Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), with approximately 6.2 million residents as of 2024. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The Government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which, as the briefly independent State of Somaliland, united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa. Located on the easternmost part of the African mainland, it is the fourth largest peninsula in the world. It is composed of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Although not common, broader definitions include parts or all of Kenya and Sudan. It has been described as a region of geopolitical and strategic importance, since it is situated along the southern boundary of the Red Sea; extending hundreds of kilometres into the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Indian Ocean, it also shares a maritime border with the Arabian Peninsula.
Somali is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in Greater Somalia and the Somali diaspora. Somali is an official language in Somalia and Ethiopia, and a national language in Djibouti as well as in northeastern Kenya. The Somali language is written officially with the Latin alphabet although the Arabic alphabet and several Somali scripts like Osmanya, Kaddare and the Borama script are informally used.
The Isaaq is a major Somali clan family. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
The Leelkase or Lailkase or Lelkase is a major subclan of the Tanade Darod clan. The term "Leelkase" is a nickname, which translates as "farsighted, mindful, smart or intelligent”
The Darod is a Somali clan. The forefather of this clan was Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, more commonly known as Darod. The clan primarily settles the apex of the Horn of Africa and its peripheries, the Somali hinterlands adjacent to Oromia (Ogaden), and both sides of the Kenya–Somalia border. The Darod clan is the largest Somali clan family in the Horn of Africa.
The Garre are a prominent Somali clan that traces its lineage back to Samaale, who is believed to have originated from the Arabian Peninsula through Aqiil Abu Talib. The Garre clan is considered to be a sub-clan of the Digil-Rahanweyn clan family, which is part of the larger Rahanweyn clan. However, genealogically, they are descended from Gardheere Samaale. The Garre are also categorized as southern Hawiye as well.
The Dir is one of the largest and most prominent Somali clans in the Horn of Africa. They are also considered to be the oldest Somali stock to have inhabited the region. Its members inhabit Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, and northeastern Kenya.
The Rahanweyn, also known as the Digil and Mirifle are a major Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large territory in the densely populated fertile valleys of the Jubba and Shebelle rivers and the areas inbetween which are mainly inhabited by settlers from the Digil and Mirifle lineages.
The endoglossic language of Somalia has always been Somali, although throughout Somalia's history various exoglossic languages have also been used at a national level.
The following is an index of Somalia-related articles.
Over the course of the Somali Civil War, there have been many revolutionary movements and militia groups run by competing rebel leaders which have held de facto control over vast areas within Somalia.
The Habr Awal, also contemporarily known as the Awal, and alternately known as the Zubeyr Awal is a major Northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq clan family, and is further divided into eight sub-clans of whom the two largest and most prominent are the Issa Musa and Sa'ad Musa sub-clans. Its members form a part of the Habar Magadle confederation.
The Djiboutians are the people inhabiting or originating from Djibouti. The country is mainly composed of two ethnic groups, the Somali and the Afar. It has many languages - though Somali and Afar are the most widely spoken ones, Arabic and French serve as the official languages. There is a small Djiboutian diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia.
The Somali languages form a group that are part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. They are spoken as a mother tongue by ethnic Somalis in Horn of Africa and the Somali diaspora. Even with linguistic differences, Somalis collectively view themselves as speaking dialects of a common language.
Garre is a Somali language spoken by the Garre who reside in southern Somalia, Ethiopia and northern Kenya. It belongs to the family's Cushitic branch, and had an estimated 50,000 speakers in Somalia in 1992, 57,500 in 2006 and 86,000 in 2020. The total number of speakers in Kenya and Somalia was estimated at 685,600 in 2019. Garre is in the Digil classification of Somali dialects. Garre language is readily intelligible to Digil speakers, as it has some affinity with Af-Maay and Af-Boon.
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23,200 km2 (8,958 sq mi).
The Isaaq Sultanate was a Issaq kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It spanned the territories of the Isaaq clan in modern-day Somaliland The sultanate was governed by the Rer Guled branch of the Garhajis clan and is the pre-colonial predecessor to the modern Republic of Somaliland.
Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed bin Muhammad, more commonly known as Sheikh Ishaaq or Sheikh Isaaq was a scholar that crossed the sea from Arabia to the Horn of Africa and the Sayyid forefather of the Isaaq clan-family in the Horn of Africa, whose traditional territory is wide and densely populated.
The Sa'ad Musa or Saad Musa is a northern Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Habr Awal sub-clan of the Isaaq clan family. The Sa'ad Musa traditionally consists of nomadic pastoralists, coastal people, merchants and farmers. The clan inhabits Somaliland, including Maroodi Jeex, and Sahil as well as Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
