The Origins of Somalia
GEOGRAPHY		HISTORY
Cultural Regions	Economic Data	1. Origins	2. Colonial Period
Physical Geography	Maps	3. Independence	4. Somalia Today

Understanding the current situation in Somalia today is not possible without an overview of its history. Unlike other countries in Africa, Somalia is predominantly inhabited by people who share a unique language, culture, and heritage. Somalis believe they are all linked by blood, and this belief is central to Somali politics.

Somalis migrated from the west to the Horn of Africa between 500 BC and the year 1000. At that time, it was known as the "Land of Punt," a source of much of the myrrh and frankincense mentioned in the Bible.

Between the seventh and tenth centuries, Arabs and Persians established trading posts along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. By the 10th century, the interior was populated by Somali nomads who spread throughout the Horn of Africa, making incursions into Ethiopian territory and pushing the Galla tribes southward. Islam was firmly established in the trading centers of Mogadishu, Merca, Brava, Zeila, and Berbera during this time.

Source: collections.ic.gc.ca/somalia/history

Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, the entire Somali nation converted to Islam. Somalis spread into what is now eastern and central Ethiopia and northern Kenya, establishing trade routes that would last for centuries. The southern part of the country developed agriculture, while the northerners developed routes, allowing them to sustain their families and herds during dry seasons by moving from one temporary water point to the next. Each clan had its own routes and water points.

In the 16th century, Turkish power extended to the north coast of Somalia, while the Sultans of Zanzibar took control of the south.