A referendum was held in neighboring Djibouti (then known as French Somaliland) 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 Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans. [9] There was also widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls. [10] The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Government Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later under mysterious circumstances. [9] [11] An ancient Chinese document from the 9th century CE referred to the northern Somalia coast — which was then part of a broader region in Northeast Africa known as Barbara, in reference to the area's Barbars ( Cushitic) inhabitants [61] — as Po-pa-li. [62] [63] In drawing up a Council of Ministers for presentation to the National Assembly, the nominee for prime minister chose candidates on the basis of ability and without regard to place of origin. [5] But Hussein's choices strained intraparty relations and broke the unwritten rules that there be clan and regional balance. [5] For instance, only two members of Shermarke's cabinet were to be retained, and the number of posts in northern hands was to be increased from two to five. [5]

Conflicts in the Somali territories are often explained in terms of clan. This is unquestionably an important factor in Las Anod. But focusing solely on the clan ignores how the conflict is also an issue of a rapidly expanding state structure and concomitant political instability. The central unresolved contradiction at the heart of the Somaliland project is that it is an attempt to create a multi-clan national identity in the midst of a social reality where the clan remains the dominant social structure for many people. Las Anod is not simply about Dhulbahante resistance to Isaaq domination. It is part of a generalised pattern of resistance to an encroaching state apparatus increasingly aligned with a particular clan. Over the last decade, other counter-administrations have been announced, including Awdalland State in Somaliland’s western region of Awdal, and Maakhir state in eastern Sanaag region. These have been diaspora driven initiatives, and thus far failed to galvanise popular support on the ground, but they share the same basic grievances as SSC-Khatumo, and the same aim – to form a federal member state of Somalia. Source 2: Food and Agriculture Organization: Somalia Water and Land Management (percent sunshine) [11] Klimatafel von Mogadischu (Mogadiscio) / Somalia" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 March 2019 . Retrieved 22 October 2016. Roder, Tillman (16 February 2012). Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity. OUP USA. p.556. ISBN 978-0-19-975988-0.A broad plateau encompassing the northern city of Hargeysa, which receives comparatively heavy rainfall, is covered naturally by woodland (much of which has been degraded by overgrazing) and in places by extensive grasslands. Parts of this area have been under cultivation since the 1930s, producing sorghum and maize; in the 1990s it constituted the only significant region of sedentary cultivation outside southwestern Somalia. So, why did I still open a conference on this day? Because we refuse to succumb to the terrorists’ intimidation tactics and Somalia is not a single narrative of violence and state failure. There is not just one story but many, running concurrently to diverse stakeholders, all of whom we must keep on board.

Piracy News and Figures, available at http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/piracynewsafigures.Lowell Barrington, After Independence: Making and Protecting the Nation in Postcolonial and Postcommunist States, (University of Michigan Press: 2006), p.115 Greater Somalia ( Somali: Soomaaliweyn, Arabic: الصومال الكبرى As-Sūmal al-Kubra) is a concept to unite all ethnic Somalis [1] comprising the regions in or near the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited. The territory historically encompassed British Jubaland Province (now Jubaland), [2] British Somaliland (now the internationally unrecognized de facto state Somaliland), Italian Somaliland, parts of French Somaliland (now Djibouti), the Somali Region in Ethiopia, the Northern Frontier District in Kenya, and the intra-46th meridian east territories. At the present, it encompasses Somalia proper, Jubaland, southern and eastern Djibouti, the Somali Region and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, and the Garissa, Wajir and Mandera Counties in Kenya (all of which were part of the former North Eastern Province which was abolished in 2013). Hargeisa and much of northwestern Somalia is desert or hilly terrain. Here, the thelarchic-shaped Naasa Hablood hills are shown.

Indeed, in early World War II, Italian troops invaded British Somaliland and ejected the British. [7] However, Britain retained administration of most of the almost exclusively Somali-inhabited Northern Frontier District. [9] Italians even did a tentative to occupy French Somaliland in summer 1940. Several ancient city-states, such as Opone, Essina, Sarapion, Nikon, Malao, Damo and Mosylon near Cape Guardafui, which competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and Axumites for the wealthy Indo- Greco-Roman trade, also flourished in Somalia. [79] The Ifat Sultanate's realm in the 14th century. Because of the unpredictability of the Eritrean government and the opaqueness of the information environment within the country, it’s very difficult to tell exactly what sort of plans might be brewing in the Red Sea state. It can safely be assumed that Ethiopia will not provoke a potentially destabilizing conflict with its former province because it literally has nothing of strategic significance to gain by this, whereas Eritrea has everything of subjective benefit to acquire if it can overthrow its rival’s government, divide its territory into Identity Federalized-statelets, and possibly even repeat the Eritrean scenario over and over again until Ethiopia itself ceases to exist as a geopolitical entity. uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gasOn the evening of 26 December 2022, Abdifatah Abdullahi Abdi ‘Hadrawi’, a popular young politician in Somaliland’s opposition party, was killed by armed gunmen as he left a mosque in the town of Las Anod . Spontaneous protests erupted, directed mostly at Somaliland officials and forces stationed in the town. As tensions grew, Somaliland forces responded to Las Anod youth throwing stones by firing live ammunition, reportedly killing as many as 20 demonstrators. During World War I, Britain secretly reached an agreement with Italy to transfer to the Italians 94,050 square kilometers of the Jubaland protectorate, which was situated in present-day southwestern Somalia. This was Italy's reward for allying itself with Britain in its war against Germany. The treaty was honored, and in 1924, Britain ceded Jubaland. Somalia is threatened by al-Shabaab, the group linked to al-Qaida, who have made it their business to kill, maim and extort the Somali people for the past 15 years. This group once pretended to represent the peaceful religion of Islam but this charade has been exposed by their cruel and systematic violence against innocent people.