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This East African country is centered on the Horn of Africa giving it a very strategic location. The country is wedged between the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It is bounded by Djibouti in the northwest, Ethiopia in the west, and Kenya in the southwest. It has an area slightly less than Texas. Much of the country is arid and barren and does not support agriculture. This has severely limited the economic prospects of the region. Many Somalia subsist on hearding livestock. Some Somalis turned to piracy which for a time proved to be very lucrative. Seizures of ships forced maritime countries to take counter mesures which have largely defeated the pirates.
There are two small rivers, the Shebelle and the Juba. Somalia was Islamicized soon after the Arab outburst (7th century). Arab and Persian traders, both acgtive in the Indian Ocean, established posts along the Horn of Africa (7th-10th centuries). Nomadic tribes continued to control the interior, occasionally pushing into Ethiopian territory. Nominal Turkish rule extended to the northern coast (16th century). The sultans of Zanzibar gained control in the south and introduced slavery as a major part of a developing plantation economy. The British occupied Aden at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula (1839). This was part of an effort to secure sea lanes between Britain and India. Aden was an important Royal Navy port in the campasign to end the Indian Ocean slave trade. Somalia was colonized by the Europeans in the late-19th century. A British colony was established in the north (1884). The colonization of the area resulted in the liberation of lrge numbers of Africans that had been enslaved by Arabs operating plantations. The British defeated the Italians in World War II (1941). After the War it became a U.N. Trusteeship. Somalia was formed during the de-colonization proces following World War II. The former British and Italian Somaliland were united (1960). French Somaliland to the east remained separate as Dijibouti. The country consists of coastal lowlands and a largely arid interioir lateau. The border is disputed with Ethiopia. This is a source of friction as well as the presence of ethnic Somalisin Ethiopia and Kenya. The population until recently was largely nomadic. After a war with Ethiopia and the overthrow of a long-time dictator, Somalia has descended into anarchy. Somalia had no working government (1991-2000). There were efforts to to form a parliamentary government (2000), but it failed to estblish control over the country. Another attempt was made (2004). Radical groups like Al-Shabaab have caused havoc, makingit difficult to form a government and deal with humanitarian crisis like famine.
This East African country is centered on the Horn of Africa giving it a very strategic location. The Horn jutts out into the Indin Ocean. KIt is a peninsula along the coast of East Africa that separates the Gulf of Aden to the north and the Indian Ocean / Arabian Sea to the east and south. Thus the Horn is a kind of wedge beteen these two bodies. As the Guld of Aden leass into the Red sea and Suez Cana, Somalia and the Horn is a very strategic location. This makes the Gulf of Aden i crucial shipping lane, especial for oil tankers headed to Europe. The Gulf of Aden is essentially an inlet of the Indian Ocean, and separates the country from Yemen, historiclly an important trade route. The eastern coast of Somalia fronts directly on the Indian Ocean. Somalia is bounded by Djibouti in the northwest, Djibouti and Ethiopia in the west, and Kenya in the southwest. The country is slightly smaller than the state of Texas. there are few rivers or other dependable sources of fresh water. Two small rivers are the Shebelle and the Juba. The topography is mostly plateau regions that rise to more broken hilly areas in the northeast. Ethiopia and Somalia share thevOgaden Desert. Somalia is dominated by arid scrubland and desert-like condirions. One source suggests only about 13 percent of the land is arable, This my be a high estkimate and during periodic droughts is much lower. Somalia has serious food and water management problems that result in periodic crisis.
Somalia has an arid or semiarid climate gpending on the region. There are normally four seasons, controlled by Infian Ocean phenomenon. two with some rain and two essentially without rain. December through March is the season of the northeast monsoon winds, is a very dry season, with moderate temperatures experienced in the north, but high temperatures in the south. April through June is the spring-like rainy season accompanied by hot temperatures. July through September is the time of the southwest monsoon winds, a dry and hot season. Finally October and November is a humid, but only sporadically rainy season. Somalia lives on a a climatic razor edge. During non-drought periods, Somalia's average annual rainfall is only 28 centimeters (11 inches). Droughts can develop when rainfall falls even slightly. Their impact can be very serious by the cpmmon over-grazing in many arable areas, poor land management leading to erosion, disruptions of nomadic routes, and breakdowns in water access and food distribution because of unsable politicl situtions cause ny Islamic terror groups. Ironically, these problems can also cause severe flooding. Droughts are all too common in Somalia. Major droughts plagued Somalia in 1974-75, 1984-85, 1992, 1999, and 2001. Flooding caused damage in 1997 and 2002. Between July 2011 and mid-2012, a severe drought affected the entire East Africa region (2011-12). Experts call it, "The worst in 60 years." The drought caused a devestating food crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya that threatened the lives of some, 9.5 million people. The drought was especially ecere alongbthe central Indian Ocean coast.
