Foreign relations characterized by tension with neighboring states and economic
dependence on aid from Arab and Western nations. Relations with neighboring states
gradually improved as irredentist claims dating from Ogaden War period...
Politics was at once the Somalis' most practiced art and favorite sport. The most
desired possession of most nomads was a radio, which was used to keep informed on
political news. The level of political participation often surpassed that in...
Firm evidence for the history of the Somali people dates back to only about AD 1000.
There are folk genealogies tracing certain Somali clans to the Arabian Peninsula
and associating their ancestors with the Sharifs, the family of prophet...
Lawlessness and clan warfare has been rife since a military government collapsed in 1991. UN estimates 1 million people have become refugees. Sadly, inter-clan tensions, radical socialism, rearmament by the USSR and the occasional (often...
Somaliland became British and Italian colonies in the 1880's, although it was ruled
solely by the British from 1941 to 1950. In 1960, Italian Somaliland and British
Somaliland were united to form an independent Somalia.
The rare findings and evidences of archeology, anthropology, historical linguistics,
and related disciplines have provided insights of the origins and evolution of the
Somali people. For example, where historians once believed that the...
The Somalis are most closely related to the Rendille and the Afar, and distantly
related to the Oromos, all Eastern Cushite peoples. Somalis are not a unitary people
group, but a grouping of broad clan federations divided by language and by...
Somalia, the Horn of Africa nation, is finally recovering from recent wars and famine.
The ancient land occupies an important geopolitical position between sub-Saharan
Africa and the countries of Arabia and south-western Asia. Somalis...