Somalia is situated in the Horn of Africa with an estimated population of eight million. Somalia stretches along the Indian Ocean, bordering in the Southwest on Kenya, West on Ethiopia, and Northwest on Djibouti. The capital city is Mogadishu, and its only two rivers are Shabelle and Jubba. Somalia has a dry tropical climate.

»» Click here to view Somali Map

It is not possible to understand the situation in Somalia today without knowing something about its history. Unlike every other country in Africa, Somalia is overwhelmingly populated by a people who share a single language, religion, culture and heritage. Somalis believe they are all blood relations, and this belief is central to Somali politics. Between the seventh and tenth centuries Arabs and Persians developed a series of ports along the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

By the 10th century the area was populated by Somali nomads who spread throughout the Horn of Africa. By this time, Islam was firmly established in the trading centres of Mogadishu, Merca, Brava, Zeila and Berbera. Between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, the entire Somali nation converted to Islam.

The southern part of the country developed farming; the northerners developed the routes, which enabled them to keep their families and herds alive in dry seasons, by travelling from one temporary water hole to the next. Each clan had its own route and water holes, but these patterns were changed in the colonial period. Somalia was first affected by Portuguese and Omani colonizers, who burned and destroyed many of the great Somali trading cities.

In the nineteenth century, Somalia was colonized by Ethiopia, Italy, France and Britain. During the European "Scramble for Africa" European powers showed their interest in the coast as it lay on the route to India and Indochina. Britain looked to this area for meat supplies for its garrison at Aden and in 1884 occupied Zeila and Berbera - later declared the British Protectorate of Somaliland (northern Somalia). France, which wanted better commercial facilities, moved to Tajore and declared the French Somaliland (Djibouti) at the same time.

Italy also declared its own protectorate called Italian Somaliland (southern Somalia). Ethiopia was given the Ogaden region of Somalia by the British. During the colonial period, clan rivalries were deliberately encouraged and political power was given to various "tribes." Somalia still feels the bitter effects of these policies. During the Second World War, Britain occupied the Italian Somaliland and administered the territory from 1941 to 1950. In 1950, Italian Somaliland was returned to Italy as a UN Trusteeship Territory for ten years. On July 1st, 1960 it joined the British Somaliland to form the Somali Republic, and after that until 1969, the country was ruled by successive civilian governments.

On October 21, 1969, General Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in a military coup. The military regime dissolved the parliament, suspended the constitution and banned all political parties. After one year the regime declared Scientific Socialism and nationalized all major economic and educational institutions. By 1977 a war erupted between Somalia and Ethiopia. The Soviet Union, an ally of Somalia, supported Ethiopia in the war. Somalia broke relations with the Soviet Union and the USA became the country's new ally.

In 1978 there was an attempted coup, but after failing it the organizers of this effort escaped to Ethiopia and formed a rebel movement against Siad Barre regime. Later more rebel movements were formed along clan bases and put pressure on Barre's regime. Siad Barre regime desperately tried to manipulate the clan system by distributing modern weapons, but finally on January 27, 1991 he was ousted from power and forced to flee from the capital.

»» Click here to view Somali Map