,...
, and
ColumbusColumbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties...
. One popular musician from the
Somali diasporaThe Somali diaspora refers to expatriate Somalis who reside in areas of the world that have traditionally not been inhabited by their ethnic group...
is
K'naanK'naan , born Keinan Abdi Warsame in 1978, is a Somali-Canadian poet, rapper and musician.-Early life:Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most famous singers....
, a young rapper from Toronto, whose songs talk about the struggles of life in Somalia during the outbreak of the civil war.
See also
- Adal Sultanate
The Adal Sultanate was a province-cum-sultanate located in present-day northwestern Somalia, southern Djibouti, and the Somali, Oromia, and Afar regions of Ethiopia. At its height, the sultanate controlled large portions of Ethiopia and Somalia.-Ethnicity:There is still debate over the ethnic...
- Ajuuraan State
The Ajuuraan State was a Somali Muslim empire that ruled over large parts of East Africa in the Middle Ages. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuuraan empire successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese...
- Anarchy in Somalia
Somalia, since 1991, is cited as a real-world example of a stateless society and legal system. Since the fall of Siad Barre's government in January 1991 , there has been no permanent national government in Somalia. Large areas of the country such as Somaliland, Puntland, Awdal and Galmudug are...
- Borama script
The Borama script is a writing script for the Somali language. It was devised around 1933 by Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur of the Gadabuursi clan.-History:...
- Communications in Somalia
-Overview:Somalia has some of the best telecommunications in Africa: a handful of companies are ready to wire home or office and provide crystal-clear service, including international long distance, for about $10 a month." This may seem rather unexpected in a country engaged in civil war; the...
- Dervish State
The Dervish State was an early 20th century Somali Muslim state that was established by Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, a religious leader who gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and united them into a loyal army known as the Dervishes...
- Foreign relations of Somalia
Foreign relations of Somalia are handled primarily by the President as the head of state, Prime Minister as the head of government, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Transitional Federal Government....
- Gobroon Dynasty
The Gobroon Dynasty was a Somali royal house that ruled parts of East Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was established by the Ajuuraan Soldier Ibrahim Adeer who had defeated various vassals of the Ajuuraan Empire and established the House of Gobroon...
- Greater Somalia
Greater Somalia refers to those regions in the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis are and have historically represented the predominant population. Greater Somalia thus encompasses Somalia, Djibouti, the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province...
- Land of Punt
The Land of Punt, also called Pwenet, or Pwene by the ancient Egyptians, was a trading partner known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, African blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals...
- List of Somalis
- List of Somali companies
- Marehan sultanates
- Military of Somalia
The Somali National Army was, up until 1991, made up of the army, navy, air force, and air defense command. The Somali Government's demise led to the de facto dissolution of the national armed forces...
- Osmanya script
- Piracy in Somalia
Piracy off the Somali coast has been a threat to international shipping since the beginning of the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s. Since 2005, many international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed concern over the rise...
- Scouting in Somalia
Somalia is one of 29 countries where Scouting exists but there is no National Scout Organization which is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement at the present time, and no organization was ever recognized by WOSM during the nation's periods of Scouting history.Scouting existed in...
- Somali maritime history
Somali maritime history is the term used to refer to the seafaring tradition of the Somali people, and includes various stages of Somali navigational technology, shipbuilding and design, as well as the history of the Somali port cities...
- Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
- Sultanate of Hobyo
The Sultanate of Hobyo was a 19th century Somali ruling house in present-day northern Somalia. It was carved out of the former Majeerteen Sultanate by Yusuf Ali Kenadid, cousin of the Majeerteen Sultanate's ruler, Boqor Osman Mahamuud....
- Warsangali Sultanate
- Xeer
Xeer /ħeːr/ is the polycentric legal system of Somalia. Under this system, elders serve as judges and help mediate cases using precedents. It is a good example of how customary law works within a stateless society and is a fair approximation of what is thought of as natural law...
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