Somalia was Islamicized soon after the Arab outburst (7th century). Arab and Persian traders, both acgtive in the Indian Ocean, established posts along the Horn of Africa (7th-10th centuries). Nomadic tribes continued to control the interior, occasionally pushing into Ethiopian territory. Nominal Turkish rule extended to the northern coast (16th century). The sultans of Zanzibar gained control in the south and introduced slavery as a major part of a developing plantation economy. The British occupied Aden at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula (1839). This was part of an effort to secure sea lanes between Britain and India. Aden was an important Royal Navy port in the campasign to end the Indian Ocean slave trade. Somalia was colonized by the Europeans in the late-19th century. A British colony was established in the north (1884). The colonization of the area resulted in the liberation of lrge numbers of Africans that had been enslaved by Arabs operating plantations. The British defeated the Italians in World War II (1941). After the War, Somalia became a U.N. Trusteeship. Somalia was formed during the de-colonization proces following World War II. The former British and Italian Somaliland were united (1960). French Somaliland to the east remained separate as Dijibouti. The country consists of coastal lowlands and a largely arid interioir lateau. The border is disputed with Ethiopia. This is a source of friction as well as the presence of ethnic Somalisin Ethiopia and Kenya. The population until recently was largely nomadic. After a war with Ethiopia and the overthrow of a long-time dictator, Somalia has descended into anarchy. Somalia had no working government (1991-2000). There were efforts to to form a parliamentary government (2000), but it failed to establish control over the country. Another attempt was made (2004). Radical groups like Al-Shabaab have caused havoc, makingit difficult to form a government and deal with humanitarian crisis like famine.
Much of the country is arid and barren and does not support agriculture. This has severely limited the economic prospects of the region. Many Somalia subsist on hearding livestock. Some Somalis turned to piracy which for a time proved to be very lucrative. Seizures of ships forced maritime countries to take counter mesures which have largely defeated the pirates.
Somalia is not a devloped modern country. Because of the poverty and relted violence-prone Islanic fundamentalism, children in Somalia do not have modern lives. Many children work from a very early age. And large numbrs have died in the endemic famines. Religion is very importnt experience in the lives of many Somali children. Most Somalis are Muslims. Radical groups, with some foreign extremists, believe that Somalis do not take Islam seriouly enough and are attempting by violence to make the popultion conform to their view of Islam.
Very few Somalis were educated until modern times. Some boys were educated in the madrsahs, but no girls. Iliteracy was very high. After independence, Somalia attempted to build amodern, secular educational system.
Following the failed war with Ethiopia and the outbreak of the civil war (1991), the educational system fell apart. Community education committees made an effort. And there are two autonomous regions Puntkand and Somaliland). The education system, never strong in the first place, disentegrated, peoblems include the lack of rural schools, Islamic resistance to educating girls, lack of resources and facilities, weak curricula, educational standards and controls,and many others. The lack of financing makes it difficult to address these problems, although some like attitudes toward girls is not a financial matter. The Ministry of Education is still officially responsible for education in Somalia, and oversees the nation's primary, secondary, technical and vocational schools, as well as other functions. About 15 percent of the Somali government's budget is allocated toward education, but the economy is so unproduvtive that rthe available resources are very limited. As in many Muslim countries, there is very limited sport. This is in part a matter of poverty, but Islam is another factor. Girls almost never participate in sport.
Both Somalia and Ethiopians have destinctive appearances from other Sub-Saharan African groups. Here geography is a factor. The Nile/Red Sea and the Horn projection toward the Arabian Peninsula meant that non-African eople have entered the area. Anthropologists classifify Somalis ed as a Hamitic people, meaning in part a Semetic people. The culture is decribed as Cushite. Language is a primary
cultural feature. Cushitic languages are classified as a branch of the Afroasiatic language family which dominate the Horn of Africa. The most populous Cushitic language are Oromo in Ethiopia (about 35 million speakers) followed by Somali (about 18 million speakers). Although the culture has strong extra-African elemebts, the people appear to have originated from the area around the equatorial lakes of Africa and settled in the Somalia region of two rivers. There they mixed with pastoral groups from the north and migrants from the Middle East (Arabian Peninsula and to a lesser extent the Persian Gulf) and perhaps Southeast Asia. The end result is modern ethnic Somalis. They are about 85 percent of the Somali population. There are two major clan families, the principal cultural group: the Samaal (the Darod, Isaaq, Hawiye, and Dir groups) and the Saab (the Rahanweyn and Digil and other smaller groups). The Samaal are primarily nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists. The Digil and Rahanweyn are primarily farmers and sedentary herders. Urbanization has impacted the traditional regional patterns.Somali society is ethnically endogamous, meaning that marriage commonly goes outside sub-clans. There are also small Bantu-speaking groups who have more African features who live along the Shabeelle and Jubba rivers.
There are small numbers of non-indigenous people, including Arabs, Italians, Pakistanis, and Indians. The Italians seming from te colonial era are mainly engaged in teaching, business, and banana plantations. The Arabs, Pakistanis, and Indians are primarily shopkeepers.
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