Somalia

HISTORY

In ancient times, Somalia was a place where the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Arabs went to buy myrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory and frankincense. The Ancient Egyptians used to call it The Land of Punt, which meant "God's Land".

Somalis started herding camels and goats about 4,000 years ago, and they remain mostly herders today.

The country of Somalia developed around Arab trading posts which grew into sultanates. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade.

In the late 19th century, through a succession of treaties with these kingdoms, the British and Italian empires gained control of parts of the coast. A British Protectorate of Somaliland was established 1884 to 1887 and Somalia, an Italian protectorate in 1889. The latter was a colony from 1927 and incorporated into East Italian East Africa 1936.

Central Mogadishu in Italian Somaliland, 1936.

Italian occupation lasted until 1941, yielding to British military administration. British Somaliland would remain a protectorate, while Italian Somaliland in 1949 became a United Nations Trusteeship under Italian administration.

Somalia became a fully independent Republic in 1960 through a merger of the two former colonial territories British and Italian Somaliland.

The Somalia flag was conceived as an ethnic flag for the Somali people and was first used by the State of Somaliland. It was adopted on October 12, 1954, and is now the official flag of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Flag of Somalia

The first President of the Somali Republic was Aden Abdullah Osman Daar. He was succeeded in 1967 by Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.

A dispute over the border with Kenya resulted in a break in diplomatic relations with Britain between 1963 and 1968.

On October 15,1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.

The army seized power under the commander in chief Major General Mohammed Siad Barre. He suspended the 1960 constitution, dissolved the national assembly, banned all political parties, and formed a military government. In 1970 he declared Somalia as socialist state.

Siad Barre's official portrait in military uniform 1970

A dispute with Ethiopia led to 18 month war in 1978, in which Somalia was defeated by Ethiopian troops assisted by Soviet and Cuban weapons and advisers.

CIVIL WAR

In 1991, the Barre administration was ousted by a coalition of clan-based opposition groups, backed by Ethiopia's then-ruling Derg regime and Libya.

After this, however, all of the rebel groups started fighting amongst themselves over who would be in charge now that Siad Barre was gone.

The Somali National Movement declared the independence of Somaliland on May 18, 1991, a de facto state that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia, following the collapse of the country's central government.

The fighting precipitated the arrival of UNOSOM I UN military observers in July 1992, followed by larger peacekeeping forces. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state."

President George H.W. Bush ordered emergency airlifts of food and supplies to Somalia in 1992.“Operation Restore Hope,” to help the starving country by protecting food shipments from the warlords. By helping to end the famine, American forces saved around 100,000 lives

The last U.S. troops departed Somalia on March 25, 1994, ending a mission in which 42 U.S. soldiers died. The UN withdrew the following year, having incurred significant casualties.

Since the Somali Civil War, there has been no working government that covers all of Somalia; instead, different clans have been fighting for control.

The Federal Government of Somalia, the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war, was formed in 2012, which operates out of the capital Mogadishu.

In August 2014, the Somali government-led Operation Indian Ocean was launched against insurgent-held pockets in the countryside.

Because of the infighting in the country, many of Somalia's residents have left in search of asylum. According to the UNHCR, there were around 975,951 registered refugees from the country in neighboring states as of 2016.

According to the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, North Korea and Somalia are tied for the title of the most corrupt nation.

A consequence of the collapse of governmental authority that accompanied the civil war was the emergence of piracy in the unpatrolled Indian Ocean waters off of the coast of Somalia. The phenomenon arose as an attempt by local fishermen to protect their livelihood from illegal fishing by foreign trawlers.

A Somali pirate with deadly weapons aboard a vessel

Locals in Somalia invest in pirate groups and after a successful heist the investors receive a reward.

FUN SOMALIA FACTS

Prior to the Civil War, Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, was known as the "White pearl of the Indian Ocean."

Somalia is a semi-arid country with about 1.64% arable land.

About 80% of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists, who keep goats, sheep, camels and cattle. Almost 4 million animals were exported in 2011.

Most people in the country are Muslim, with the majority being Sunni.