Somali people

Somali people (also called Somali nation or Somali clans) are a population inhabiting the Horn of Africa. They are distributed across Somalia, Somaliland, eastern Ethiopia (the Somali region), northeastern Kenya, and Djibouti. They share the Somali language, Islam, and closely related customs.

The term 'Somali' carries two meanings: the ethnic nation and, sometimes, the citizens of the state of Somalia. These are not the same, as many ethnic Somali live in neighbouring countries or abroad.

Language

Somali is a Cushitic language, part of the Afro-Asiatic family. It contains various dialects, the largest being Maxaatiri (also called Standard Somali), used for formal writing, and Maay. In 1972 a Latin script for written Somali was adopted; this marked the beginning of widespread education and publishing.

Society and livelihoods

Social organization is based on patrilineal descent, which divides people into clans and sub-clans. The xeer (customary law governing compensation, marriage and dispute resolution) forms part of social governance, operating alongside Islamic law. Economically, pastoral herding of camels, sheep and cattle, rain-fed agriculture, coastal trade, and fishing have long been primary occupations.

Brief history

Somali coasts were long connected to Indian Ocean and Red Sea trade, with exchange involving Arabs, Persians and Indians. Islam spread along the coasts in the early Islamic centuries, followed by sultanates and city-states such as Adal and Ajuuraan. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Somali territories were divided among British, Italian and French colonial administrations, with part falling under Ethiopian control. In 1960 British Somaliland and Italian Somalia united to form the Somali Republic.

Diaspora

Civil conflict beginning in the late 1980s and state collapse in 1991 triggered mass displacement. Large Somali communities now live in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada and Gulf states, maintaining economic and cultural ties with their home regions, notably through remittance networks.